09-05-2004, 10:19 PM | #1 (permalink) |
Huzzah for Welcome Week, Much beer shall I imbibe.
Location: UCSB
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Schwarzenegger and the big lies he told at the RNC
http://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/....ap/index.html
"VIENNA, Austria (AP) -- Austrian historians are ridiculing California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger for telling the Republican National Convention that he saw Soviet tanks in his homeland as a child and left a "Socialist" country when he moved away in 1968. Recalling that the Soviets once occupied part of Austria in the aftermath of World War II, Schwarzenegger told the convention on Tuesday: "I saw tanks in the streets. I saw communism with my own eyes." No way, historians say, challenging Schwarzenegger's knowledge of postwar history -- if not his enduring popularity among Austrians who admire him for rising from a penniless immigrant to the highest official in America's most populous state. "It's a fact -- as a child he could not have seen a Soviet tank in Styria," the southeastern province where Schwarzenegger was born and raised, historian Stefan Karner told the Vienna newspaper Kurier. Schwarzenegger, now a naturalized U.S. citizen, was born on July 30, 1947, when Styria and the neighboring province of Carinthia belonged to the British zone. At the time, postwar Austria was occupied by the four wartime allies, which also included the United States, the Soviet Union and France. The Soviets already had left Styria in July 1945, less than three months after the end of the war, Karner noted. "Let me tell you this: As a boy, I lived for many years across the street from where the Russians were based in Vienna -- and honestly, I never saw a Russian tank there," retiree Franz Nitsch said Friday. "He said it all on purpose -- and that's bad." In his convention address, Schwarzenegger also said: "As a kid, I saw the Socialist country that Austria became after the Soviets left" in 1955 and Austria regained its independence. But Martin Polaschek, a law history scholar and vice rector of Graz University, told Kurier that Austria was governed by coalition governments, including the conservative People's Party and the Social Democratic Party. Between 1945 and 1970, all the nation's chancellors were conservatives -- not Socialists. What's more, when Schwarzenegger left in 1968, Austria was run by a conservative government headed by People's Party Chancellor Josef Klaus, a staunch Roman Catholic and a sharp critic of both the Socialists as well as the Communists ruling in countries across the Iron Curtain. Schwarzenegger "confuses a free country with a Socialist one," said Polaschek, referring to East European Communist officials' routine descriptions of their countries as Socialist. Polaschek saw the moderate Republican governor's recollections at the convention as a tactical move. Schwarzenegger, he said, was "using the old Communist enemy image for Bush's election campaign." "He did not speak as a historian, after all, but as a politician," Polaschek said. Norbert Darabos, a ranking official of Austria's opposition Social Democratic Party, sharply criticized Schwarzenegger's "disdain for his former homeland." "The Terminator is constructing a rather bizarre Austria image," he said. But many ordinary Austrians seemed to be in a forgiving mood Friday over the gaffes. "Maybe he has a wrong recollection -- it's so many years since he left," said Wilma Fadrany, 32, a Vienna waitress. "There must be political reasons for such comments," she said. "You've got to tell the (convention delegates) what they want to hear in order to win them over. Politicians always talk the way it fits into their agenda.'" Arnold is clearly playing on old fears about the big, bad, dead Soviet menace to get undecided voters to vote for Bush. I wish he would speak about why Bush should be re-elected instead of pushing such blatant lies on the American public. I think that this kind of deception is all about what Karl Rove wanted for the RNC. This speech and Miller's seem to be the paradigm of what Rove wanted for his convention, lies which sound wonderful but breakdown under the slightest scrunity. I was hoping for a convention that highlighted the good things which Bush has done for the contry, and yet, I recieved a convention where decption was the watchword.
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I'm leaving for the University of California: Santa Barbara in 5 hours, give me your best college advice - things I need, good ideas, bad ideas, nooky, ect. Originally Posted by Norseman on another forum: "Yeah, the problem with the world is the stupid people are all cocksure of themselves and the intellectuals are full of doubt." |
09-06-2004, 06:35 AM | #2 (permalink) |
Beware the Mad Irish
Location: Wish I was on the N17...
