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A low blow at Arnold
NY Daily News ^ | August 10 2003 | Zev Chafets

Posted on 08/10/2003 10:07:06 AM PDT by knighthawk

I want to say something about the accusations that California gubernatorial candidate Arnold Schwarzenegger is - how to put it? - too Austrian.

But before I do, I need to make something clear about my attitude toward Austria: I don't like it.

All my life I have endeavored to avoid Austrian products (not hard if you're not into beer and cookies). I've never visited the place and don't intend to.

My aim isn't to singlehandedly destroy the Austrian tourist industry. It's just that hanging out with Adolf Hitler's countrymen isn't my idea of a relaxing vacation.

I'd probably dislike Austria no matter what kind of country it became after World War II. But the modern version strikes me as an unnecessarily nasty place. Decades after Germany took responsibility for the crimes of the Nazis, Austria still falsely portrays itself as Hitler's victim instead of his enthusiastic supporter.

The country seems to have a passion for louses. In the 1970s, Austrian Chancellor Bruno Kreisky was a prominent supporter of Yasser Arafat and other Arab terrorists. More recently, the neofascist Freedom Party has been a member in good standing of Austria's coalition government. That party's leader is Jorg Haider, an admirer of Hitler and friend of Saddam Hussein's.

Before Haider, there was Kurt Waldheim. The fact that the former UN secretary general was a Nazi war criminal didn't deter the Austrians from electing him president in 1986.

Which brings me back to Arnold. Since announcing his candidacy on the Jay Leno show, he has become the object of a campaign to smear him as a Nazi sympathizer. The paint comes mostly from "Arnold: An Unauthorized Biography," written by Wendy Leigh and published in 1990.

Waldheim is the brush.

According to Leigh, Schwarzenegger is close to Waldheim - so close, in fact, that he invited the ex-Nazi to his Hyannis Port, Mass., wedding to Kennedy cousin Maria Shriver. Waldheim thoughtfully didn't show up, but he did send a gaudy gift. This reportedly prompted Arnold to declare his love (and Maria's) for Herr Waldheim.

This friendship forms the basis of a politically motivated gambit to disqualify Arnold from political office. Slate's Timothy Noah summed up the campaign nicely: "If Schwarzenegger doesn't renounce Waldheim in a highly public way, he can forget about ever becoming governor of California."

Really?

Schwarzenegger was born in 1947. He has lived most of his life in the United States. True, his father was a Nazi police official in the old country, but that isn't Arnold's fault. In fact, it was Arnold who outed the old man by asking the Los Angeles-based Simon Wiesenthal Center to investigate his father's past.

Schwarzenegger himself is a strong supporter of Israel and a generous contributor to Jewish causes. For this he has been declared kosher by no less a hard-liner than the head of the Wiesenthal Center, Rabbi Marvin Heir.

Don't get me wrong. I'm not an Arnold fan. I've never liked his movies or his cheesy public persona. I also don't care who becomes the next governor of California. To me, it's like the debate over gay bishops in the Episcopal Church - interesting, but not my problem.

What I do care about is the cynical manipulation of Hitler's legacy for political purposes. Casting Schwarzenegger as a Nazi sympathizer - for the greater good of Gov. Gray Davis or any of the other candidates - is a crime against human memory.

By trivializing evil, California's Holocaust impliers become, wittingly or not, allies and accomplices of the Holocaust deniers.


TOPICS: News/Current Events; US: California
KEYWORDS: allornothinglosers; arnold; arnoldwillwin; california; convoluted; goarnoldgo; keysters; losers4mcclintock; mcclinton; mcloser; mcmarginalized; schwarzenegger; tomwho; vote4arnold; winners4arnold
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1 posted on 08/10/2003 10:07:07 AM PDT by knighthawk
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To: MizSterious; rebdov; Nix 2; green lantern; BeOSUser; Brad's Gramma; dreadme; Turk2; Squantos; ...
Ping
2 posted on 08/10/2003 10:07:39 AM PDT by knighthawk (We all want to touch a rainbow, but singers and songs will never change it alone. We are calling you)
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To: knighthawk
They're coming out of the woodwork.
3 posted on 08/10/2003 10:10:19 AM PDT by Hildy
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To: knighthawk
bump
4 posted on 08/10/2003 10:10:59 AM PDT by Salman (Mickey Akbar)
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To: knighthawk
" It's just that hanging out with Adolf Hitler's countrymen isn't my idea of a relaxing vacation."

Good thing liberals don't paint with too broad a brush...
5 posted on 08/10/2003 10:11:33 AM PDT by TheDon (Why do liberals always side with the enemies of the US?)
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To: knighthawk
Casting Schwarzenegger as a Nazi sympathizer - for the greater good of Gov. Gray Davis or any of the other candidates - is a crime against human memory.

The pigs on NPR were making sure everyone knew that Arnold's father was a Nazi.

6 posted on 08/10/2003 10:15:52 AM PDT by Drango (A liberal's compassion is limited only by the size of someone else's wallet.)
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To: knighthawk
True, his father was a Nazi police official in the old country

The other day on the Daily Show Jon Stewart made the point, "Everybody's Dad was a Nazi!"

