Dogged by protesters, Schwarzenegger opts for less public venues

[struggle4progress]

TOM CHORNEAU
Associated Press

SACRAMENTO - <snip>

He has been trailed since early in the year by a committed band of detractors, a vocal mix of teachers, nurses and unionized public employees opposed to one or another of Schwarzenegger's proposals or policies. They have been a constant feature at his public appearances, even showing up at some of the governor's out-of-state appearances.

The protests reached a zenith May 25 when an estimated 10,000 demonstrators encircled the state Capitol and several thousand more packed Pershing Square in downtown Los Angeles on the same day. <snip>

An event in early May, for example, was designed so Schwarzenegger could drive up to a Sacramento County election office before a line of TV cameras and drop off petitions for one of his ballot measures. Organizers had dozens of young school children on hand, the kind of carefully prepared stagecraft that has been a trademark of many Schwarzenegger events. They were dressed in bright red "Go For It Arnold" T-shirts, ready to help the governor deliver the petitions in bright red wagons.

But also waiting for Schwarzenegger's arrival were dozens of union demonstrators who chanted loudly and rushed up close to the governor when he parked. Schwarzenegger stepped out of the vehicle with an uncomfortable smile. Instead of a well-choreographed media event, he was faced with a throng of shouting demonstrators. <snip>

http://www.montereyherald.com/mld/montereyherald/news/politics/11809570.htm

[MisterP]

1. he IS like Reagan: it's all a big fantasy, a giddy act

"To him, this is just another challenge. He overcame Lou Ferrigno, and now he needs to get past the teachers."

[XanaDUer]

2. How the mighty have fallen.

...

[shanti]

3. just like the chimp-in-charge

wonder how long it will be before his audiences are totally selected?

[The_Casual_Observer]

4. "He overcame Lou Ferrigno" This is what it comes down to

- trivialize the importance of what a governor of California's decisions and policies mean to the actual people that live there.

[Senior citizen]

5. I noticed they've changed one of his TV ads.

Now, instead of him speaking, someone who doesn't have a European accent is saying his lines--except for a line or two at the end, where the Gropenator's accent is greatly diminished that must have taken him weeks with a voice coach to practice.

[salib]

6. He is SUCH a "girlie-man", i.e. VERY confused.

[fujiyama]

7. I would lov

to see him go down.

I don't live in CA and I'm not familiar with the situation but do Dems have some strong candidates to run against him?

[bpilgrim]

8. now if this was a DEM the M$MWs would be calling for a RECALL VOTE

it's AMAZING how the reTHUGs keep winning be so unpopular.

ah, but they got the ELECTRICAL VOTES locked-up at the moment.

BBV

peace

[teryang]

9. Schwanzenneger is the ultimate corporatist con job

The people who are dogging him are heroes.

[yurbud]

10. Arnold art

More Hillbilly Hitler art at:



http://mysite.verizon.net/myk15/art.html


More Arnold Info:

[arikara]

12. Wonder if KKKarl thinks that the Gropenator is as cute as his Chimp

B-)

[yurbud]

13. I think Karl is a top, so probably not

[Cha]

17. Love your

fascist art.

[K8-EEE]

11. If You Can't Stand The HEAT Gov....GET OUT OF THE KITCHEN

PLEASE!! Maria wants you home and believe me, so do most of the rest of us in CA.

[Erika]

21. Ahnold is now holding invitation only audiences

for his speeches. Like the W.

[stevedeshazer]

22. Yes, he should go home

To Austria. :eyes:

[K8-EEE]

24. Austria Doesn't Want Him Anymore...

they are disgusted by his cowtowing to the evil BushCo and his creepy, Nazi-esque pro-death penalty stance..

[onehandle]

14. Pussy. nt

[NYC Liberal]

15. Does Ahnold use 'Free Speech Zones' like the Chimperor does?

If not, he probably will soon enough.

[truthisfreedom]

20. bwah-hah! the Chimperor! tee-hee-hee!

nice one.

[LynnTheDem]

16. HIDE, little girly-man.

All rightwingnuts are stupid MFing morans. ALL of them.

[Deja Q]

34. Right on. Arnie is the ULTIMATE in GIRLY MEN.

:yourock: :applause:

[barb162]

18. why haven't California voters started the recall process on him

[K8-EEE]

26. Better To Have A REAL Campaign....not a shorty recall!

that's how he got out of getting grilled like a regular candidate. IF he has to the guts to run again and he probably want...you can bet that all his bimbos and everybody else will be in the wings waiting to call him out.

