(Warren) Beatty Rips Schwarzenegger for Policies

[Ernesto]

OAKLAND, Calif. Sep 23, 2005 — Actor Warren Beatty leveled a blistering political assault on Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Thursday night, accusing him of governing "by show, by spin, by cosmetics and photos ops" while imposing Bush administration policies on California. Beatty, who has criticized the governor several times this year, called the initiatives "union busting" and "fascist."

http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=1151247

[confludemocrat]

1. So run. If Ahhnold's a facist (I agree) take him out, Warren. n/t

[Shredr]

28. hear, hear!! n/t

[confludemocrat]

29. self-delete

[henslee]

37. Sadly enough, Warren Beatty might not be able to beat Arnold.

[nvliberal]

73. Democrats' best chance to beat Schwarzenegger

is to stress the importance of competence and experience in running state government.

Beatty doesn't provide anything at all, and he would be too easy to beat.

He'd be just what the battered California Republican Party needs.

[Mountainman]

2. Go Bullworth! Hope he runs for Gov

http://www.htmarket.com/bullworth.html

[NNadir]

3. But what the fuck is it with actors and politics in California?

First the brain dead Reagan, then Governor Hydrogen Hummer Steroid Boy. I share political outlook with Beatty, but I don't see how being an actor qualifies him for high public office - any more than I see how it qualified to first two cases.

The first two were disassters for their state and for their country. Some of that has to do with their political bent - but much of it also has to do with the fact that they were incompetant and unqualified.

I'm so glad I don't live in California anymore.

[Toots]

5. How about being a person,,,does that qualify him to run for office?

Why does being an actor disqualify anyone for anything? Does that mean the person no longer is allowed to think and use logic? This argument from the right that being an actor or from Hollywood does not qualify a person for election is pure hogwash. How about being a used car salesman..is that better or maybe a failed businessman?

[belle]

7. How about having actual experience running shit?

If not an actual government job, then at least something where the person demonstrates strong leadership skills in a large-scale organization. Would you hire someone do perform major surgery on you if they'd never been to medical school or had any doctoring experience? Would you want someone as your airline pilot who'd never flown a plane? Why do people keep thinking a government job is something that any schmo can do? The Bush administration should be the nail in the coffin of that particular idea. unqualified cronies up the wazoo.

[Ernesto]

9. Relax, already.......

"I believe if a private citizen is able to affect public opinion in a constructive way he doesn't have to be an elected public servant to perform a public service," Beatty said.

[Journeyman]

20. Then someone like Beatty or Reiner would be very qualified. . .

since both have been directors and producers of films and not just actors who were told what to do like Reagan and Schwarzengroper.

[suziedemocrat]

52. I LOVE Rob Reiner!!

I saw an interview with him and he said he's not working in Hollywood as much. I think he was doing something for the state.

[Ernesto]

65. I met Rob just before the SCOTUS stabbed America in the heart

by installing the worst white house failure in history. He is a Hollywood type that I could feel comfortable with for sure.

[Cha]

55. Well there ya go!

:patriot: Reiner and Beatty :patriot:

[mondo joe]

42. Which shit should he have experience running?

Really.

What shit specifically other than being in politics would be experience enough?

[Cha]

54. I agree with you! You tell 'em,

Toots! :toast:

I used to live in California and love that state! I want the best for it..afterall one of the main fucking resources is the film industry. It isn't just that the shovelnator is a bad actor..he's a bad Joke, too.

We have the biggest Boob in the world squatting in our White House right now..What were his qualifications?

I say the best person for the job..sounds like Warren Beatty would rather speak up as a concerned citizen than run the state..more Power to him. Although, Annette would make a Lovely First Lady of California and she Can Act!

[David Zephyr]

62. Hi zidzi!

I appreciate your commentary here in defense of Warren.

Like Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Vermont's very successful former Governor Howard Dean, Warren Beatty will remind a lot of people what Democrats should be and what they can be...great public servants.

Have a great weekend.

[Cha]

66. Hi David! It's easy to defend

Warren Beatty cause he's so passionate about Democracy and has been doing something about it for a long time.

The battle of the shovelnator vs Bullworth..Bring It!

You have a grreat weekend, yourself!

