Free Republic

LOS ANGELES — This would seem a moment of great opportunity for California Republicans. The state has become a national symbol of fiscal turmoil and dysfunction, the Legislature is nearly as unpopular as Congress and Democrats control every branch of government. But instead, the state party — once a symbol of Republican hope and geographical reach and which gave the nation Ronald Reagan (and Richard M. Nixon) — is caught in a cycle of relentless decline, and appears in danger of shrinking to the rank of a minor party. “We are at a lower point than we’ve ever been,” said...

When President Barack Obama announced an agreement to double fuel-economy requirements Friday, standing with him were industry executives and environmental, public health and labor leaders, all of whom, remarkably, had signed off on the deal. But the real credit for this historic achievement, which is expected to cut oil consumption by 1.5 million barrels per day and eliminate half of all carbon pollution nationwide, doesn't go to the White House. Instead, thank California. For decades the state has set the nation's clean-energy agenda; it's been the tip of the spear in the fight for higher fuel standards. Its huge automobile...

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Arnold Schwarzenegger has indicated in court filings that he does not want to pay Maria Shriver spousal support or her attorney's fees in their divorce case. ... The issues of whether Shriver will receive spousal support and who will pay her attorney's fees are the only differences in their initial filings to end their 25-year marriage.

The Lionsgate project has been off, then on, then off, and now on again. The studio in May had been on the verge of announcing that Arnold Schwarzenegger was starring in its long-in-development Western titled Last Stand, set up as the English-language debut of director Kim-ji-Woon. Then the actor pulled out just before his personal scandal went public and deep-sixed his marriage to Maria Shriver. But now the actor is back in the project and aiming to test his popularity post-divorce. I've learned that Arnold's deal with Lionsgate is not nearly as rich as the one CAA made for him...

Betrayal -- that's what living a cafeteria lifestyle means, so it's hard to feel too sorry for proud, self-proclaimed "cafeteria Catholic" Maria Shriver who is experiencing the reality of betrayal from her cafeteria husband. In 2008, Shriver told the world, via the Washington Post's religion blog, that she chooses what she wants from Church teaching: "Even though I consider myself a Catholic in good standing, I disagree with a lot of the teachings of the Church....I don’t believe that if someone’s divorced they shouldn’t get Communion; I don’t believe that people who are gay shouldn’t be accepted into the...

"I swear that I am not making this up." Dave Barry

Now that the tabloid feeding frenzy has abated somewhat, it's time for a cooler look at the furor over former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's fathering a child by one of his household workers. A few pundits have tried to make the connection between his marital betrayal and his failings as governor, but one has nothing to do with the other. Illicit sex involving political figures is nothing new and, as we know now, was rampant even among the nation's founders. More recently, we have seen scandals involving Bill Clinton, Eliot Spitzer, Strom Thurmond, Mark Sanford and John Edwards, to name but...

Ahnold's cheating may put him into legal trouble. The California Attorney General will conduct an “inquiry” into former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s alleged misuse of taxpayer funds to cover up his sexual liaisons, it was reported today. Probers are conducting a "preliminary evaluation" into Schwarzenegger’s double life, which allegedly included using his "state-funded security details to cover up women being escorted into his hotel room," according to RadarOnline.com. Veteran hotel security officer William Taylor said he witnessed Ahnold using California Highway Patrol cops and vehicles to carry "scantily-clad women in-and-out of his suite" at the Sacramento Hyatt Regency, where he and...

LOS ANGELES- Maria Shriver leaked the revelations about Arnold Schwarzenegger's love child to the media -- and has now hired a private investigator to find out whether her estranged husband fathered more children in secret.Shriver's friends had to persuade the "hysterical" former TV journalist not to hold a news conference when she found out in late April or early May that Schwarzenegger had fathered a son with the family's housekeeper, TMZ reported Tuesday.She agreed to keep quiet until a week after the couple announced the end of their 25-year marriage -- and then tipped off the LA Times that

Sacramento anti-tax advocate Ted Costa looks back at the events he set in motion when he helped kick off California's historic gubernatorial recall in 2003 - culminating in the election of Arnold Schwarzenegger - with more than a little disgust."He's betrayed the people who supported him from Day One," said Costa of the former GOP governor, who this week acknowledged betraying wife Maria Shriver by having an affair and an out-of-wedlock child with a housekeeper more than a decade ago. "I don't know why people are shocked." Melanie Morgan, the former KSFO conservative talk show host who was dubbed the...