[Perzuki]

32. California Voters haven't started a recall process

. . . because the NEW rules say that anyone doing so, if they are unsuccessful, must PAY for the entire cost of the recall effort.

[cascadiance]

42. Why not do as the Rethugs did...

If we cannot put him out of office in 2006, then start a recall effort right after the election, just like they did after Davis won reelection. That way, there will be plenty of time to do it right before the 2008 presidential election, so that we can get a Dem in before then and allow someone like Boxer to run for pres or VP without having to get a Rethug appointed to replace her.

[Erika]

19. Maria must be going thru hell

Her husband ran as a voice for the common people. Now he's stabbed them in the back.

[K8-EEE]

25. Hey she's BEEN in hell for 20 years.

a friend of mine has kids in their kids' school (in OJ-land, Brentwood CA) where her unofficial nickname is "cadaver face." I don't really feel sorry for her...why has she spent half her life doing whatever this neanderthal requests of her, even though he's treated her like dirt and everybody in town knows about his messing around. Now look what he is doing -- her uncles are probably ROTOTILLING and she just keeps enabling it. She needs to get some self-respect.

[Erika]

27. The Kennedy Women do need a backbone

Jackie sure as hell had one.

[Hobarticus]

30. Yeah, no sympathy here for Mrs. Skeletor....

She made her ape-like bed, now she can sleep in it.

[Skittles]

57. F*** Maria

she sold out when she married that republican bastard

[Elidor]

23. It galls me deeply to hear this shameless huckster deride thesegood people

as "Special Interests" while he rounds up all his corporate cash and lets his fat cat rich buddies in through the back door, and then turn around, just like that sneering, simpering snothole Dubya, and speak of the need for "sacrifice." Anytime some rich motherfucker starts talking about the need for "sacrifice," it's time to make him suffer.

[pinniped]

28. I love this paragraph.

==He has been trailed since early in the year by a committed band of detractors, a vocal mix of teachers, nurses and unionized public employees opposed to one or another of Schwarzenegger's proposals or policies. They have been a constant feature at his public appearances, even showing up at some of the governor's out-of-state appearances.==

Soon, this clown will take a page out of presidunce Ahole's book and make some free speech zones.

[nightfox02]

29. sad part is that this guy is still better than Davis(D)

god help us all

[rfranklin]

31. Sorry, but dumping Davis was your first mistake...

and Arnold was your second.

[Mark E. Smith]

33. The Steroid Rovebot Is Better Than Davis?

On his worst day Davis was a far superior governor to that POS thug.

You can't be living in California.

[Webster Green]

35. No, God help you if you believe that.....

You haven't told us why he is better than Davis was.

Would you care to elaborate?

[lolly]

37. Davis' big mistake

Was standing up to the energy companies that were raping California.

That earned him the burning wrath of the whole BFEE machine, which then poured zillions into a propaganda effort to convince Californians that Davis was somehow to blame for the whole thing, and besides, he wasn't "dynamic" and "magnetic" and "fun" or whatever.

Made a big chunk of star-struck Californians ripe for a chance to (sigh! gasp!) vote for a super-cool macho movie star to come save them from that boring old icky-poo Davis.

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

36. Sad part is people like you think that void of facts

Davis left office with 8 billion of debt...Arnold financed that debt on the backs of the poorest people.

Arnold's workers' compensation program actually REDUCES indemnity for the most serious injuries...being in a persistent vegatative state in California as a result of a work injury is now a 90% permanent disability...would you have hired Terri Schiavo?

Arnold is in bed BIG TIME with developers....which suburban area do you think has enough water and infrastructure (READ FREEWAYS AND ROADS) to add more?

Arnold has one or two progressive ideas but they are overshadowed by his taxing the poor and adding insult to the injured.

[nightfox02]

44. Davis got recalled in a fucking blue state!

Davis got his ass handed to him in California! no less...

Come on, if a Democratic governor gets trounced in a BLUE state something is really up. He had no fucking clue on how to empathize with Californians.... Kerry won the state in 2004 handedly..what does that tell you...

There is no fucking Bush cabal in California he has influence but not enough to swing that many voters against Davis. Davis couldnt do the job properly and was promptly fired.

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

48. What a steaming pile!

To believe your version of things we would have to ignore that news was all Arnold all the time.

To accept your version of things, we would have to accept that California was 8 billion dollars in debt and is now NOT 20 BILLION dollars in debt.

To accept your version of the roliing blackouts, we would have to ignore the Enron darkstar program and the traders ADMITTING fraud on the tapes.

To accept your version of things we would have to ignore that Arnold ran against 153 candidates whereas in past elections Davis ran against ONE.