[IntravenousDemilo]

56. And hey, you know...

There are easily as many actors in NYC as there are in Hollywood. Governor Tim Robbins sounds nice...

[Montauk6]

79. I agree, who says the office is owned by the lawyers and tycoons?

OK, so Jesse Ventura, a pro wrestler, became governor of Minnesota and didn't do a great job, but he also didn't destroy the state nor did he really do any worse than other traditional politicos might have.

I think we have far too many lawyers, judges, and businessmen running government today. I'd love to see more artists hop in the driver's seat for once; again, how much worse could they screw things up?

[Betsy Ross]

6. Don't foget Senator George Murphy. n/t

[RaleighNCDUer]

8. Actually I believe that acting can really prepare a person for

politics.

If you're a real actor, that is.

Ahnuld doesn't count, because he is a character, not an actor. He has never been asked to crawl into the skin of another human being and see the world through their eyes, as actors do all the time. That's why most actors tend to be liberals - they are trained in that capacity.

Actors who are known for the depth of their characters are liberal -- actors who play stereopypical, one dimensional characters are conservatives. Reagan was an exception - but you might note that his best characters, best roles, were all in the era before he met Nancy and abandoned the democrats -- after the change he never had a decent role or a challanging one, until he got to play the president in 1980.

Show me I'm wrong. Name a complex, deeply thought character played by a conservative actor/politician.

[kostya]

11. Won't take that bet. You are applying subjective criteria, so

no matter who one puts up as a counter-example you'll simply say their character was not "deep" enough. - K

[zann725]

12. But Beatty also is an accomplished Producer/Director.

And those skills (budget, organization, detailed planning, awareness of 'target markets', and ability to work with even the most tempermantal personalities). An Actor (only), is primarily just charasmatic and self-centered. Good assets to get elected, but what then...in terms of REAL leadership, and political accomplishment? Unfortunately a good President needs more than "engaging" 30-second sound-bytes.

[bpj1962]

38. Governor Beatty

Hollywood Producers are notorious for being over budget. Although Warren Beatty may have directed and produced many movies I know that he produced "ISTAR" and that was both overbudget and cost more then it made.

[SemperEadem]

47. Ishtar

[nvliberal]

74. The day Beatty runs for a small time public office and wins

and can do that job competently is the day I would take him seriously for a higher political office.

Government is too important to leave the job to rank amateurs. Besides, Beatty is too damned old, as he's pushing 70.

[bigmonkey]

21. Robert Duvall

In "The Apostle". However, I want you to be right, does that count? :-)

[Starbucks Anarchist]

76. Robert Duvall in most of his roles, actually.

[bpj1962]

33. Conservative actors

I was wracking my brain for a conservative actor and it finally hit me. Charlton Heston. I have no idea what his political leanings were when he was young but they are pretty clear now. As much as I hate to say it that man could act.

[President Jesus]

35. complete list of actors and their political leanings

listed here: http://www.newsmeat.com/celebrity_political_donations/

[CitrusLib]

40. Wow! There were some real surprises there.

The Country singers, no shocker, but a few caught me off guard. Thank God my current long-distance fantasy is a 100% Dem contributor. Had he not been, I would never have been able to look at him the same way again. ;-)

[Cult]

84. Even Ah-nald donated to the Dem's

Wow. not as much as he gave to the GOP, but still

[Canadian Socialist]

51. Where's my boyfriend?

and his wife? (David Duchovny & Tea Leoni). I know that they are very progressive and have donated lots to various charities as well as being involved in various fund raising.

[Cult]

81. Heh...Look at the different occupations

Monica Lewinski's profession is 'Presidential Mistress'.

[Cult]

82. Apparently, all country singers are conservative

Excepting the lovely Faith Hill, Dixie Chicks, and Tim McGraw. Woooooo!

Edit: And Trisha Yearwood. Thanky all!

[Cult]

83. Huh...Ted Nugent donates heavily on the Dem side....

Didn't expect that...

[spooky3]

45. Frasier

[BlueStater]

59. Republican celebrities

Toby Keith
Drew Carey
Kelsey Grammer

I'm not including Dennis Miller because he isn't a real conservative. Just a poser who's kissing Bush butt to try and revive his dying career.

