GIVE IN TO ARNOLD

Arnie is so pleased that 'America opened their arms & took him in'!

People are *really* stupid. Again.

http://www.gregpalast.com/detail.cfm?artid=284&row=0

This election proves me completely vindicated in that prejudice.

Arnold himself is really nothing to worry about. He has none of his own ideas worth repeating and will do whatever anyone says as long as he gets the roaring adulation of the populace, which is what he was after in the first place. There was an excellent editorial in either the NYT or the WP on the careless, unchecked narcissism that is Arnold, could somebody look it up?

It'll be interesting to see what they end up doing about the migrant worker massive. Somebody tax that labor!! Fuck poor people!!

Votes cast:

Schwarzenegger 3,288,361
Bustamante 2,234,026
McClintock 907,560

Um...folks, that's a landslide. Or a mudslide.

Reagan's biggest failing has to be his promising smaller government while presiding over an explosion in the size of the government. True, some programs were cut during his tenure, but his rhetoric didn't match his actions. Government spending went way up.

Not sure what this has to do with Arnold. It may be that they're both goofy and both are/were actors. Other than that, they may not have much in common. And if they do, it will be to Arnold's advantage.

I wonder if Arnold is going to be able to do anything he faces an electorate that hate taxes and a state in a huge amount of debt. Something will have to give, but that's obvious, no?

No, there's something confusion here. You can vote for that option, and that's precisely what I did.

Now he has to actually work with people in Sacramento, who are still largely Democrats. Bustmante had some tough words for him in this video.

"No" votes on recall (that is, votes for Davis): 3,438,424

Votes for Arnold (whether or not they voted for Davis in first place): 3,475,671

This is hardly a landslide.

He was a horrible governor who would have been beat last November had the theocrats in the Republican party had the sense to nominate a candidate with more moderate views.

The fish rots from the head down, and the voters of California properly blamed Davis for many of their problems. He rarely accepted any blame for anything, instead pointing to predictable boogeymen. He has been unliked by many, many people in his party for a long time.

Arnold won for the same reason that Jesse Ventura and Hillary Clinton did: their celebrity and outsider status transcended any requirement for experience, fresh ideas, or any sort of appreciation for the average voter. The difference is that Hillary walked into it with an armada of pols behind her and the two muscleheads don't have nearly the ally base required to get anything done. And Hillary's ability to raise money has made her a force in the party and the Senate.

Nothing much is going to change in California. The legislature is still dominated by Democrats who most certainly will do what they've always done, and the only way Arnold will change anything is if he goes over their head to the people. And I'm not sure he's the person for that job.

The fact remains that based on the numbers above we still can't determine whether more voters preferred Davis or Arnold.

If you look at it flatly, to use Douglas's description, notably more people voted for recall than against it -- a rejection of Davis, a rejection influenced by who was campaigning, to be sure, but also a clear if hardly resounding majority. Who was wanted for a replacement is where it gets muddied, but like DB said yesterday and like Dan and I have been saying about Gore all along, the clear loser in this campaign did not sell his case to the voters and suffered accordingly.

"California, your deficit has been ERASED."

*cough*
http://www.gregpalast.com/detail.cfm?artid=284&row=0 (as posted above)
*cough*

Issa's a tool and a half -- one of the pleasures of the campaign was him publicly realizing that after having kicked down all that cash he wasn't actually going to be able to campaign about it (keep in mind he's tried to run before and failed miserably each time). And the whole industry of getting signatures and how it's done is an interesting one, to say the least. Nonetheless, those signatures were found in the first place and in sufficient numbers to prompt the recall -- one wants to figure that Issa wouldn't have gambled the money if he didn't think he couldn't find those signatures anyway.

I'm not trying to say you don't have some sharp points, O. Nate! But while I'm not surprised at the vehemence against the result here and elsewhere (and hey, I sure wasn't voting for Arnie in recall terms or actual choice of candidate!) I am surprised at the incredulity a bit. I'm bemused and annoyed but I'm not surprised in the slightest with the end result.

it only works if the Republicans run a better campaign than the Democrats. WHICH THEY DID. Nothing helps
a nefarious plot along better than abject incompetence on the part of your victim.

Quite.