Davis WAS a victim of a coup and a disorganized party both statewide and nationally...furthermore Arnold able to woo some of the very unions that are challenging him now such as TEACHERS!

And your tripe further on in the thread about the energy issue is about as delusional as any I've seen.

[nightfox02]

53. i am living in REALITY my friend as triump the dog would say...

Voters dont give a fuck about what was going on behind the scenes with Enron and the energy crisis... They wanted a governor to if not solve the problem atleast convince them that he actually cared and was concerned about it. Davis obviously did not. His job approval rating was abysmal. The fact is that he got ousted in a VERY BLUE state. If you want to continue to blame Enron solely for that go ahead. However, he bears more than half of that burden easily on himself for being on the moon while californians were in the dark...

There are plenty of democrats (my whole family) included that think Davis was a schmuk...

He failed.

There is atleast one source..i could find more i am sure...

http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2003-07-27-davis-usat_x.htm

20% job approval rating....Are you kidding me? You need talent to tag #'s like that as gov. You are the one out of touch with reality. The voters clearly WANTED him gone and for good reason. Yes I agree that Wilson kind of fucked him over, however(big COMMA) he knew what he was getting in to. Dont make excuses for the man he is a big boy.

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

55. Again, your family BOUGHT the media story

Davis approval rating was MANUFACTURED by a well organized SPIN machine that had designs on this state where we have over 50 electoral votes the same way they were able to orchestrate similar takeovers of states such as TEXAS. This was a coup.

No Davis did not help himself with his aloofness, but his aloofness did not amount to inaction. AGAIN the issue with the public was that their CAR TAXES would be raised..not the events surrounding the power blackout. That was a convenient focus for the business community who saw deregulation being threatened by the graft.

Please save the insults. I KNOW the reality of the issues and how they polled.

[nightfox02]

58. AHHH, the Manufacturing of Consent...Thank You Mr. Chomsky

However(huge comma) the media can only take you so far. I will put out the meme that 20% approval ratings cannot be bought from Fox News channel, ok? This guy was in the toilet and it wasnt because of the media. It was because of his ATTITUDE... Read the writing on the wall and put away your tin foil hat.

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

59. You know, you've used very few facts in your rants about Davis

I suppost Davis was heading the FERC at the time and refused to impose caps when it was clear the market was being gamed too...go educate yourself on HOW California energy came to be deregulated then come back and debate this point with me.

Your personal attacks are getting old.

[nightfox02]

60. You still dont get it...

As GOVERNOR!!!! I repeat GOVERNOR of a state you cant point your finger
at the energy companies when people have no POWER! That is absolutely ridiculous. Davis did that. He refused to take responsibility for a problem that he inherited.

You keep making excuses for Davis. The California voter is not smart but smart enough to realize Davis is a grown ass man.

I think my sig of the Buck Stops Here is something you should research..

You are advocating pansy Dem politicians who can't control their own state and point the blame at pre-existing problems like in elementary school....

Voters are not going to become experts in the California Energy market. If you think they are, again, you are living in a fantasy land. Voters want action from the Governor... Voters vote with a general feel not with three ring binders full of facts, especially not about how the deregulation of the energy industry went down.

Average voter isnt going to take the time to read what Davis should have been reading all along. They want simple things like Power and water. OHHH what a concept....

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

61. COOL IT WITH THE FUCKING PERSONAL ATTACKS

And the people had power. The blackouts were quite TEMPORAY. The real issue was the fact that people in various areas were getting GOUGED on their bills.

Davis DID AND COULD CONTROL his own state. We CONSERVED our way OUT of the crisis.

Now go harass someone else. Again, I'm not going to debate this point with someone chalk full of platitudes who completely FRAMES this issue from the REPUBLICAN perspective under the guise of being a disgusted Dem. YOur talking points are straight out of a Republican playbook.

Oh..and BTW...how is Arnold better than Davis? You still haven't answered that one.

[nightfox02]

62. Now I am a Republican...?

Riiight....

Check some of my other posts to invalidate your argument there...

Arnold is better than Davis because he doesnt have a track record (yet) of totally ignoring Californians while they sweat it out in the dark...

Both Davis and Arnold have no clue as to how to solve the state's fiscal problems. However, I think Arnold atleast has some clue as to what the word GOVERNOR means....

Make no doubt about it Arnold will be a Republican while in the seat...However, a mediocre Republican is better than a Nero like Dem who fiddles while the state sizzles....

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

63. Your other posts would either invalidate my argument

or your posts in this thread would invalidate your other posts..that one goes both ways.

