The Nation on Schwartzenegger (9/23)

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COLUMN LEFT by Robert Scheer


Family Values Down the Toilet

Last week, the Republican Women's Caucus in California endorsed a gubernatorial candidate who as recently as July had gloried in the prospect of shoving a woman's head into a filthy toilet bowl. The GOP women rationalize that Arnold Schwarzenegger "supports family." Mark that endorsement the death knell of Republican claims to represent traditional family values.

Schwarzenegger's remarks in an interview with Entertainment Weekly cannot be easily discarded as an excess of youth, the commercial need to promote a macho view of bodybuilding or any of the other flip rationalizations Schwarzenegger has offered for his frequent and persistent expressions of misogyny.

No, the statement in question was made by a 55-year-old man who was openly contemplating a gubernatorial campaign. It was not made twenty-six years ago, when the Oui magazine article mentioning group sex came out, but only two months ago, in July. What it suggests is that the violence and stupidity of his cinema roles may reflect the thinking of the actor.

In all fairness, the statements made on the set of Terminator 3 to Entertainment Weekly should be evaluated in their entirety, within the context of the article, which reads as follows:

EDITED BY ADMIN: COPYRIGHT

http://www.thenation.com/doc.mhtml?i=20031006&s=scheer0923

[Brucey]

1. The Termite-Eater is a pig, and by embracing him,

the repugs show the world what they are all about! If only the average everyman in the US was informed enough and thoughtful enough to see and understand this brutal truth: repugs are totally repugnant.

[REP]

2. Diurnal Crew Kick