Posted on 09/08/2006 9:11:49 AM PDT by NormsRevenge
On a tape of a closed-door meeting with advisers, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger says that Cubans and Puerto Ricans are naturally feisty and temperamental because of their combination of "black blood" and "Latino blood."
"I mean Cuban, Puerto-Rican, they are all very hot," the governor says on the recording obtained by the Los Angeles Times and made available on its Web site Friday. "They have the, you know, part of the black blood in them and part of the Latino blood in them that together makes it."
The six-minute tape was made earlier this year. On it, Schwarzenegger and Chief of Staff Susan Kennedy speak affectionately of Assemblywoman Bonnie Garcia, R-Cathedral City, and speculate about her nationality.
Garcia, who is Puerto Rican and the legislature's only Latina Republican, told the Times the governor's remarks did not bother her.
"I love the governor because he is a straight talker just like I am," she said. "Very often I tell him, 'Look, I am a hot-blooded Latina.' I label myself a hot-blooded Latina that is very passionate about the issues, and this is kind of an inside joke that I have with the governor."
Schwarzenegger spokeswoman Margita Thompson said in a statement the remarks were "a small part of a long conversation that is taken totally out of context."
"The governor respects every member of the Legislature and holds them in the highest regard," Thompson said. "It is not uncommon for him to have fun and joke with the members while they're working, especially during very tense negotiations."
The recording is full of frank and comic assessments of fellow Republicans from Schwarzenegger and his staff.
Kennedy, a Democrat who also worked for former governor Gray Davis, says Republican Assembly leader George Plescia of La Jolla looks like a "startled deer," and the governor calls Republican legislators a "wild bunch" and a "unique, unruly group."
The remarks came in the spring as the governor was in negotiations with Republican lawmakers over his plan to place several bond issues on the November ballot.
It was not known why the session was taped, but the Times said Schwarzenegger sometimes records private meetings so that speechwriters can keep a record of his thoughts and speaking patterns.
The newspaper did not say how the tape was obtained. The participants suggest during the meeting that they know they are being recorded.
profiling? :-\
This stuff is pure entertainment. Hilarious to watch the PC ninnies go berserk.
Just goes to show you what happens when someone takes a comment out of context. Now if someone had said, "They behave in a criminal manner because they are Latino's", and the Gov. had replied, "I agree completely". That might be a different story.
But this comment is taken completely out of context.
You know those Austrians. They have that blind devotion to charismatic leaders thing in their blood.
I went to school with a few Latinos who said the exact same thing.
That's right. Latinos will be the first to admit it. Hey, let's see if that works for them on Survivor.
I'm married to a man who's a mix of Sicilian, Portuguese, "light" Spaniard and Irish.
Hell yeah he's "hot" and I LOVE it.....;D
Yup.
He's hot.
I'd add some others to the hot or fiery category....Greeks, Italians, Romanians come to mind. Really, every ethnic group has some kind of quirk or particular kind of craziness. God forbid we admit such things.
from the La times piece...
Gov.'s Candid Moments Caught on Audiotape
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-meeting8sep08,0,5945392.story?coll=la-home-headlines
---
Participants were Kennedy, who was Cabinet secretary under former Gov. Gray Davis; Gary Delsohn, a former Sacramento Bee reporter and author who recently became Schwarzenegger's chief speechwriter; and Walter Von Huene, a former TV director who is a close friend of the governor. Von Huene, a fellow cigar smoker and chess partner of Schwarzenegger, also serves as an informal speech coach.
Schwarzenegger's voice is heard first on the recording. He teases Delsohn and lavishly praises Kennedy as the conversation begins, suggesting that he knows the recording device is on. He calls Kennedy a "major, major champion."
"Got that on tape?" Kennedy says.
"It's on tape," Delsohn answers.
--
delsohn is Gary Delsohn, reporter from the Sac Bee..
Kennedy is Susan Kennedy, not Teddy K, altho I suspect the comment is true for him as well.
I know some will call this "racist." But this is the self proclaimed personality of these people. Arnold's illustration was of a man he knew who no doubt felt this to be so.(Oliva)
Personally, I am a "white bread" American who once was engaged to a Pueto Rican lady who greatly changed my viewpoint on "life."
If a group of people claim a character trait as their own, and a white person then acknowledges such- is that "racist?"
You can take the Governor out of Hollywood, but you can't take the Hollywood out of the Governor.
And they love a good parade! 8-)
Thanks,
Just for the record.
I never injected the word race, racism, or racist into the argument.
The word profiling can apply to any number of individual considerations.
I like rye and wheat bread myself but alas like you am a white dude by birth, no matter how much hip hop and reggae I listen to. ;-)
Welllllll,
being married to a Latina babe, I can confirm that he is correct on several different counts:
1) My wife is a hottie.
2) My wife as a HOT! temper.
3) She likes HOT weather.
QED, Arnold is stating nothing but facts here.
(No more Olmert! No more Kadima! No more Oslo! )
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