7 posted on 08/10/2003 10:17:09 AM PDT by Zevonismymuse
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To: Drango
NPR= Nothing Personal,, Really! ;-)

Or maybe I should say Nazi Police Report

8 posted on 08/10/2003 10:20:17 AM PDT by NormsRevenge (Semper Fi ...&&&&&&&&&...SuPPort FRee Republic.....www.TomMcClintock.com..... NEVER FORGET)
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To: knighthawk
If they want to implicate or smear Arnold with guilt by association, why not bring up that he is married into the Kennedy family? That is the worst smear of all.
9 posted on 08/10/2003 10:20:51 AM PDT by Contra
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To: knighthawk
Seems to me that this guy needs to learn a bit more about Austria other than the two or three folks he mentions. Yeah their politicians were very weak during that period, but so was the rest of Europe. Some remained neutral out of fear and lack of ability to defend themselves. He also needs to examine his own thought and logic, for, such a person would certainly not want to be living in New York where we know the inhabitants there actually those that killed and expelled the Native Americans and killed the English, the Dutch and yes probably a few Germans and Austrians. And old Joe Kennedy hated the Austrians as well.....Sure!
10 posted on 08/10/2003 10:25:07 AM PDT by Utah Binger
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To: knighthawk
Arnie's dad was an Austrian cop. Even if he didn't like the Nazis, he still would have had to join the Party if he wanted to keep his position. One thing the Nazis always did first when taking power somewhere was to gain complete control of the police. In Chancellor Hitler's first govt., he gave most of the cabinet positions to his coalition parties. The two positions he kept for his party? Interior Minister for Germany AND Interior Minester for Prussia (the biggest state). Unlike the US, the Interior Ministry controls the police, not the national parks.

Of course, that's not saying Arnie's dad wasn't a nasty dude. But the fact that his membership seems to have come after the Aunschluss seems to imply the usual opportunism. Today, he'd probably be a prominent Democrat.

11 posted on 08/10/2003 10:26:04 AM PDT by LenS
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To: Contra
LOL!
12 posted on 08/10/2003 10:26:32 AM PDT by MEG33
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To: knighthawk
Senator Byrd, your starched white laundry is ready...
13 posted on 08/10/2003 10:29:19 AM PDT by StatesEnemy
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To: knighthawk
Gee, and I thought bigrotry against someone because of national origion was illegal....I guess liberal bigotry is OK. I am actually surprised this got printed in a paper.
14 posted on 08/10/2003 10:31:42 AM PDT by Always Right
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To: knighthawk
"My aim isn't to singlehandedly destroy the Austrian tourist industry. It's just that hanging out with Adolf Hitler's countrymen isn't my idea of a relaxing vacation."

I guess he won't go to Italy either because he won't like hanging around with Mussolini's countymen.
15 posted on 08/10/2003 10:35:18 AM PDT by duckman
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To: knighthawk
It is evil to follow Hitler yet these liberals worship at the feet of Stalin and Saddam.
16 posted on 08/10/2003 10:36:02 AM PDT by Just mythoughts
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To: Always Right
"I guess liberal bigotry is OK. I am actually surprised this got printed in a paper."

There you go again, expecting consistency from liberals. Don't you know that LIBERAL bigotry is ALWAYS OK, and that in fact, if a position is liberal, it cannot, by definition, be bigotry, no matter how much it might look like it (kind of like racism---if you happen to be black, you CANNOT, by definition, display racism).

17 posted on 08/10/2003 10:45:10 AM PDT by Wonder Warthog (The Hog of Steel)
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To: knighthawk
I want to say something about the accusations that California gubernatorial candidate Arnold Schwarzenegger is - how to put it? - too Austrian.

Okay, I give up. WHO has leveled these accusations? From everyone I know here in California (y'know...where the recall is happening? where the voters on this matter exclusively reside), the Austrian thing isn't even a bottom-of-the-barrel issue.

-Jay

18 posted on 08/10/2003 10:54:38 AM PDT by Jay D. Dyson (Steamroll the RINOs -- Vote for Tom McClintock! -- http://www.tommcclintock.com/)
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To: knighthawk
My Mom was from Austria. This guy needs his butt kicked.

19 posted on 08/10/2003 11:11:56 AM PDT by Tony in Hawaii (Actually Tarzana CA)
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To: Jay D. Dyson
Okay, I give up. WHO has leveled these accusations? From everyone I know here in California (y'know...where the recall is happening? where the voters on this matter exclusively reside), the Austrian thing isn't even a bottom-of-the-barrel issue.

If I'm not mistaken, it was perky Katie "The Colon" Couric who set the new land speed record for gratuitous slams. She brought up Arnold's father's Nazi past on Thursday morning's Today Show following his late Wednesday night announcement.

I don't think it's going to have any traction here but it is being brought up fairly frequently.

Go Tom McClintock!!

20 posted on 08/10/2003 11:18:21 AM PDT by Bob
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