Posted on 12/19/2005 1:52:29 PM PST by calcowgirl
SACRAMENTO - Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Monday told officials in his hometown in Austria to remove his name from a sports stadium and stop using his name to promote the city.
The governor's request came after politicians in Graz began a petition drive to rename the stadium, reacting to Schwarzenegger's decision last week to deny clemency to condemned inmate Stanley Tookie Williams. Opposition to the death penalty is strong in Austria.
In a letter that began "Dear Mister Mayor," Schwarzenegger said he decided to spare the Graz city council "further concern" should he be forced to make other clemency decisions while serving as California's governor. He faces another such decision regarding a 75-year-old inmate scheduled to be executed Jan. 17.
"In all likelihood, during my term as governor, I will have to make similar and equally difficult decisions," Schwarzenegger said in the letter. "In order to spare the responsible politicians of the city of Graz further concern, I withdraw from them as of this day the right to use my name in association with the Liebenauer Stadium."
The stadium had been renamed for the former Hollywood star in 1997. He said he wanted the lettering removed by year's end.
Schwarzenegger initially declined to respond to the political backlash after he denied clemency for Williams, the co-founder of the Crips gang who was convicted of four 1979 murders. Williams was executed shortly after midnight Dec. 13.
The Graz city council was expected to take up the matter on Jan. 19. The proposal to rename the stadium had support from the Greens party and the Social Democrats, giving it majority backing.
Schwarzenegger spokeswoman Margita Thompson said the letter was faxed to Graz city hall on Monday.
In it, Schwarzenegger also said he would no longer permit the use of his name "to advertise or promote the city of Graz in any way" and would return the city's "ring of honor."
The ring was given to him in a ceremony in Graz in 1999. At the time, Schwarzenegger said he considered it "a token of sincere friendship between my hometown and me.
"Since, however, the official Graz appears to no longer accept me as one of their own, this ring has lost its meaning and value to me. It is already in the mail," the governor wrote.
The letter notes that city officials will receive a follow-up letter from Schwarzenegger's attorney.
Despite the dispute with Graz officials, Schwarzenegger said he "will remain with all my heart a Grazer, a Steierer and an Austrian."
Steier is the state that includes Graz.
I take it he won't be back? LOL
Let see...Mozart, Haydn, Schubert, Strauss, Freud, von Mises, Porsche and even Arnie, those folks are as Austrian as you can get them.
Arnie sends a big STFU sandwich to the liberal elitists of Austria.
The fact that the city would threaten to remove his name from a stadium because of something that was entirely NOT ANY OF THEIR BUSINESS IN THE FIRST PLACE, they don't deserve to have his name up there. Terminate those euro liberal elitists Arnie!! Great job.
Yahh, but how many came from Graz?
Wonder what it's going to cost to re-print all their tourism information? Probably a pretty penny, and considering he's having his attorney do a follow up letter, they would be wise to have his name removed immediately or Arnie is going to own the town of Gratz.
Nee, me thinks he be saying more to the like..."Tschuess arschloecher"(hals und bein bruch)!.
Just as a side note Arnie has a Restaurant named "Schatzi"(treasure)
All because of bunch of self-rightous liberal elitists want to try to make a point.
Hope it costs them millions.
Who gives a hoot...question was about famous AUSTRIANS. Reread the statement!
I have been in Graz twice; do you know were Graz is, looking at the map?
Good for him.
Can we just rename our Governor, Tom?
Yes, I know where Graz is.
I looked it up on a map and read up on it two years ago when I saw that my new BMW had been assembled there on the sales papers.
I was just saying. The city of graz named the stadium after Arnold because he was from that city and USED to labeled "Graz's favorite son". The city made a huge deal about it when he became Governor.
They could name it Mozart stadium, but mozart was from Salzburg, etc...
Of course!...say you are from California, moved to Graz, became Austrian Citizen and famous action movie star, than all of a sudden you are the Governor of the state of Steienmark(Styria).
So the citizens of California named Coliseum after your name, because for what you became; a prominent Austrian citizen and politician from Californian roots.
And, yes it is a huge deal when a native Californian becomes the Governor of an Austrian State.
Now, let us reverse the issue and go to the main subject.
The fellow I answered, was asking for names of famous Austrians, beside the "Sound of Music" von Trapp's.
So, I gave him some Austrian names of prominent artists, engineers, philosophers, composers, musicians to name a few, as an example. Nothing more, nothing less.
Head 'em off at the pass, Arnie.
Play on his line...
Hasta la Vista, Baby...
Tschuess, Schatzi...
Schwarzenegger may well posses dual citizenship in the US but he's an Austrian who made a smart, calculated, legal move to avoid a potentially embarrassing challenge to his US citizenship application which, in turn, would have grave political consequences for him in the US.
Take some time to review relatively recent (1980s) US policy changes with regard to dual citizenship with a careful eye toward the definition of "intent" as it applies to a fraudulent application. Review carefully the definitions for the remaining, narrow challenges under that section pertaining to "residence change" and "active participation in the political affairs of the nation of origin".
I should have remembered Mozart. My musical knowledge isn't that great, concerning the others.
Yes, I forgot the Austrian School of Economics.
Forgot Porsche too.
Freud? Dang, I mentioned Freud saw blades earlier in the week. I had a bout with depression, and CBT only made it
worse. It's quackery, in my experience, and very unethical. If it was even a tiny bit ethical, the bozos I went to
would have realized that I wasn't a candidate for CBT. Don't get me started on Freud...
Sad that he had to do something in another country to impress me. I'd have been happier if he impressed me at home.
Sagenhaft Arnold!
"Don't get me started on Freud..."
Was in Vienna and went to Freud's office where he worked. It's a really neat place with an inner courtyard, and very charming building. Anyhow, we went inside Freud's place of work, saw the couch he had his "mental" patients lie on while he plied his trade, and some of his personal possessions as well.
As is my want, I had to use the "facilities" and asked the guy who worked there where the "WC" was (that's toilet for us plebians). He showed me to it, and it was a really quaint bathroom with a pull chain for flushing, and when I got out, I asked the gentleman if that was the original washroom from Freud's time. He said yes, so I went back in with my camera and took a picture of the toilet. When I got home I wanted to get the picture developed, blow it up large, and put a sign under it that said "Freud Sat Here". Unfortunately, I had my camera ripped off shortly thereafter in Italy, where pickpockets reign, and couldn't find the picture when I got home. Think some gypsy in Italy who has my camera also has Freud's toilet. Oh well.
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