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Apparently if you can confuse history then "You too are a REPUBLICAN!"... His speech was none the less pretty entertaining.
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What are you willing to give up in order to get what you want? Last edited by kjroh; 09-06-2004 at 05:06 PM.. |
09-06-2004, 06:59 AM | #3 (permalink) |
beauty in the breakdown
Location: Chapel Hill, NC
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If that's true, its pretty disturbing. Not really surprising that something like that would come from *any* politician, but you still don't have to like it.
Im still wondering how good of a job he really does and how many people like him just because he's Ah-nuld.
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"Good people do not need laws to tell them to act responsibly, while bad people will find a way around the laws." --Plato |
09-06-2004, 07:13 AM | #4 (permalink) |
can't help but laugh
Location: dar al-harb
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these attempts to get the historical record right are just petty personal attacks aimed at distracting voters from the issues. who cares if there really were tanks there or not? the fact is that that is the way arnold remembers it and personal recollections should not be questioned when they are delivered by a high-profile politician. democrats cannot win on the issues so instead they unleash their well-oiled austrian attack machine. just because these austrians (all wealthy donors to the kerry campaign no doubt) were actually there and witnessed these events doesn't mean they have the right to question arnold when he makes political hay out of poorly recollected memories.
this just sickens me people.
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If you will not fight when your victory will be sure and not too costly, you may come to the moment when you will have to fight with all the odds against you and only a precarious chance for survival. There may even be a worse case. You may have to fight when there is no hope of victory, because it is better to perish than to live as slaves. ~ Winston Churchill |
09-06-2004, 07:13 AM | #5 (permalink) | |
Addict
Location: nyc
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09-06-2004, 10:03 AM | #7 (permalink) |
follower of the child's crusade?
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surely it is an issue if a politician is caught in a lie?
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"Do not tell lies, and do not do what you hate, for all things are plain in the sight of Heaven. For nothing hidden will not become manifest, and nothing covered will remain without being uncovered." The Gospel of Thomas |
09-06-2004, 11:21 AM | #8 (permalink) | |
Loser
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09-06-2004, 11:26 AM | #9 (permalink) |
Upright
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That and about a month ago Arnold was in the news calling California politicians whow put corporate interests over working class citizens interests "girlie-men."
Now at the convention he stands up for George Bush (who many of his critics have written entire books on the subject of Bush and Cheney's corporate interests) and decides to call John Kerry and his supporters economic girlie men. I don't think I need to point out where Arnold doing this just makes himself look like hes just an actor playing politician. |
09-06-2004, 12:13 PM | #11 (permalink) | |
Upright
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I'm only a ghost, the breeze on your face when you first smell the coast. |
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09-06-2004, 12:32 PM | #12 (permalink) |
can't help but laugh
Location: dar al-harb
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just to make it clear to all: my tongue is firmly planted in my cheek. i'm sorry if that wasn't apparent.
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If you will not fight when your victory will be sure and not too costly, you may come to the moment when you will have to fight with all the odds against you and only a precarious chance for survival. There may even be a worse case. You may have to fight when there is no hope of victory, because it is better to perish than to live as slaves. ~ Winston Churchill |
09-06-2004, 01:03 PM | #13 (permalink) | |
Huggles, sir?
Location: Seattle
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seretogis - sieg heil perfect little dream the kind that hurts the most, forgot how it feels well almost no one to blame always the same, open my eyes wake up in flames |
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09-06-2004, 01:24 PM | #14 (permalink) | |
Junkie
Location: In the land of ice and snow.
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09-06-2004, 01:54 PM | #15 (permalink) |
follower of the child's crusade?
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filtherton is right, at the end of the day... Arnold is an actor - and most of his life he has been famous for being a not very good one at that.
