Posted on 09/08/2006 9:11:49 AM PDT by NormsRevenge
On a tape of a closed-door meeting with advisers, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger says that Cubans and Puerto Ricans are naturally feisty and temperamental because of their combination of "black blood" and "Latino blood."
"I mean Cuban, Puerto-Rican, they are all very hot," the governor says on the recording obtained by the Los Angeles Times and made available on its Web site Friday. "They have the, you know, part of the black blood in them and part of the Latino blood in them that together makes it."
The six-minute tape was made earlier this year. On it, Schwarzenegger and Chief of Staff Susan Kennedy speak affectionately of Assemblywoman Bonnie Garcia, R-Cathedral City, and speculate about her nationality.
Garcia, who is Puerto Rican and the legislature's only Latina Republican, told the Times the governor's remarks did not bother her.
"I love the governor because he is a straight talker just like I am," she said. "Very often I tell him, 'Look, I am a hot-blooded Latina.' I label myself a hot-blooded Latina that is very passionate about the issues, and this is kind of an inside joke that I have with the governor."
Schwarzenegger spokeswoman Margita Thompson said in a statement the remarks were "a small part of a long conversation that is taken totally out of context."
"The governor respects every member of the Legislature and holds them in the highest regard," Thompson said. "It is not uncommon for him to have fun and joke with the members while they're working, especially during very tense negotiations."
The recording is full of frank and comic assessments of fellow Republicans from Schwarzenegger and his staff.
Kennedy, a Democrat who also worked for former governor Gray Davis, says Republican Assembly leader George Plescia of La Jolla looks like a "startled deer," and the governor calls Republican legislators a "wild bunch" and a "unique, unruly group."
The remarks came in the spring as the governor was in negotiations with Republican lawmakers over his plan to place several bond issues on the November ballot.
It was not known why the session was taped, but the Times said Schwarzenegger sometimes records private meetings so that speechwriters can keep a record of his thoughts and speaking patterns.
The newspaper did not say how the tape was obtained. The participants suggest during the meeting that they know they are being recorded.
"WHERE ARE THE PICTURES OF HOT LATINA WOMEN?"
What he said.
The Diversity Police Gestapo say, "YES!"
Transcript of comments
http://www.pe.com/breakingnews/local/stories/PE_News_Local_D_commentstranscript09.15ecba2.html
The following is a transcript of remarks about Assemblywoman Bonnie Garcia, R-Cathedral City, during a private meeting in Gov. Schwarzenegger's office on the Capitol's first floor. Chief of Staff Susan Kennedy also was in the room.
Transcript of comments
The Los Angeles Times reported the comments in Friday's editions and posted the recording on its Web site.
Schwarzenegger (referring to Assembly Republican Leader George Plescia, R-San Diego): "It will be interesting if, how he, if he can control that, that wild bunch upstairs. Because that's like a very unique, unruly bunch of guys...and girls.
Kennedy: "Yeah. Bonnie Garcia is great. She's a ball-buster. She's great. Is she Puerto Rican?"
Schwarzenegger: "She seems to me like Cuban."
Kennedy: "She's not Mexican."
Schwarzenegger: "No"
Kennedy: "But she said something and I thought, I thought she was Puerto Rican."
Schwarzenegger: "She maybe is Puerto Rican or the same thing as Cuban. I mean, they are all very hot. They have the, you know, part of the black blood in them and part of the, the Latino blood in them that together makes it.
"Because I had a friend that, Sergio Oliva, who was competing against me and he was like that."
Good question, who stands to gain the most from its release?
beware of moles, :-o
Agreed.
Wait 'til you meet a half-Australian, half-Russian.
My German and Scottish heritage allowed me to hold my own in my younger days, at least when it came to beer, wine, and Jagermeister.
Now, it would probably kill me...at least I'd die with a smile on my face.
a little excerpt from later version of article
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Assemblyman Mervyn Dymally, chairman of the state's Legislative Black Caucus, said the governor called him Friday to apologize, but he stopped him.
“I said look, if in fact this were a crime, Willie Brown would be in jail right now,” Dymally said, laughing, referring to the sharp-tongued former San Francisco mayor and state legislator who led the Assembly for 14 years.
Wow, props to Mervyn.
I don't know how Willie would take to leaving all his $3,000 suits behind..
Boob Mulhollaond has denied any knowledge of the leak. He said he has a hard time even turning on his computer, just ask Susan Kennedy. lol
Keep they,and the Chinese, away from casinos!
Since we are in a non-PC mode today,I'd thought I'd throw out that dirty little secret too!
Where are the pics of the hot Latino chicks?
Go back to some of the pro-illegal demos last Spring.THOSE senoritas were hot!
Not that that justifies their cause but hot is hot!
and he wasn't even intoxicated when he made these racist comments.
Meredith Vieira new cohose of the Today Show is Portugese, wonder how hot he thinks she is.
** OUR FRIENDS AT THE L.A. TIMES, THOSE GREAT FRIENDS OF ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER, HAVE BEEN VERY MYSTERIOUS ABOUT WHERE THEY GOT THAT TAPE
I revealed yesterday of Schwarzenegger modestly dishing on a few Republican figures. Let’s clear up that “mystery” for the folks at the erstwhile Time Mirror Square right now. The Timesies are so modest. They got the tape from a transcription service.
I have done a fair amount of ghost writing for some famous people. (None of whom are named Arnold Schwarzenegger, incidentally.) In the course of it, you record the principal to get a sense of her or his tone and cadence so as to better write in his or her voice. Schwarzenegger’s speechwriters, I can tell you, have done this as a matter of course. The tapes are then sent to a transcription service. Somehow, one or more of those tapes was obtained by LA Times reporter Bob Salladay, the only reporter to fly around the state with Democratic gubernatorial nominee Phil Angelides on his primary eve tour, and as of next Monday the chief political blogger for the Times
Karen Hanretty had this , it was an inside job.
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The real story is who among the governor’s staff leaked a confidential, private conversation to the media. Who betrayed Governor Schwarzenegger. Who deserves to be fired for this abuse. And most importantly, how can any member of the legislative leadership, whether Democrat or Republican, be assured that their private conversations with Governor Schwarzenegger will not be taped, transcribed and leaked to a reporter.
The blame for this fiasco does not rest on the shoulders of the Los Angeles Times. It rests squarely on the shoulders of one of the Governor’s own administration. And it betrays a weakness deep within.
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