EDIT: Sorry! I thought we were just listing notable celebrities who were conservative not ones who could be governor. My bad.

[thingsarelookingup]

64. actually Toby Keith is a democrat - a conservative democrat

[Orrin_73]

77. You forgot Ron Silver

[SemperEadem]

46. exactly

Ahnold is a body-builder turned character actor. He is not even an actor in the sense of a Lawrence Olivier or a Denzel Washington--and frankly, neither was Reagan. He can barely speak the language clearly, for god's sake. Marrying into THE most political family in the country doesn't automatically confer experience on him, neither does owning a small scale restaurant in Santa Monica. He could easily be manipulated by the right wing powerbrokers in the state and he was willing to be pimped by them.

He was elected because enough of the people of Callyforneea thought that it would be cool for "the terminator" to be governor--interestingly enough those same folks are the ones who are getting r will be getting screwed the most by his policies... but what those same idiots didn't know was the Davis wasn't lying about CA's fiscal problems, no matter how Ahnold's speach-writers spun it. He took office and then had an "oh shit" moment after he got there.

[Joe Chi Minh]

49. Were there not grave doubts, if not

hard evidence of irregularities in that election?

[gauguin57]

10. 1 thing in Beatty's favor is his work on high-profile Democratic campaigns

Not that that qualifies him to run anything, either, but ... he has long been involved in politics.

Was an advisor to the George McGovern campaign in '72 (seems to me he was also an advisor to Gary Hart's campaign).

Now, mind you, I didn't say SUCCESSFUL Democratic campaigns ...

[nvliberal]

75. And Beatty was a bad influence on Gary Hart,

as subsequent events proved.

[zanne]

16. I know what you mean, NNadir.

I was flamed on another thread for saying the same thing. I don't get it, either. I mean, I don't think they should be disqualified because they're actors, but I think they're about as qualified as Joe Shmoe. They start out with a huge advantage of being well-known and they just come out and play their characters when they're being interviewed. One thing about actors; they're always acting so it's hard to know when they're lying.If we're going to promote and vote for people with no experience, how about a nice honest janitor? Wouldn't a janitor be just as qualified?

[Le Taz Hot]

18. Why should being an actor DISquality you?

Jefferson's vision of the citizen representative was just that. Average citizens (your babysitter, your hairdresser, the person who picks up your garbage, etc.) holding office for a limited period of time. His vision certainly had nothing to do with the gawd-awful career politicians we currently have.

If you want a list of professions who have offered, in most cases, abysmal governmental performances, how about lawyers? WAAAY over-represented individuals who have made a complete mess of most of our legal system. And these are the "experts."

I've listened to Warren Beatty several times and the guy knows his stuff. I'm not willing to eliminate him as a possible candidate based merely on his profession. If I were to do that no lawyer would ever again hold public office.

[fshrink]

22. That's the Show, my friend!

When reality becomes a show, who best than an actor to run it? Our lives are now firmly images.

[donheld]

24. What about being an actor makes someone NOT qualified?

What makes a Doctor more qualified, or a lawyer? Does one profession need to have a lock on politics? The constitution says nothing about previous careers.

[NNadir]

32. You and the other posters have a point but...

...my personal opinion is that the whole deal is emblematic of a deep and possibly fatal American obsession with style over substance, spin over practice. I really think that the people of California thought they were voting for a Schwarzenegger character, and what they got was, well, Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Now I have only seen one Schwarzenegger movie in my life, True Lies, and I can't recall a single Beatty movie since "Reds," but something about this whole deal disturbs me.

My problem, I guess, is not the right of actors to run for office, but is rather a function of the reason people vote for them, which is hardly connected with competence or ability.

I am, however, as you point out, on a deeper level wrong to deride the genius of the ordinary citizen and his or her right to office based on profession - or at least what the ordinary citizen used to be: Informed, discerning, possessed of an altruistic patriotism, striving.

The President who was the greatest, IMO, Abraham Lincoln, had a lousy resume when he acceded to office. In contrast, his predecessor - one of the worst Presidents - Buchanan, had a sterling resume. What Lincoln had that Buchanan lacked was a deep appreciation of what it actually means to be an American.

All said, I doubt Beatty could be as bad as Governor Steroid.

