Regards, Ivan
Posted on 07/19/2004 7:22:18 AM PDT by MadIvan
Democrats say comment sexist and homophobic
LOS ANGELES - A spokesman for Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said yesterday that the governor would not apologize for calling lawmakers "girlie men," despite criticisms from Democrats that the remark was sexist and homophobic.
Schwarzenegger said during a rally Saturday that Democrats were delaying the budget by catering to special interests, and that the lawmakers were "girlie men" if they refused to admit it. He also said Californians should vote out lawmakers who stand in the way of passing the budget.
"If they don't have the guts to come up here in front of you and say, 'I don't want to represent you, I want to represent those special interests, the unions, the trial lawyers' if they don't have the guts, I call them girlie men," Schwarzenegger said to the cheering crowd at a mall food court in Ontario.
The governor lifted the term from a long-running "Saturday Night Live" skit in which two pompous, Schwarzenegger-worshipping weightlifters repeatedly use it to mock those who don't meet their standards of physical perfection.
Democrats said Schwarz-enegger's remarks were insulting to women and gays and distracted from budget negotiations. Sen. Sheila Kuehl, a Santa Monica Democrat, said the governor had resorted to "blatant homophobia."
"It uses an image that is associated with gay men in an insulting way, and it was supposed to be an insult. That's very troubling that he would use such a homophobic way of trying to put down legislative leadership," said Kuehl, one of five members of the Legislature's Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Caucus.
"It's ironic that the governor would try to find a metaphor for weakness when his real problem is that we're being too strong," she added.
At a rally yesterday in Stockton, the governor gave a speech almost identical to the one he delivered in Ontario but without the "girlie men" remark. Spokesman Rob Stutzman said the line was dropped because Schwarzenegger had already sent the message he wanted to send, not because he regretted his remarks.
"It's a forceful way of making the point to regular Californians that legislators are wimps when they let special interests push them around," Stutzman said. "If they complain too much about this, I guess they're making the governor's point."
Assembly Speaker Fabian Nuez, D-Los Angeles, said that while he wasn't upset by the remark, his 13-year-old daughter was.
"She's a young girl who knows the governor and really likes him a lot and didn't find the term to be a positive term, and finds it to be derogatory," Nuez said. "It was no question a very, very insensitive comment to make. I personally am not intimidated or threatened by it, but I think it really is beneath Gov. Schwarzenegger."
Assemblyman Mark Leno, a San Francisco Democrat who is chairman of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Caucus, said he was glad Schwarzenegger didn't repeat the "girlie men" remark yesterday, saying it was "as misogynist as it is anti-gay."
"To disparage a group of law-abiding, tax-paying citizens is just wrong," Leno said.
The governor said in his criticism of Democrats that they were working for unions and trial lawyers because of their support for two labor bills. One law prohibits schools from contracting services with private companies and the other gives workers authority to sue their employers to enforce labor laws. Democrats and the governor also disagree on local financing issues.
Democrats say they back the bills because they help workers. Kuehl said Schwarz-enegger, not Democrats, was giving in to special interest groups.
"He's the one caving in to the tort reform special interests," she said.
Regards, Ivan
Ping!
Arnold went up ten notches in my book!!! DON'T APOLOGIZE!!
bttt
Good for Ahnold!!! It's about time someone levied such a charge against the political sellouts and called them what they are.
Oh I forgot Arnold is an evil Republican.
/sarcasm!
I see that the schools are doing thier job.
Jay Leno should have some good commentary on this tonight.
Good for him. He should use the "girlie men" term more often.
If the dims weren't such sissies, that description wouldn't bother them. :=)
Shut up Zelda.
I'm saving the headline from the LA Times on this one, it's a classic.
Just another example of the left not having a forward thinking thought that is useful. NO understanding of a reaction to their actions.
Speaker Nuez IS on of the "Girlie Men" in question ,in that he needs to hide behine his kid to make this very statement !!!!
What a putz !!
Only girlie men seek an apology when they are called girlie men.
Arnold is soaring in impression. He's attacking unions, trial lawyers and calling Dem's girly-men, I love it!
Pencil-neck !
2. That female DEM complainer is a manly-girl, not a girlie-man.
3. The DEMs didn't deny that they were beholden to special interests.
If anyone in his career has earned the right to express pride in being macho, it's Ahhhhnold.
I admire people who call things by their proper names!
Assemblyman Mark Leno, a San Francisco Democrat who is chairman of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Caucus, said he was glad Schwarzenegger didn't repeat the "girlie men" remark yesterday, saying it was "as misogynist as it is anti-gay."
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