Mother of Arnold Schwarzenegger's Love Child Revealed Mildred Patricia Baena is the woman with whom former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger fathered a son about 14 years ago, ABC News has learned. Known as Patty, she reportedly worked in the famliy home as a housekeeper and assistant for more than 20 years, until January.

In 2005, Maria Shriver told Vanity Fair that many people were surprised that a Kennedy clan member would marry Hollywood bodybuilder Arnold Schwarzenegger. "People at first were like, 'You married the other side of the tracks.' " She said, "They have trouble with the class thing. ... Everyone assumed that I was supposed to marry someone like a John Kerry, some preppy that had gone to Harvard or Yale. I didn't want to marry those boys - I did not like them. I had been around them my whole life. I interrupted the story line." Tuesday the Los Angeles Times...

LOS ANGELES – Former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has acknowledged that he fathered a child with a member of his household staff, a revelation that apparently prompted wife Maria Shriver to leave the couple's home before they announced their separation last week. Schwarzenegger and Shriver jointly announced May 9 that they were splitting up after 25 years of marriage. Yet, Shriver moved out of the family's Brentwood mansion earlier in the year after Schwarzenegger acknowledged the child is his, The Los Angeles Times reported Tuesday.

Former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and his wife, Maria Shriver, separated after she learned he had fathered a child more than a decade ago — before his first run for office — with a longtime member of their household staff. Shriver moved out of the family's Brentwood mansion earlier this year, after Schwarzenegger acknowledged the paternity. The staff member worked for the family for 20 years, retiring in January.

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Arnold Schwarzenegger and his wife, Maria Shriver, separated after the former governor revealed he had fathered a child with a member of their household staff, The Los Angeles Times reported Tuesday. The couple announced in a joint statement May 9 that they had separated after 25 years of marriage. The Times reported Tuesday that Shriver moved out of the family's Brentwood mansion earlier this year after Schwarzenegger acknowledged the child is his. "After leaving the governor's office I told my wife about this event, which occurred over a decade ago," Schwarzenegger said in a statement issued...

Arnold Schwarzenegger, Maria Shriver split over baby he fathered with member of household staff By Michael Sheridan DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER Tuesday, May 17th 2011, 5:57 AM Arnold Schwarzenegger and Maria Shriver announced their split in early May after having been together for 25 years. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Maria Shriver announced their split in early May after having been together for 25 years. The marriage between Arnold Schwarzenegger and Maria Shriver was terminated because he fathered a child with a member of his household staff, it was revealed Tuesday. The former Governor of California and his wife announced their separation...

After announcing his separation from wife Maria Shriver this week, a woman has alleged she was just one of many mistresses that shattered Arnold Schwarzenegger’s 25-year marriage. The 63-year-old Terminator actor denies an affair with Gigi Goyette, but the 52-year-old woman has said: ‘There were so many other women. About 13 have come out of the woodwork.’ She claims she met Schwarzenegger in 1975, when she was a 16-year-old child actress on Little House On The Prairie. Gigi claims that she slept with the star once in that year but did not see him again until 1989, during which...

Former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger sat down with Newsweek recently for one of the most extensive interviews since his January exit from office. Schwarzenegger addresses everything from criticisms of one of his final acts as the state's chief executive to his own body image in his post-bodybuilding days, saying the effect of aging on his 63-year-old physique makes him "feel sh--y when I look at myself in the mirror." Below are some excerpts from the more than 2,500-word piece. Read the full article at this link. On controversy surrounding his 11th hour decision to reduce the prison sentence for the son...

The father of a young man who was killed in a fight involving the son of former Assembly Speaker Fabian Núñez said Wednesday he is upset about a letter former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger sent him after reducing the younger Núñez's prison sentence. On Jan. 2, his last day in office, Schwarzenegger cut the prison sentence of Esteban Núñez from 16 years to seven. He didn't contact the Santos family to seek their opinions before he issued his order. On Saturday, Fred Santos, the victim's father, said a letter from Schwarzenegger arrived at his home "out of the blue." The letter,...

Most of former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's 11th-hour appointments came as no surprise: Friends, allies and administration workers were rewarded – sometimes well rewarded – in a ritual that has become a tradition for outgoing governors. But one appointment stood out. Former state Sen. Carole Migden, a liberal San Francisco Democrat, was named to the state Agricultural Labor Relations Board, the nation’s first state agency created to protect and regulate the collective bargaining rights of farm workers. The ALRB was signed into law by Gov. Jerry Brown, then in his first term, legislation that was supported by the late United Farm...