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Schwarzenegger erased from Graz [Tookie Williams Barf Alert]
BBC ^ | Tuesday, 27 December 2005 | BBC

Posted on 12/27/2005 1:25:21 PM PST by indcons

Arnold Schwarzenegger's name has been expunged from the websites of his Austrian hometown in the latest chapter of the row over the US death penalty.

The editing came a day after the California governor's name was removed from Graz's main football stadium.

Local politicians berated Mr Schwarzenegger - one of Graz's most famous sons - after he refused to pardon a prominent US death row inmate.

The governor subsequently made clear he wanted nothing more to do with Graz.

He returned a "ring of honour" the city awarded him in 1999 and demanded his name no longer be used in promotional material.

Governor reacts

References to Mr Schwarzenegger's name have now been erased from the town's main website and from a sister site about the region's sports activities.

A page devoted to the town's "famous sons and daughters" no longer features his name, and a profile which was once accessible now tells readers that the page cannot be found.

"It's all settled," Thomas Rajakovics, a spokesman for Graz Mayor Siegfried Nagl, told Austrian media.

The official Graz site still carried a news account of the renaming of the stadium, which reverted to its original name of Liebenau Stadium after his name was removed late on Sunday.

The spat is over Mr Schwarzenegger's refusal to use his powers pardon the former Los Angeles gang leader Stanley "Tookie" Williams, who was executed for murder earlier this month.

US campaigners had long called for Williams' life to be spared, arguing that he had left behind his violent past in jail to become an advocate of reconciliation.

Graz assembly members condemned Mr Schwarzenegger's support for the death penalty, which is illegal in Austria.

The governor reacted by writing to Graz officials asking for his name to be removed from the arena and ordering the city to stop using it for promotional purposes.

He also said he was returning a "ring of honour" the city awarded him in 1999.

A naturalised US citizen, he was elected governor of California in 2003 and has confirmed he will seek re-election next year.


TOPICS: Foreign Affairs; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: austria; graz; liebenaustadium; oldeurope; schwarzenegger; stadium; tookie; tookiewilliams
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"The governor subsequently made clear he wanted nothing more to do with Graz.

He returned a "ring of honour" the city awarded him in 1999 and demanded his name no longer be used in promotional material."

1 posted on 12/27/2005 1:25:23 PM PST by indcons
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To: indcons

I was amazed that the powers that be actually really considered calling the stadium "Crips Stadium" after this debacle. This per this morning's International Herald Tribune.


2 posted on 12/27/2005 1:27:57 PM PST by BunnySlippers (Happy Festivus!)
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To: BunnySlippers

EuroTrash bttt.


3 posted on 12/27/2005 1:29:43 PM PST by pogo101
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To: indcons
He returned a "ring of honour" the city awarded him in 1999 and demanded his name no longer be used in promotional material.

Gutsy. I'm glad he responded with a "no, you shut up" as opposed to trying to "rebuild bridges of friendship" or "open a dialogue." The higher and more publicly raised his middle finger was, the better. It's about time elected Republicans in general decided to stop turning the other cheek to leftists.

4 posted on 12/27/2005 1:31:50 PM PST by Gordongekko909 (I know. Let's cut his WHOLE BODY off.)
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To: BunnySlippers

"...the powers that be actually really considered calling the stadium "Crips Stadium" after this debacle. This per this morning's International Herald Tribune."

What??

On second thoughts, this news is not really surprising. After all, this is the country that gave Adolf Hitler to the civilized world.


5 posted on 12/27/2005 1:31:57 PM PST by indcons
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To: BunnySlippers

Link, please? This monument to stupidity must be preserved.


6 posted on 12/27/2005 1:32:17 PM PST by Gordongekko909 (I know. Let's cut his WHOLE BODY off.)
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To: indcons

Arnold is right. Why should he even care what Graz thinks of him. He did the right thing by telling them to stick it.

Graz who??