Arnold Schwarzenegger Rep 3,624,154 48.3
Cruz M. Bustamante Dem 2,400,264 32.0
Tom McClintock Rep 996,968 13.3
Peter Miguel Camejo Grn 209,189 2.8
Arianna Huffington Ind 42,288 0.6
Peter V. Ueberroth Rep 21,661 0.3
Larry Flynt Dem 15,155 0.3
Gary Coleman Ind 12,549 0.2
George B. Schwartzman Ind 10,788 0.2
Mary Cook Ind 9,855 0.2

...and at the bottom:

Kevin Richter Rep 257 0.0
Stephen L. Knapp Rep 251 0.0
William James Tsangares Rep 249 0.0
D. (Logan Darrow) Clements Rep 238 0.0
Robert A. Dole Rep 227 0.0
David E. Kessinger Dem 206 0.0
Gene Forte Rep 190 0.0
Todd Richard Lewis Ind 171 0.0

Let us salute the losingest of the losers Todd Richard Lewis -- who still at least got 171 people to vote for him!

http://www.bumhunts.com/images/bh_gov.gif

http://slate.msn.com/id/2089298/

Bruce Cain, the overquoted Berkeley professor, was just on television sneering that the recall doesn't get California any closer to solving its problems. What an idiot. Schwarzenegger as governor will have weapons Davis doesn't have, the most important of which is the ability to go over the heads of the legislature and rally public support--behind a ballot initiative, if necessary. He might even be able to threaten to go into legislators' districts and campaign against them (although the state is so heavily gerrymandered there may be no unsafe "swing" districts left). You want to amend the state Constitution to get rid of the paralyzing requirement that two-thirds of the legislature approve any budget? Schwarzenegger is the man who can do it. You want a tax increase if cutting the budget isn't enough to close the deficit? Schwarzenegger's the man for that too. As a nominal Republican, he is in a position to attract at least some Republican votes for a budget package that includes both taxes and cuts. And if even an anti-tax candidate like Schwarzenegger tells the voters some increases are needed, they're more likely to accept it from him than from a Democrat whose first instinct is to pay whatever it takes to avoid public employee layoffs.

Goodbye, world.

Cast (in credits order) verified as complete
Arnold Schwarzenegger .... Major Dutch
Carl Weathers .... Dillon
Elpidia Carrillo .... Anna
Bill Duke .... Sergeant Mac
Jesse Ventura .... Blain
Sonny Landham .... Billy
Richard Chaves .... Poncho Ramirez
R.G. Armstrong .... Gen. Phillips
Shane Black .... Hawkins
Kevin Peter Hall .... The Predator
Steve Boyum .... Hostage executed by The Russian (uncredited)
William H. Burton .... Man shot down from tree (uncredited)
Sven-Ole Thorsen .... Russian (uncredited)

Choices, choices.

*thinks*

*shudders*

*hides*

I swear to God we need to verify Carl Weathers is a Washington resident and start a website petitioning him to run for governer.

Our motto: "Come get action from DB's jackson." Er.

You certainly broke up that meeting, Mr. Governor!

Okay, now photoshop DB's head onto Arnie's body and we have ourselves a campaign poster.

Soytenly.

Okay, now photoshop DB's head onto Arnie's body and we have ourselves a campaign poster.

Who needs Photoshop? DB is buff.

You realize that The Simpsons now has an entire season's worth of Rainer Wolfcastle/McBain gets elected governor episodes to play with that will completely revive the series if they play their cards right.

"Get to ze point!"

Kevin Peter Hall .... The Predator
Danny Glover .... Lieutenant Mike Harrigan
Gary Busey .... Peter Keyes
Rubén Blades .... Danny
Maria Conchita Alonso .... Leona
Bill Paxton .... Jerry Lambert
Robert Davi .... Captain Phil Heinemann
Adam Baldwin .... Garber
Kent McCord .... Captain B. Pilgrim
Morton Downey Jr. .... Tony Pope
Calvin Lockhart .... King Willie
Steve Kahan .... Sergeant
Henry Kingi .... El Scorpio
Corey Rand .... Ramon Vega
Elpidia Carrillo .... Anna
Lilyan Chauvin .... Irene Edwards
Michael Mark Edmondson .... Gold Tooth
Teri Weigel .... Colombian Girl
William R. Perry .... Subway Gang Leader
Alex Chapman .... Subway Gang
Gerard G. Williams .... Subway Gang
John Cann .... Subway Gang
Michael Papajohn .... Subway Gang
Louis Eppolito .... Patrolman
Charlie Hauck .... Charlie
Sylvia Kauders .... Ruth
Charles David Richards .... Commuter
Julian Reyes .... Juan Beltran
Casey Sander .... Federal Team
Pat Skipper .... Federal Team
Carmine Zozzora .... Federal Team
Valerie Karasek .... Reporter
Chuck Boyd .... Reporter
David Starwalt .... Reporter
Abraham Alvarez .... Reporter
Jim Ishida .... Reporter
George Christy .... Reporter
Lucinda Weist .... Reporter
Richard Anthony Crenna .... Paramedic
Billy 'Sly' Williams .... Paramedic
Paulo Tocha .... Detective
Jsu Garcia .... Detective (as Nick Corri)
DeLynn Binzel .... Hooker
Tom Finnegan .... Officer
Patience Moore .... Officer
Kashka .... Jamaican
Jeffrey Reed .... Jamaican
Carl Pistilli .... Cop on Phone
Vonte Sweet .... Sweet
Ronn Moss .... Jerome
Brian Levinson .... Anthony
Diana James .... Leona's Friend
Beth Kanar .... Woman Officer
Paul Abascal .... Cop
Michael Wiseman .... Cop