His father was a high rankng member of the SA, its not surprising his family was scared after the war... no one will probably ever know now what his father might or might not be guilty of... but we know the sort of organisations that the SA and SS were... I too wondered about all the comments about Austria being communist, my understanding was that Russia had no influance in Austria after 1946... but I didnt want to say when I first read it because Im not an expert. In fairness, its not a Republican or Democratic issue, a lot of politicians seem to suffer from these false memories... in essense its not really that different from John Kerry saying he loves baseball but naming his favourite player of his favourite team as someone who never played for them... just in Arnie's case it was a premeditated fantasy, rather than a spur of the moment bluff... and it is a subject it is rather more distasteful to lie about.
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"Do not tell lies, and do not do what you hate, for all things are plain in the sight of Heaven. For nothing hidden will not become manifest, and nothing covered will remain without being uncovered." The Gospel of Thomas |
09-06-2004, 01:58 PM | #16 (permalink) |
Junkie
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Why is it that if a republican lies it is "ohh come on stop nitpicking" but if a democrat lies it is "Impeach Impeach!"
And don't even say "Clinton was under oath". What kind of a message is that? It is ok to lie as long as you are not under oath? Thats BS. |
09-06-2004, 02:10 PM | #17 (permalink) | |
Junkie
Location: In the land of ice and snow.
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Yeah, clinton could have just written it off as a "recollection issue". Ken Starr:"Did you have sexual relations with monica lewinsky?" Bill Clinton:"I don't recall whether i did or not." Case closed. |
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09-06-2004, 05:57 PM | #18 (permalink) | |
The sky calls to us ...
Super Moderator
Location: CT
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09-06-2004, 07:18 PM | #19 (permalink) |
Junkie
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SF, the whole clinton thing, while done under the pretense of perjury, was really about him getting a blow job. basically, republicans wanted to use whatever they could to hurt him with, and it just ended up being perjury. if it was just lying, most people, even your every day republicans, wouldn't have really cared. but throw a sex scandal in there, and the media will have a field day helping push things along.
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shabbat shalom, mother fucker! - the hebrew hammer |
09-06-2004, 08:12 PM | #20 (permalink) |
Sarge of Blood Gulch Red Outpost Number One
Location: On the front lines against our very enemy
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And yet, I haven't seen that many people get in such a tizzy over John Kerry's recollection problems that he took bike-rides through East Berlin. Perhaps the more Conservative on-line journals did, but not too many mainstream news sources did. And this... is from CNN and the AP? I would expect better from established news sources. Did Ahnohld tell a fib, perhaps, but so did John Kerry, and these fibs are not worth the time and energy of conversation.
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"This ain't no Ice Cream Social!" "Hey Grif, Chupathingy...how bout that? I like it...got a ring to it." "I have no earthly idea what it is I just saw, or what this place is, or where in the hell O'Malley is! My only choice is to blame Grif for coming up with such a flawed plan. Stupid, stupid Grif." |
09-06-2004, 08:24 PM | #21 (permalink) | |
Junkie
Location: Fort Worth, TX
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Stupid? Yes. Waste of money? Yes Fully legal? Absolutely |
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09-06-2004, 09:02 PM | #22 (permalink) |
Junkie
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seaver,
out of curiousity, when being sworn into a public office, don't you, under oath, swear to hold that office with integrity? wouldn't lying to the public be a violation of that oath?
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shabbat shalom, mother fucker! - the hebrew hammer |
09-07-2004, 11:59 PM | #24 (permalink) |
Psycho
Location: I think my horns are coming out
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Its sad that things like this happen, because 99% of the people who heard his speech will never look up the facts.
For 99% of the people who heard his speech, he DID see tanks in the streets. Thats pathetic, if it can be proven that the politician outrigth lied they should be fined. Its damn disgusting to me :/ |
09-08-2004, 12:57 AM | #25 (permalink) | |
Junkie
Location: Right here
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"The theory of a free press is that truth will emerge from free discussion, not that it will be presented perfectly and instantly in any one account." -- Walter Lippmann "You measure democracy by the freedom it gives its dissidents, not the freedom it gives its assimilated conformists." -- Abbie Hoffman |
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Tags |
big, lies, rnc, schwarzenegger, told |
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