7 posted on 12/27/2005 1:33:36 PM PST by HOTTIEBOY (If the enemy is in shooting range, so are you.)
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To: indcons
This is just sad. Arnold has a great life story that should be told throughout Austria and the world. It shines a great light on America and all the possibilities America has to offer.

To bad a low-life killer is able to put a stain on the story of Arnold's life.

8 posted on 12/27/2005 1:33:56 PM PST by yellowdoghunter (Thank you President Bush for Judge Alito!)
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To: indcons
the new name for the stadium has been re-crafted to reflect the personalities of the local electorate and local politicians.

"Welcome to Girly-Man Stadium"
9 posted on 12/27/2005 1:34:03 PM PST by Vaquero
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To: Vaquero

It's more like "Girly Man City"


10 posted on 12/27/2005 1:35:36 PM PST by Loud Mime (Libs will oppose terrorists when they turn into smoking, christian, whale killers)
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To: Gordongekko909

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10450663/from/RS.4/

In Schwarzenegger's hometown of Graz, local Greens said they would file a petition to remove his name from the southern city's sports stadium. A Christian political group went even further, suggesting it be renamed the "Stanley Tookie Williams Stadium."

"Mr. Williams had converted, and unlike Mr. Schwarzenegger, opposed every form of violence," said Richard Schadauer, the chairman of the Association of Christianity and Social Democracy.


11 posted on 12/27/2005 1:36:39 PM PST by indcons
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To: indcons

Just like the old Stalinists, removing faces from pictures and names from records of victims they murdered.


12 posted on 12/27/2005 1:40:25 PM PST by KC_Conspirator
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To: indcons
I wonder how many Jews from Graz were sent to "Relocation Camps" in the late 30's/early 40's, or if anyone of the city's "fathers" or their relatives were involved in the outing of Non-Arien blood in their town to the Gestapo ... hummmmmm.
13 posted on 12/27/2005 1:41:22 PM PST by MaDeuce (Do it to them, before they do it to you!)
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To: indcons
The governor subsequently made clear he wanted nothing more to do with Graz.

That statement from the article is misleading. They were only considering taking the name off when Arnold preempted them and told them to remove it (I believe).

14 posted on 12/27/2005 1:42:18 PM PST by Gator101
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To: Gator101

Opps...my bad. I should have read the article more closely.


15 posted on 12/27/2005 1:44:12 PM PST by Gator101
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To: Gator101

Some Austrians wanted to name it the "Tookie Williams Stadium"...LOL


16 posted on 12/27/2005 1:44:41 PM PST by indcons
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To: indcons
The audacity of Austrian officials meddling in the affairs of our state government is ludicrous. Good riddance.
17 posted on 12/27/2005 1:48:31 PM PST by tioga (Happy New Year!)
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To: yellowdoghunter

Good point.Arnold came here with nothing,put bodybuilding on the map,became an actor,made lots of money(legally),.........I'm boycotting Austria.Arnold made the right decision.Tookie was a sociopathic killer.


18 posted on 12/27/2005 1:48:52 PM PST by Thombo2
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To: indcons

You've got to read way down in the article before you find that Arnold told them to take his name off.

No bias here. (/sarcasm)


19 posted on 12/27/2005 1:50:00 PM PST by Not A Snowbird (Official RKBA Landscaper and Arborist, Duchess of Green Leafy Things)
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To: BunnySlippers

One has to wonder just what the anti-capital
punishment nations do with their incorrigible
criminals. Maybe they support them for decades
and then let them go back into society...on the
assumption they are too old to do any further
damage to the nation? Or maybe they try
shipping them out of the country. There was
a lot to be said for the old Devil's Island
treatment before the world shrank due to
modern inventions.
Anyway, I begrudge every tax-paid-for meal
the Charles Mansons of this world receive.
A little lethal injection is much cheaper;
and cheap was the value they held on human
life in the first place. I see no logic in
building huge estalishments to house these
animals. It would be different if they were
a rare specie in our world.


20 posted on 12/27/2005 1:50:06 PM PST by Grendel9 (u)
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