Posted on 06/21/2004 6:22:17 AM PDT by Theodore R.
Arnold un-Reagan-like
Posted: June 21, 2004 1:00 a.m. Eastern
© 2004 WorldNetDaily.com
Now that a decent interval has passed since the moving tributes and funeral of the late Ronald Reagan, maybe it's time to comment on something unseemly that took place before the late president was laid to rest.
There was Margaret Thatcher, the former prime minister of Great Britain, standing next to California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Thatcher recited the Pledge of Allegiance to the flag of the United States of America – not her own flag.
Schwarzenegger, an American running the executive branch of government of the largest state in the union, did not.
I didn't notice it when it took place. It was brought to my attention by a caller to my radio program. I had to go back and check the tapes. Sure enough, the caller was right.
Since then, other people who witnessed the funeral have told me they noticed it right away.
I wonder how many millions of people around the world took notice?
This troubles me.
I always liked Schwarzenegger's movies. But I've never liked him as a politician. I don't think he has any principles, any deeply held convictions, any beliefs beyond what the pollsters and the media advisers tell him.
Most of the positions he has taken are wrong. And when he takes the right position on an issue, you never know if he will reverse himself the following week.
Now this.
How can one explain why the governor of California, of all people, would not say the Pledge of Allegiance at an internationally televised funeral for Ronald Reagan? What was he thinking? Was it an oversight of some kind? Was he so in awe of the event that he lost himself? Is it possible he doesn't know the words? Maybe it's time for a crash course.
I've tried to think about this in ways in which I could give him the benefit of the doubt.
But I'm deeply troubled by it.
How embarrassing for our nation.
On the one hand, Lady Thatcher says the pledge though no one would expect her to do so. She's a British citizen who should not be expected to pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America. But she did. And she is standing next to a man who has chosen America as his adopted homeland – a man in a high-profile elected office – and he refuses to say it.
To me, this is more egregious than Bill and Hillary Clinton apparently dozing off during the eulogies at the National Cathedral. That bit of rudeness should be expected from a couple of cheap politicians. But I can't even imagine Bill or Hillary failing to say the Pledge of Allegiance – not when they know the whole world is watching.
I think Arnold Schwarzenegger needs to explain himself.
After all, Sen. Orin Hatch, R-Utah, has introduced legislation in the U.S. Congress to amend the Constitution so that the foreign-born Schwarzenegger could someday run for president. I don't expect that amendment to go anywhere, but, nevertheless, it has been introduced.
And Schwarzenegger is still the governor of California –the state, ironically enough, from where the latest challenge to the Pledge of Allegiance, and its "under God" phrase, went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court.
He needs to explain himself and apologize for the poor etiquette and unpatriotic attitude he displayed during the Reagan funeral. It was a slight not only to the United States of America, but to the late president.
Comparisons have actually been drawn between Schwarzenegger and Reagan. Reagan, an actor, launched his political career as governor of California. But, as far as I'm concerned, that's where the comparisons stop.
We all knew Ronald Reagan. And Arnold Schwarzenegger is no Ronald Reagan.
I think there's more to this story that Farah doesn't know or isn't telling. Schwarz. has recited the Pledge many times and has led schoolchildren in it. If anything, he would WISH to be seen doing it on camera.
Of course, your post's comment that seeks to reduce him to nothing more than Ted Kennedy's nephew-in-law shows what your real agenda is here: "I Hate Arnold, So Here's An Article Trying To Make Him Look Bad."
Better such a "nephew" than 12% for McClintock and keeping Gray Davis in office (or having BustaMecha).
Doesnt Arnold have dual citizenship...Austria and the U.S.A.?
I wondered if Orrin Hatch was trying to curry favor with his friend EMK by offering the amendment so that the foreigh-born could seek the presidency. EMK is Maria's uncle, but EMK probably does not want to see Arnold as president despite the in-law tie.
No. He was naturalized as a US citizen in the early 1980s. Naturalization includes the renunciation of prior citizenship(s).
For the record, for Thatcher to recite the pledge of allegiance was a breach of protocol.
I don't think this is actually true. Many naturalized citizens can retain their original citizenship.
In the fifth grade, we began the day with the Lord's Prayer and the pledge. One day during the Lord's Prayer, while saying and feeling the words I was also looking out the window at the trees and blue sky while lost in deeply appreciating God. I was in deep concentration about the moment and the Lord's Prayer. That waqs probably the most sincere I had ever been in reciting the prayer. Afterwards, our very stern teacher said she was appalled that one would not bow one's head during the prayer. I immediately felt a rush of embarrassment although she had called no one by name. Perhaps Arnold was experiencing a similar event.
Looking back as an adult I wonder how she knew unless she herself did not have her head bowed.
Here's the information from the State Department's website. Couple of interesting exerpts:
A U.S. citizen may acquire foreign citizenship by marriage, or a person naturalized as a U.S. citizen may not lose the citizenship of the country of birth.U.S. law does not mention dual nationality or require a person to choose one citizenship or another.
The U.S. Government recognizes that dual nationality exists but does not encourage it as a matter of policy because of the problems it may cause. You can read more here: http://travel.state.gov/dualnationality.html
The way the law seems to work, dual citizenship is up to the other country. Taking the US oath of citizenship may cause the person's original country to revoke the person's citizenship, but the US doesn't revoke it automatically.
Let's all hope you don't come to regret that arguable assumption. BTW, the polling data I read showed that had Arnold not run McClintock would have won.
Okay, I did some research. Well, I looked it up on the Web.
It seems that most countries do allow dual citizenship - at least 93. So more allow it than do not.
Austria does not generally allow it, but does under certain (unspecified) circumstances. It is widely reported that Arnold does hold dual citizenship, and I can't find any evidence that he has corrected this notion. So it's a good bet that he does.
*L* Fair enough -- but I'd probably take that bet.
BTW, did your research indicate which countries that generally "allow dual citizenship" also specifically permit it for persons who take a naturalization oath in another nation? There's an important distinction there.
See, plenty of nations allow it for, say, persons born to parents of different citizenship, but still disallow it for persons who, as adults, take a "renunciation" oath, who serve in foreign military outfits, etc.
yeah, i guess according to you, its a great thing to support a man who promotes evil on a regular basis?
unlimited abortion, sodomite unions, cloning, affirmative action, gun control, unlimited abortions, stem cell research, open borders, borrowing billions of dollars to paper over deficits, drivers licenses for illegals, trying to force citizens to hand over 75% of legal judgements to papa govt (for the good of the whole). i guess collectvism and marxism is great as long as hero arnie has an R next to his name.?
if you really researched arnie and his associations, you would realize why he didn't bother saying the pledge.
California needs to stick a fork in itself. Out of its 35 million people, it cannot even find an American-born citizen to be its governor.
It was inexcusable. Our leaders should be held up to the highest standard of conduct and yes, this includes our Governor.
Margaret Thatcher paid respect to what it means to be an American. We should expect no less from our own countrymen.
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