Posted on 09/19/2003 3:13:26 PM PDT by gubamyster
POSTED: 7:51 a.m. PDT September 19, 2003
SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- At a time when the world was enveloped in the Cold War, Austrian teenagers were required to spend at least one year in the military. Among those young men was Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Now, a decision he made in those days may come back to haunt him during his recall campaign to replace Gray Davis.
KTVU has learned that the actor turned candidate went AWOL from the Austrian Army when he was 18 years old. Schwarzenegger climbed over a wall and attended a body building competition without permission from his superiors. He was imprisoned for seven days in a military stockade.
When asked about the incident at a campaign stop in Sacramento on Thursday, Schwarzenegger chose to let spokesman Sean Walsh speak for him.
"He broke the rules and he was punished for breaking the rules," Walsh said. "Some kids jay walk, some kids drive too fast and some kids break some infractions…He was a young, young man."
The revelation is just the latest incident involving Schwarzenegger, who also has been linked to smoking marijuana as a young man and also a magazine piece in which he admitted to using women merely for sex. U.C. Berkeley Political Scientist Jack Citrin said characater questions are becoming a growing problem for Schwarzenegger.
"You're talking about a person who's entire campaign to become governor is predicated upon his personal qualities," Citrin said. "His personal character, his strength, his ability to stand up to pressure…his willingness to do his duty. And so any news that chips away at that image is bound to have potential political consequences."
While admitting it was a serious violation, Austrian Consul General Donald Burns downplayed the incident.
"When his commanding officer found out about what had happened (Arnold won the competition) he said 'This is so good for the army, you can now train as an official part of your military experience.'"
Copyright 2003 by KTVU.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Tonights version of the CA recall circular firing squad begins again.
I'm gonna wait until the week before the election--whenever THAT is--for the *real* dirt to come out.
Well, it would be in California!
Arnold should be forced to do 50 push-ups, and 50 sit-ups for this terrible infraction...,,,...,,,...what's that you say? this was when he was 18? and he's done 100's of thousands of push-ups and sit-ups?
CASE CLOSED...another non-issue brought to you by your friends at the Davis/Cruz camp.
DD
Oh no, if they have film, he's DOOMED.
And no I won't shut up because I'm not a CA resident and can't vote.......I'm a member of FR who is tired of seeing this daily ritual of tearing each other apart......as the election to unseat Davis slips away.
While I am not on board the Arnold bandwagon, this is a relatively minor thing.
I agree, but news is news.
Not really. See my post above. Arnold related the story in a book he wrote in the 1980s.
More importantly, I think a candidate for governor of the largest state in the union, should be engaging in debates with his political opponents, show he's a fiscal conservative and take a no tax pledge, and not wait until after the recall election is over, to release some specifics of his economic recovery plan. Any good conservatiuve candidate would take such actions, if he/she was a real fiscal conservative. Arnold keeps proving he's not a real conservative and for good reason. Arnold is a liberal RINO.
The attacks on McClintock are vile also.....you all need to pull together out there.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.