The cynical manipulation of Hitler's legacy for political purposes [Arnold Schwarzenegger]

Jewish World Review ^ | August 13, 2003 | Zev Chafets

[SJackson]

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.

[Brilliant]

Let me get this straight: The Dems think that Schwarzenegger is a Hitler clone?

[SJackson]

The issue has been raised, most notably by Katie Couric, based largely on the fact that he was a friend of Kurt Waldheims, a friendship that preceded the worlds knowledge of his WWII duties, and that his father was a member of the Nazi party while serving as a policeman in Austria. Slander, pure and simple.