A pretty darn solid take on what happened, I think. Some good bits:

Forget what the talking heads tell you: California is not falling into the sea, people. And if this is a sign of the coming Apocalypse, it is only the latest of its type. Or have you forgotten the kind of folks we elect here on the left coast? Ronald Reagan, Jerry Brown, George Deukmejian, Pete Wilson, Gray Davis – those are the governors that have run things here since I was born, and I'm not sure how Arnold could be much worse.

Furthermore, when Arnold gets to Sacramento he is not only going to be bored out of his mind – Ole' Sack-A-Tomatoes makes his hometown of Graz, Austria look like Paris – but he's going to find himself stuck firmly between his hack reactionary advisors (never mind the token nods to free-thinkers like Warren Buffet) and the hard-nosed Democratic vet John Burton running the legislature down the street. It won't matter how many East Coast Kennedys he has delightedly sniffing his sweat, the first move is now Arnold's and the Democrats get to play the spoilers. Remember how the government shutdown backfired on the Gingrich gang? A sequel is definitely possible here.

...

Americans are – stop me if you've heard this before – disconnected from the democratic process and so frustrated with feeling powerless to "be heard" that they are increasingly resorting to clumsy, angry acts of rebellion against anything that can be considered the status quo. Arnold is most definitely a Republican, but he still managed to secure the crucial "a pox on both your houses" vote.

Elections of individuals are always at their core personality contests, as frustrating as that may be to intellectuals of all political stripes, who want them to be about the facts, the issues, the qualifications and platforms of the candidates. Schwarzenegger had more charisma and effortlessly garnered more media coverage.

Etc. Not a perfect article, some parts are gracelessly written and a couple of conclusions far too smug, but there's a reasonable amount to chew on.

check it- (went to find O'Reilly vs NPR on the Fox News site and found a super banner ad):
governatortshirts.com
http://governatortshirts.com/en/images/arnold.jpg

The Terminator star also warned fans he would have "no time for movies".

There's always a bright side.

Daria, the people didn't have a problem with it in 1992 or 1996 with Bill Clinton. They sure as shit aren't going to suddenly develop an aversion to it now when the opportunity arises to elect a celebrity to public office. Fred Grandy, Sonny Bono, Clint Eastwood, Jesse Ventura, Hillary Clinton...all took the same carriage to the gravy train. People never gave a rat's ass what those people thought about anything, let alone who they were porking or taking handouts from in order to get elected. And that's not even beginning to touch the surface of your average city council in a major metropolitan city, which the details are in truth far more depressing than the public's ignorance on something as relatively ceremonial as a governor or president.

Not to mention the fact that the state of California harbors an entire industry that has preyed on women literally from the beginning and continues to exploit them even as we speak. The power players in that industry don't dare speak out against Arnold or Bill Clinton or anyone else with a dick-in-my-hand problem; they know the hypocrisy is just to self-evident. Every one of those fuckers made excuses for Clinton's misogyny, blithely called it a private sex act or part of a vast right wing conspiracy of rape/sexual harassment. Easy come, easy go. I really don't know how so many women can tolerate it.

With his huge, mighty fists, no less.

The first:

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger might have postponed his Sacramento fundraiser Monday night, but he's having no trouble at all bringing in money from the special interests -- er, individuals and businesses who support his political goals. Schwarzenegger on Monday reported receiving more than $750,000 in contributions to his political committee in the past couple of weeks. The money comes from all the usual sectors -- alcohol, finance, real estate, insurance, etc., including many of the same interests that used to contribute to Gray Davis.

And the second:

Retreating from two central campaign promises that helped make him governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger on Tuesday dropped his personal "guarantee" that cities and counties would be compensated for billions in lost car-tax revenue and reversed his pledge to safeguard spending for public schools.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=4030694663&ssPageName=STRK:MESE:IT

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger traveled to a quiet San Jose neighborhood Thursday, and -- dogged by protesters -- filled a pothole dug by city crews just a few hours before, as part of an attempt to dramatize his efforts to increase money for transportation projects.

