Schwarzenegger Remakes Himself as Environmentalist

[Herman Munster]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/22/AR2006122201476.html

"We are going to find a way to do it, no matter what anyone says," Schwarzenegger said. ". . . We have to make moves that protect the health of the people. That's our number one priority.

"We don't want Washington to tell us when we are allowed to be healthy or when we should get cancer," he continued. "We don't want people to die because pollution causes certain illnesses and cancers and so on."

Schwarzenegger argued that in a "Nixon goes to China" way he is uniquely poised to lead on the environmental front. Calling himself a "sane Republican," he said his pro-business philosophy and fiscal conservatism shield him from accusations of being "the tree hugger, the crazy guy out there who wants to live on the moon and talk about the spirits and all this holistic stuff."

"With me they can't do it, because my whole history is different," he said, puffing thoughtfully on a fat cigar in his smoking tent in a courtyard of the state Capitol. "It's unexpected, so therefore you have a better chance to have an impact. . . . All those businesses would never have a better guy than me."

Schwarzenegger asserted that his embrace of the issue has helped prompt other Republicans to change their tune on the environment. Republican presidential hopefuls have reached out to Schwarzenegger's team to talk about global warming, an aide noted.

[Island Blue]

1. Doesn't he have a buttload of Hummers?

I assume he's giving those away to charity.

[rpannier]

4. He converted at least one of the hummers, maybe more

to alternative fuels.

[cally]

7. I don't think he did...supposedly he just said he was

converting them but didn't.

[rpannier]

15. From the article

"He retooled one of his four Hummers to run on alternative fuels..." paragraph 2

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/22/AR2006122201476.html

[UTUSN]

2. So he sold his Hummer(s)?

Being "pro environment" is the same way that O'LOOFAH tries to claim that he is NOT a wingnut, IS an INDEPENDENT. Because O'LOOFAH has TWO whole things he disagrees with wignuts about, the other one being the death penalty.

And when e-mailers complained that O'LOOFAH fawned over Ahhhnuld instead of being tough with him, O'LOOFAH claimed that, no, he was vewy vewy tough on him for driving a Hummer!!!1

[Turbineguy]

3. So he painted his Hummers

green eh?

[Cleita]

5. Ass. He's also going to present us with health care legislation.

This is after he vetoed the health care plan, we the people, petitioned for, asked the legistlature to pass, which it did. Now, he's going to tell us what's good for us, not what we want.

:puke:

[NewJeffCT]

6. We should all point out this about Arnold

He was the only major Republican who was successful in last month's election. The reason he was successful was because he moved well to the left of where he started as governor.

[LeftyMom]

9. No, he won because his opponent didn't campaign.

He may very well have won anyhow, because Phil Angelides makes '00 Gore look like a firebrand, but he essentially ran unopposed.

He's wildly pro-corporation, he sidesteps campaign finance regulations, he sold GLBT people out on marriage, he wasted a ton of money on the initiative election last year (and had nothing to show for it) and he dropped the Enron electricity ripoff issue as soon as he took office. He makes racist and anti-woman remarks with some regularity and half-ass apologizes when he gets called on it. He's only more liberal than the typical Republican in the sense that he doesn't hide much of his history of drug use and fucking around in order to appeal to the prudery of the right wing, probably more because he's nominally Catholic and thus can't play up the whole "I'm born again! That was the old me!" angle like Bush does than as a result of any personal distaste for that stragegy.

[Cleita]

13. Also, Arnold got half his funding from the insurance industry and

the for profit health care industry, a hard combination to fight by any candidate including Angelides.

[Cleita]

12. Yes, he moved to left before the election because it was

political prudent of him to do so. Beware of the Republican with populist sounding legislation. There is always a poison pill in them.

[Quantess]

8. Compared to B*sh, he actually is.

But, only when compared to B*sh.

He's more the "envy Ron mentally" type (reference to Ronald Reagan, for the younger DUers)

[walldude]

10. Call me when he remakes himself as someone with a fucking brain n/t

[Frances]

11. I am really, really worried that he will become my senator

in 2010. What can we do to prevent that?

[Cleita]

14. He has a lot of dirty unwashed linen in his closet.

You really have to bring it out in public and make it stick. The first time around he paid off or discredited accusers who didn't have his money or the lawyers to fight him. If you want him out of your life you will have to pool your funds for a good legal team to expose him.