Who is Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger? One moment he’s an opponent of President Obama’s economic plan, then the next he’s praising our new president for the $787 billion stimulus package. Arnie promised to destroy the California Car Tax like a “good” Republican, yet he’s reinstated it like a “bad” Democrat.
If only he had this chameleon-like ability as an actor; nobody was convinced when he portrayed a pregnant man.
Many speculate that Schwarzenegger is playing the middle, attempting to win over both major parties by saying whatever appeases the masses at a specific time. What’s his motivation? It appears to be a probable shot at a congressional seat.
Arnie is more two-faced these days than the double agent he portrayed in “Total Recall.”
Perhaps the hypocrisy is most noticeable when it comes to Schwarzenegger’s stance on the death penalty. He praises Obama, a president who made it a priority to end torturous treatment of prisoners at Guantanamo Bay, yet he is trying to reintroduce inhumane measures of capital punishment to the state of California.
The death penalty helped George W. Bush get into office in Texas so why wouldn’t it work for Arnie?
The Los Angeles Times reports that when asked if he’d resume executions by lethal injection once all the legal issues were resolved, Schwarzenegger responded “immediately-yesterday.” Victims’ rights groups have expressed frustration about the delays in reinstating California capital punishment, which Schwarzenegger will surely exploit as leverage to push his political agenda.
It seems that the “Governator” is sick of being blamed for the budget crisis in California and would rather hide out on Capitol Hill.
This is evident by the fact that he’s so heavily playing the middle, even going so far as to call out fellow Republicans who aren’t following popular procedures.
Criticizing two conservative governors who were critical of Obama’s economic package, Schwarzenegger said in an article in the San Francisco Chronicle that “there’s always time next year to talk about politics, to run for Congress, to get more Republican seats and all that.”
Hey Arnie, they’re just playing the game, too! The fact that most people in government are so focused on using life-or-death tactics to get ahead is what’s frightening.
According to Allan Hoffenblum, a GOP analyst and author of the California Target Book, Schwarzenegger is “more concerned about his legacy than any kind of partisan politics.”
So what does Arnie do to restore his name? Why, kill people of course! It worked in the Terminator trilogy, why shouldn’t it work in politics?
The problem is, you can use blank bullets and special effects in Hollywood, but Washington is the real deal. It is the hub of American politics, where every political decision affects countless lives for better or worse. The state’s death penalty, however, is no movie or bodybuilding contest.
Schwarzenegger loves to cash in on his celebrity status to make comments that would be inappropriate coming from a lesser-known politician. He called Obama “scrawny” during the presidential campaigns, cashing in on his Austrian “pump you up” image to get away with it.
His use of cheesy movie lines while discussing serious political issues is more kitsch than anything else. The dreaded “I’ll be baaaaack” has been used ad nauseam and needs to go away. Arnold will continue to self-promote through his celebrity for one simple reason: It works.
After all, Arnie is an actor. He was made for politics.
Arnold is a dumb ass, plain and simple. Promoting him to Congress would be the worst representation California could ever push.
Actually when Arnold was asked to comment on the Republicans in the state senate his actuall statement was, “I don’t know they were spies or something.” His advice about freeway legislation, “Watch out for the pavement!” His gay marriage policy, “Consider that a divorce.” His exit from office speech, “In a few seconds I’ll blow this place up and be home in time for corn flakes.”
(If you’ll manage to ignore the capital punishment aspect for a second,) isn’t what we need in Congress people who can exist in the middle? It was three Republican senators doing just that that stopped the stimulus bill from dying before getting to the president’s desk. It was Schwarzenegger’s breaking with his party at the state level to nearly match spending cuts with tax increases that allowed for the passage of the state budget. If he didn’t allow for the doubling of registration fees and could not find any other passable tax measures, chances are the cuts to education would have been greater. I’m not saying the guy’s take on capital p or the function of the prison system are agreeable to me personally, but it just seems like the line between unfortunate-but-possibly-necessary compromises and hypocrisy is very blurred.
“Hey Killy… Remember when I said I’d kill you last? I lied.”
They all play the middle Grady, that’s why they’re politicians.
“Don’t disturb my friend. He’s DEAD tired….”