The choreographed press opportunity -- at least the governor's fourth recent event involving transportation issues -- seemed aimed as much at thwarting the demonstrators who have followed Schwarzenegger for weeks as grabbing new attention for his proposal.

Schwarzenegger strode toward television cameras on Laguna Seca Way to the sounds of the Doobie Brothers' "Taking it to the Streets,'' while flanked by 10 San Jose city road workers wearing Day-Glo vests and work gear. After speeches by the governor and city officials, a dump truck backed up and unloaded a mound of black asphalt and, as television cameras recorded the moment, Schwarzenegger joined the work crew, taking up a broom and filling the 10-by-15-foot hole, later smoothed over by a massive roller truck.

.....

"For paving the streets, it's a lot of lighting,'' said resident Nick Porrovecchio, 48, motioning to a team of workmen setting up Hollywood-style floodlights on the street to bathe the gubernatorial podium in a soft glow.

Porrovecchio and his business partner, Joe Greco, said that at about 7 a.m. they became fascinated watching "10 city workers standing around for a few hours putting on new vests,'' all in preparation for the big moment with Schwarzenegger.

But their street, he noted, didn't even have a hole to pave over until Thursday morning.

"They just dug it out,'' Porrovecchio said, shrugging. "There was a crack. But they dug out the whole road this morning.''

"It's a lot of money spent on a staged event,'' said Matt Vujevich, 74, a retiree whose home faced the crew-made trench that straddled nearly the whole street. "We still have the same problems. Everything's a press conference.''

"She maybe is Puerto Rican or the same thing as Cuban. I mean, they are all very hot," the governor said. "They have the, you know, part of the black blood in them and part of the Latino blood in them that together makes it."

"my foot tastes bad."

Chorus:
I am full blood Boricua
Read the tattoo on his arm
He tells me: Mami, I need ya and my heart beat pumps so strong
Getting lost in el ritmo he whispers te quiero, te quiero
I begin to give in with no hesitation,
Can't help my infatuation
It's pure Infatuation (yeah, yeah, yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah)

Skin the color of cinnamon,
His eyes light up and I melt within
Feels so good it must be a sin
I can't stop what I started, I'm givin' in
He brings life to my fantasies,
Sparks a passion inside of me,
Finds the words when I cannot speak,
In the silence his heart beat is music to me
Mama used to warn me not to rush love (not to rush love) with another
She said: I'm not trying to lecture I just care about my daughter
Ay Mama you seem to forget,
I never will let a man control my emotions
But when he smiles I feel like a little child,
And when he says

Chorus

Caught between my mom's words and what I feel inside
I want to explore his world but part of me wants to hide
Should I risk it, can't resist it, this has caught me by suprise
Should I let him take me to Puerto Rico
I can't hold back no more
Let's go tonight

Papi hold me, say that you adore me
Never let go never leave me lonely
Papi hold me, say that you adore me
Never let go never leave me lonely

Chorus

Papi hold me, say that you adore me
Never let go never leave me lonely (lonely)

You dont have to read my mind, to know what I have in mind
Honey you oughta know
Now you move so fine, let me lay it on the line
I wanna know what youre doin after the show

Now its up to you, we can make a secret rendezvous
Just me and you, Ill show you lovin like you never knew

Thats why, Im hot blooded, check it and see
I got a fever of a hundred and three
Come on baby, do you do more than dance?
Im hot blooded, hot blooded

If it feels alright, maybe you can stay all night
Shall I leave you my key?
But youve got to give me a sign, come on girl, some kind of sign
Tell me, are you hot mama? you sure look that way to me

Are you old enough? will you be ready when I call you bluff?
Is my timing right? did you save your love for me tonight?

Yeah Im hot blooded, check it and see
Feel the fever burning inside of me
Come on baby, do you do more than dance?
Im hot blooded, Im hot blooded, Im hot

Now its up to you, can we make a secret rendezvous?
Oh, before we do, youll have to get away from you know who

Well, Im hot blooded, check it and see
I got a fever of a hundred and three
Come on baby, do you do more than dance?
Im hot blooded, Im hot blooded

Hot blooded, every night
Hot blooded, youre looking so tight
Hot blooded, now youre driving me wild
Hot blooded, Im so hot for you, child
Hot blooded, Im a little bit high
Hot blooded, youre a little bit shy
Hot blooded, youre making me sing
Hot blooded, for your sweet sweet thing

Is this supposed to be one of those unspoken/implied rhyme lines? ("Get in your pants" etc.)?

he looks like a halloween mask of himself

has any real person ever had that expression ever?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sw7gUMdd2FY

in private, sitting on a toilet

Good lord, he's coming up on five years as governor later this year. Who knew.