Again, you use ZERO facts. And NO a mediocre Republican who drops the energy lawsuits, creates MORE DEBT not less, and literally WAS FIDDLING while California burned while Davis was out on the frontlines is NOT better...then add to that the most draconian workers compensation laws EVER PASSED on this great state FORMERLY known for its progressive labor laws...and once again,we have a post from you VOID of facts, full of tripe...but oh gollygosh! you posted something liberal sounding on another thread so you should NOT be taken to task for the propaganda you would have others buy on this one.

[Pacifist Patriot]

38. What in the world would make you say that? Please be specific.

[K8-EEE]

39. Yeah WHY Is He Better Than Davis??

I loved the part in the Enron Movie where they ask Gray Davis if the recall was part of a GWB political agenda and he just laughed and goes, "uh, HELLo..."

[nightfox02]

43. davis couldnt handle the state's complex energy crisis

72% of californians agreed with me.. I am from california. As governor of the fucking state you cant just point your fingers at the energy companies while the state is fucking implementing rolling blackouts? Are you kidding me? It gets hot as fuck over here....

Davis is certainly more intelligent than Arnold, however, he took Californians for granted and had to go. He was getting arrogant and comfy. Obviously, the deregulation of the industry was initiated by Pete Wilson in 1996...who was a fucking moron. I remember wilson and his fucking prop 187 bullshit to this day...

Thing is, when rolling blackouts start going down and the governor appears to the public as being not at all concerned. People are going to get pissed as hell. The recall and his job approval rating prove that point. He wasnt just beat he got his ass handed to him. Advertising money and Republican propaganda only go so far. With his numbers so low, obviously voter sentiment against him was almost entirely negative.

It was his inability to deal with the public in a manner that showed genuine empathy that was his downfall. He had to go and he did.

[K8-EEE]

45. but HOW IS HE BETTER THAN DAVIS??

Arnold was meeting with Enron exex way before all this -- this was Pete Wilson and Enron, I'm not saying Gray Davis was a genius with it but he did get left holding a pretty bad hand, the energy crisis was manufactured by BushCo cronies and I DON'T SEE ARNOLD TRYING TO GET ANY OF OUR MONEY BACK FROM IT....OR ADDRESSING THE RIP OFF IN ANY WAY...I'm a Californian too but like most of us here in CA I said hell no to ARNOLD....HE is the one who HAS TO GO...HE IS WAY WORSE THAN DAVIS...Davis wasn't trying to screw the Unions like Arnie is!

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

49. Except your recall of the history is a bit jaded

Davis JUMPED on the crisis and was able to use conservation to see our way out of it. AS a matter of fact, the energy crisis was HISTORY by the time the recall occurred and Arnold capitalized on the fact that the auto registration tax would have GONE UP as was MANDATED by Wilson the last time the state faced a fiscal crisis.

Please offer a CITE for 72% f Californians believing the energy crisis was what brought Davis down.

[shanti]

41. BULL-SHIT!!!!

and buh-bye!

[yurbud]

51. Davis was inept and corrupt, but blamed for GOP rigged blackouts

If not for the GOP energy deregulation that allowed Enron et al to blackmail CA, Arnold wouldn't have had a recall to win.

In effect, the GOP created a problem, blamed someone else, and used it to get their guy in office.

Brilliant in Machiavellian terms, but leaves regular folks with a bleeding ass.


Hillbilly Hitler art:



Blog:

[yurbud]

40. FOR LA DUer's: Arnold at Santa Monica College grad june 12

[K8-EEE]

46. Weren't They Saying He Might Chicken Out On That?

Shit I have a fundraiser to do that day for my daughter's horse program...or I would be there with bells on fer sure.

[yurbud]

50. recycle the horse patties by tossing them to Arnold

Hillbilly Hitler art:



Blog:

[Kurovski]

47. Hasta la vista, Arnie.

Ya' shoulda retired into the movie production biz.

[K8-EEE]

52. They HATE Him In The Move Biz

the dreaded gropenator has played himself out here -- he didn't even WIN here in L.A. I think he should go back to Austria.

[Carolab]

54. Just another (bad) "media creation". Time for some REAL representatives

OF, BY and FOR the people in this sick nation with its celebrity worship and weathfare.

I've had it!! I'm getting a sign pretty soon that reads just that, and parading up and down the street with it.

[Skittles]

56. taking a cue from his dipshit leader bush

time to get out the loyalty oath cards

[Beregond]

64. Ahnuld

I've been waiting thirty years for this sociopathic sack of shit to get his come-uppance. It was worth his being elected, to see him revealed for what he is.

[lonestarnot]

65. Waaaahhhhhh wahhhhahahahahahahhaha