Personally, though, I think California is fucked.

[mondo joe]

44. Then your problem is not the candidate but the electorate.

And that's a shame - the very premise of a representative democratic model is the people deciding for themselves.

[President Jesus]

34. a) fabrication and "make believe" is their craft

b) they have 0 experience dealing with actual crisis management

c) the decisions they made in their careers have never once held peoples' lives in the balance

d) no matter how good their hearts are, the successful ones lead lives of privilege and prestige that are completely alien to the rest of the population. By their very nature they have to be out-of-touch withthe average Joe.

I'm not against actors becoming part of the political process or being office holders. I do, however, resent them vying directly for the highest seats before working their way up for the reasons listed above.

...and don't come back at me with "well George Bush was born with a silver spoon..." because I completely agree and believe he has no qualifications to be an office holder...for much of the same reasons listed above. And look where that's gotten us.

[mondo joe]

43. By your standard no one who has not already held office is qualified

to hold office.

[President Jesus]

58. that's not what I said at all

Virtually anyone who's been a mayor, even in a small town, would meet every one of the qualifications I listed. Hell, even most town council members have had to deal with making decisions that impact peoples' lives.

Key to my argument is that I resent actors competing directly for top executive offices (like Gov or Pres). I have no problem with them going after legislative or local offices and earning their chops.

If we're ever going to make this democratic republic truly work, we need simply need to stop voting for people whose sole qualifications are that they say what we want to hear.

[SemperEadem]

48. let's face it--Hollywood actors/stars have been successfully

packaged as his country's royalty--why I'll never know. Maybe on some level, our society requires a monarchy in some way, shape or form. Why do they get the attention and treatment they do? Why "Access Hollywood", why "E!", why "Entertainment Tonight", when after all, what they do is not brain surgery or anything that brings a direct impact on people's lives. They provide the vessel for escapism for Joe Schmo from his dreary existence--does that mean they deserve to be elevated the way they are? I don't think so.

I lived out there for 13 years, worked on the Paramount lot, in fact-- and I can tell you, without the lights, the clothes and the makeup/hair people, you'd pass them on the street and not think twice about them.

[RaleighNCDUer]

50. OTOH, most actors spend years at the lowest economic rung

as they are trying to make it in their business. Years of waiting tables, selling vacuum cleaners, odd-job carpentry, anything that will pay the rent while allowing them to attend classes and go on auditions. The best of them remember that when they've made it. The others become republicans.

And I think that the dem actors that make the leap probably agree with you on working their way up, which is why they run for congress, while RW actors run for governor, counting on their star power to carry them through instead of talent.

Just thinking.

[President Jesus]

57. agreed. but most actors do not run for office

the only ones that do are the uber-successful ones. I thought I made that point clear.

[NashVegas]

27. Beatty'd Agree With You, Maybe

"I believe if a private citizen is able to affect public opinion in a constructive way he doesn't have to be an elected public servant to perform a public service," Beatty said.

[confludemocrat]

30. Not to mention Tennessee and Iowa with Gopher and the ugly Fred Thompson

[confludemocrat]

Not to mention Tennessee and Iowa with Gopher and ugly Fred Thompson

[confludemocrat]

31. Not to mention Tennessee and Iowa with Gopher and ugly Fred Thompson

[1monster]

53. Warren Beatty has been active politically for years and years....

And what's more, the man does have a functioning brain, which is more than can be said of either Reagan or Governor Gropineger.

I don't think he really wants the job, though. California's penchant for governance by referendendum has created fiscal problems that are seriously difficult to solve.

[David Zephyr]

61. Beatty is not just a "movie star", he is a celebrated writer & producer

Believe me, producing a multi-million dollar motion picture and directing a dazzling four-hour film like "Reds" and writing a screenplay like "Reds" which carefully layers the story of the I.W.W. (The Wobblies), and the life of Jack Reed along with the Russian Revolution hardly is a breeze by any standard one wants to make.

Warren Beatty is smarter than any existing governor in the United States including all of the Democrats.

Plus, he actually doesn't wilt like lettuce on critical issues like labor union rights, civil rights, civil liberties and the environment.

Finally, your gratuitous little dig about California is just another of the tired and petty comments that frequent the DU all too much of late.

