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.
You are correct--the city made the first move, probably as a publicity stunt, and Arnie called their bluff.
1.) Ship Tookie's two criminal sons (the murderer and the child molester) to Graz and let them loose. The local Fraus and Frauleins might soon develop a different perspective on the Williams family.
2.) If you asked the actual "John Q Public" citizens of most European countries about capitol punishment you might hear a very different story than their Burgomasters and lefties agitators.
"1.) Ship Tookie's two criminal sons (the murderer and the child molester) to Graz and let them loose. The local Fraus and Frauleins might soon develop a different perspective on the Williams family."
A crime family, eh? Now, why doesn't that surprise me?
The Austrians will accept both sons as long as they lend their names the marketing of a childrens' book. /sarc
Note that you were fooled by the way BBC reported this information - which had to be their goal, given the language they used and style of presentation.
Arnold's name was removed AT HIS REQUEST. That is why it happened so quickly. He did not want them to get any publicity by threatening this in the future, as they have in the past.
Despite the way this article seems to spin it, the only stain I can see is that the moonbats (in America and various socialists that don't necessarily speak for all of the people of the town) had another chance to come out of the woodwork and the MSM used it as just another chance to bash another one of their favorite targets.
You had it right in post #14.
It's on the third page of this article:
http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/12/26/news/austria.php
.... One was to name the Stadium after the Crips, the gang that Williams founded, but that idea did not get widespread support. Another was to name it Hakoah, after an Austrian Jewish sports club that was banned after Hitler annexed Austria in 1938.
Oops, I meant to do a live link:
http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/12/26/news/austria.php
Hell, send ALL of Crips gang members convicted of murder live in with all these Austrian elitists who want to name the stadium after Tookie. I'm sure they'll have fun having to fed, house, and shelter gangbangers who are "victims" of the "racist" Americans. (Austria doesn't have many minorities anyway, being a fan of genonicide and all in the 30s)
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