His latest bemusement:

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Wednesday encouraged lawmakers -- especially those from small towns -- to do more globe trotting on the dime of special interests.

Speaking at a forum on global economics held by the nonprofit Milken Institute, the governor suggested lawmakers would be more willing to embrace his plans to privatize the building of roads, schools, high-speed rail systems and other public works if they could see how effectively it has worked in other countries.

"Some of them come from those little towns, you know what I am saying, they come from those little towns and they don't have that vision yet of an airport or of a highway that maybe has 10 lanes or of putting a highway on top of a highway," Schwarzenegger said. "They look at you and say, 'We don't have that in my town. What are you talking about?'

"So they are kind of shocked when you say certain things. So I like them to travel around."

http://www.latimes.com/media/photo/2009-01/44493493.jpg

It's legacy time!:

Although Schwarzenegger and others say his good intentions have been foiled by extremist state lawmakers, an unstable tax structure, a broken budget system and a global recession, none of that may matter when history is written, some analysts believe.

"So far, he hasn't solved the problem that he was elected to solve," said Gary Jacobson, a political scientist at UC San Diego. "In crisis you have opportunity to be great, if you can pull it off somehow. If you can't, it's hard to be perceived as a success."

Etc. etc.

I do like this from Tombot back in October 03:

The worst thing that will occur is that Arnold will actually be allowed to make some decisions of his own. However he hasn't really expressed any desire to do this, so the best we can hope for is that his Republican masters will have in mind some decent fiscal policies to get Cali out of the hole and back on track. The national economy is going to have a very rough time recovering without a healthy California economy, so this is paramount. Unfortunately I don't think the Republicans have that kind of vision.

And here we are!

is he playing nixon?

Looks like Rudolf Hess in that pic

Yeah, that works:

First the Fresno City Council president, Cynthia Sterling, warned the governor that he would be “going down with us” if the state takes the city’s gas tax revenues, as Schwarzenegger has proposed doing with hundreds of millions of dollars designated for local governments across the state.

Sterling said such as move would cost Fresno jobs, stop repairs, and render the city – which she said has the nation’s highest concentration of poverty -- unable to pay debts. The gasoline money would never be returned, unlike local property taxes the state can borrow and must repay under Proposition 1A. Sterling told the governor she campaigned with him for that measure in 2004.

“I stood behind you here in Fresno,” she said. “I was one of the ones who went to the people and said, ‘This is the right thing to do,’ and that this governor is going to remember us when the times get hard.”

But if the state takes the city’s gas money, “we are also all going to go down, as you will be going down with us,” Sterling finished, to huge applause.

"That’s why I’m here, to listen,” Schwarzenegger said. Next, a man in the audience lectured him for failing to resolve the Central Valley water crisis, saying, “when you refuse to address the most important issue that belongs to this valley … you have lost control of your state government.”

Clearly offended, the governor retorted, “I hope that you didn’t refer to me as saying that I haven’t addressed the issue because I think it’s very important that everyone knows that I have been fighting for water for the last four years straight…. But I know maybe you didn’t mean that.”

“I did mean it,” the man shot back, whereupon Schwarzenegger called to the stage Mayor Victor Lopez of Orange Cove, who delivered a screaming endorsement of the governor and his efforts to bring more water to the area.

“We have the best governor that any state in this whole nation ever, ever has had,” Lopez yelled, as Schwarzenegger stood behind him looking pleased.

victor lopez you a fool

how come no-one has tried to recall arnold yet for being just as ineffectual and useless as gray davis was? does california's constitution and ballot initiative process makes the governorship a weak post in this state? I can't remember the last time there was a governor here that anyone even liked.

“I hope that you didn’t refer to me as saying that I haven’t addressed the issue because I think it’s very important that everyone knows that I have been fighting for water for the last four years straight…. But I know maybe you didn’t mean that.”

imagining Arnold saying this is fantastic

californias fuckedness is a fantastic argument against direct democracy

Our ballot initiative process is far too easy, imho.

What the:

http://www.buzzfeed.com/mikearauz/pay-no-attention-to-governor-schwarzeneggers-3s/

Hail and farewell, I guess:

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/nov05election/detail?entry_id=78205

This guy.

"I can step very comfortably into the entertainment world and do an action movie with the same violence that I've always done," Schwarzenegger said in an interview this week. "I can have the same amount of heads coming off — and any other body parts — and as far as that goes, I don't blink."

Maria Shriver declares separation from ex-gov of CA

haaaaaaaa