[TransitJohn]

78. What California really needs

is a song and dance man! (TIC)

[daninthemoon]

4. When is the next election in Cali? Have they done anything to plug

up that stupid recall loophole? Can they have elections there anymore?

[feminazi]

13. we get to vote arnie out next year

i can hardly wait.

ps: i was not one of the idiots who voted for him in the first place.

[Helga Scow Stern]

25. It's in November. They got rid of the SoS who stood up to Diebold

and replaced him with a Rethug tool who is acting like Blackwell.

Our votes don't count anymore.

[kma3346]

14. Hey, why can't we recall Arnie?

I think he's much more despised now than Gray Davis ever was. I didn't vote for him either and can't wait until he's gone. He's done nothing for us.

[kma3346]

15. Hey, why can't we recall the Gropinator?

I think he's much more despised now than Gray Davis ever was. I didn't vote for him either and can't wait until he's gone. He's done nothing for us.

[ronnykmarshall]

19. It's too late

Even IF and I mean IF a recall was able to qualify, the next statewide election would be June 2006. Which is the same time as primary.

A recall is waste of time.

We have two things to work on:

1. Defeat Arnie's ballot measures this November.

2. UNITE behind the Democratic nominee.

Personally, I think Warren Beatty would serve better working for the nominee and not as the nominee.

Lord knows he has more qualifications in his little finger than Arnie has in his whole body. BUT, we had the Movie Star gov for 3 years and he's been a flop. I don't think the majority of the voters want to take that chance again.

[ProfessorPlum]

17. Excellent. n/t

[genius]

23. So is Warren running for gov or not?

[SDB1]

26. Ahhnollld!

It's much more entertaing to have a recording of Arnold calling my house than Gray Davis! Ha Ha!

[Czolgosz]

36. Why is it that if a plumber, or dentist, or school teacher wants to

express his or her mind on some important political issue, we're all in favor of that, but if it's an actor or musician who wants to express such opinions, some people get their knickers in a twist?

I agree that the Misogynist-in-Chief is unqualified to serve as governor of anything much less California, and it reflects poorly on the electorate that he was so elevated, but it seems that his status as an actor (even though he is a damn shitty actor) shouldn't be grounds for suppressing his desire to speak out or to run for office (it should, however, serve as grounds for us to vote for a better qualified candidate which would seem to include most everyone).

[VegasWolf]

41. Because Republicans have always been afraid of Hollywood. They

don't worry about the labor classes, those can be controlled by Religion.

[mitchum]

39. Better actor, better man

Take him out, Warren

[David Zephyr]

63. Yeah!

And what a great governor he would be with Attorney General Brown working with him!

[David Zephyr]

60. Everyone knows I want Beatty to challenge Arnold, but Run Warren, Run!

I want my state back.

[Robbins]

67. Warren Beatty

He Is a lifetime Liberal Democrat,and hey Is a writer Producer,and Director. Arnold could barely do one job on a movie. He has been
active In politics for years. And he will,If he runs,actully go through a primary and months to give Democrats a choice. The fact they already are attacking him for speaking out should say something.
A debate between him,and Arnold would defintly be Intresting since
he knows Issues.

[Ernesto]

68. Robbins...... Just a welcome aboard the DU!............ n-t

[opihimoimoi]

69. Bush is no more qualied to run the Nation than Warren is

In Fact...Bush has been a Negative...nothing worked that made sense....

[SDB1]

70. So what about.....

....the fact that once Davis was outed the majority of Californians voted for Schwarzenegger even though the State has a Democratic Majority. What is the point of voting a guy in when his views were well publicised before the election and then trying to get rid of him right after he gets voted in. Someone please explain how this is good politics.

[Ernesto]

71. "when his views were well publicized before the election" (NOT)

The above is where you went wrong in your post SDB1. The actor is a pathological liar from the same mold as the chimp.
Being a Californio, I'm just as embarrassed about how my state was duped by rovian (cynically evil) repukes with this ringer-stooge as I am about how the country at large elected (for the 1st time) chimp in 2004.

[bvar22]

72. You are referring to the Republican campaign to recall Davis

after he was fairly elected?
No?
Why not?

