Posted on 10/23/2008 6:20:27 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
The 22nd annual Women's Conference came to Long Beach on Wednesday and, at least at the beginning, men stole the show.
The conference got off to a humorous start during what was billed as a "once in a lifetime conversation" between Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and billionaire investor extraordinaire Warren Buffett, moderated by television political talk show host Chris Matthews.
But what could have been austere talk about falling stock prices and glass ceilings drew laughter and gasps from many of the 10,000 women in the audience when Buffett, playing to the crowd, hit Matthews with a particularly challenging question: "If you could have changed your sex into that of a woman, would you have?"
Matthews smiled sheepishly, then rambled about the virtues of womanhood.
Schwarzenegger eventually reminded him: "You didn't answer the question." Then Schwarzenegger took off on his own ruminations about the power and potential of women, although he pointed out that, "Here in California, they do have men that become women."
Matthews fired back: "Is that what you mean by 'girlie boys'?" -- a reference to Schwarzenegger's infamous label for gutless legislators.
"It was funny, but it drove a point home," said Karen Kaliseck, executive vice president of Women Media, a website offering expert advice for working women. "Buffett stumped Matthews. But Matthews' hesitation to answer that question reflected the hesitation of corporate executives who do not take women to the top of the ladder."
Marta Vasel, a regional asset manager from Chicago, said: "There was no right answer to that question. But it made all these guys human."
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
Maybe the tingly feeling up his leg froze his brain??
arnold sure turned out to be a dud, didn’t he?
A buffet of Schwarzenegger-Buffett quotes
(snip)
"I always say that in investing you want to buy stock in a company that has a business that's so good that an idiot can run it, because sooner or later one will," Buffett said. "We have a country like that."JERKS.Notably, his first line generated laughs, while his second one generated applause.
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