[BlueCaliDem]

80. So What About the Fact that Vote Tallying Irregularities...

...were being underreported--but reported nonetheless!--after the Gropinator's "win"?
Or that the new Diebold voting machines, sans paper trail, was just being introduced?
Or the little publicized factoid, that Aaahnold is a huge Bush-Buddy, and family friend who went to the White House at least ONCE in, I believe, that June, before proclaiming his bid to become Governor on Jay Leno's show?
For those Dems that voted for the recall and for Aaahnold against Gray Davis, they must have gotten all their news from the corporate-owned, rightwing-biased media here in both air and print that blamed Davis unjustly, but consistently for the manipulated power outages late 2000 (when * stole the Presidency the first time) and early 2001 when those who had the time to research this unprecedented event, clearly saw Gray Davis literally fighting for airtime to tell Californians we were being gouged by Kenny-Boy and his ilk (later Davis was proven to be 100% correct on this but the air and print media here made little mention of this!).
I was one of those Dems who was informed enough to vote against the Recall.
Seeing that the Repubs won more seats in the Senate that same election year, Davis was denied access to Congress until Jim Jeffords' conscience made him leave that corrupt fascist party and become an Independent, effectively giving the power over to the Democrats in the Senate for a few short months, and immediately, Gray Davis was able to secure an audience with Congress where he was able to show California was being gouged of it's 8 billion surplus!
And what did the FERC do?
NOTHING.
What did Bush do?
NOTHING.
But only C-Span aired this meeting, and just how many Californians saw this?
Very few.
How many corporate-owned Republican-loving media outlets reported that Gray Davis "was being held responsible by the California voters" for the manipulated black-outs in our State before, and during the Recall efforts?
ALL of them.
Add to that, the perception of Aaahnold being "pro-choice, Anti-Iraq War, moderate Repub through marriage with a Kennedy", most Californians, I believe, truly believed that Aaahnold was more a Dem than a Repub, and he was lovingly helped by the corporate media that solidified this lie.
And you are SO WRONG about those pre-publicized "views" of his.
The Gropinator's "views" were NOT "well publicized" before the recall.
At least, not truthfully.
Like any Bush friend, and stealth candidate, Aaahnold refused public debates, and all he said was that he would repeal the raised registration fees (he owns 7 or more Hummers, so he didn't do this without any self-interest!) which was music to the overburdened Californian's ears, what with the energy bills so high, and then having to pay triple auto registration fees to offset the red ink created by energy price gouging and balance California's budget as Davis was forced to do, I believe most hardworking Californians, Dem and Repub alike, bought the "spiel" hook, line, and sinker.
I never did. Not for a single moment, and not only because I distrust Republicans' motives after the heavily Republican-tilted Supreme Court crowned Bush in December 2000 overrriding State's Rights!
Aaahnold promised not to take any "special interest money", and surpassed Gray Davis' fundraising three times over; collecting more in three months from special interest corporations just after going to Sacramento than Davis did in a YEAR; he promised never to take money from our education, and tried hard to strip monies from that pot and we defeated him; promised to ensure affordable healthcare and is still trying to strip money from that pot; proclaimed himself an immigrant; a beacon of hope for all immigrants since he too resided illegally in the United States for a period of time, thereby implying he held a soft-spot for immigrants, both documented and undocumented, knowing California's population is hugely made up of immigrants--then once in office, fights kinder immigration policies and even supported the vigilantes along the Mexican borders--and pissed off the WRONG people, the Latinos.
Aaahnold's "views" as you call them were nothing but a bunch of LIES, and that's why his poll ratings have dropped from the high 70's to the upper 30's to date.
California may be the home of La-La Land Hollywood, but we ain't stupid--at least, not for long. We wisen up, and we make lying politicians pay big time.
As for any Recall Election being "good politics"?
It ain't.
Again, that's why I was against it from the git-go.
Just remember it were the REPUBLICANS that started the California Recall here, with LOTS of off-the-record support from none other than the WH.
Decide then, whose political party is best for the people--ALL the people, and not only the wealthy--and our states and our nation.
Boy, we Californians are now undergoing real buyer's remorse with this inept joke-of-a-Governor from Austria!
So, how was this explanation?