Arnold Flexes His Political Muscle (Unbelievable!)

[kskiska]

Congress Charmed by Schwarzenegger

(snip)

Back at home, his people were "in the middle of a disaster," facing "raging fires," "gigantic fires," "a very serious disaster," he said on Capitol Hill. Surveying the damage, he realized "the fire is right now at a very dangerous stage."

Strangely, then, he smiled.

Schwarzenegger was speaking after a meeting with House Republicans. Given the severity of the subject, and the general sober tone of the Capitol, it took the frankest of congressmen to admit what really had taken up most of the meeting: Everyone was jumping around, hollering, clapping, said Dana Rohrabacher (R-Calif.). "Every time he moved, someone would jump up and take a picture," he said, by which he meant members of Congress, not news photographers. "I mean, we all had cameras in our pockets."
Washington tried to be utterly nonchalant about Schwarzenegger's visit, unfazed, business as usual. After each of their meetings with him the lawmakers stopped to answer serious questions about emergency relief funds, after-school initiatives, ethanol subsidies.

"Yes, I actually took out PowerPoint graphs," insisted Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.).

But here and there the giddy fan club provincialism showed. A congressman would try to maintain a somber tone: "A very serious disaster," agreed Rep. David Dreier (R-Calif.), Schwarzenegger's constant sidekick throughout the day. And then he turned to Schwarzenegger and cracked a huge, tongue-showing, apropos-of-nothing smile.

more…
http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A38314-2003Oct29?language=printer

[neverforget]

1. I think i'm going to

:puke:

[PartyPooper]

2. As a native Californian, I am totally ashamed and pissed off!!!

Need I say more?!?

:evilfrown:

[tom_paine]

3. Very believeable for Imperial Amerika

In many ways we are becoming the caricature of the Ugly Amerikans that foreign peoples once falsely believed us to be.

Now, our slavish, bullying, bootlicking nation is making them out to be fucking prophets.

[JackSwift]

11. Oh, this isn't new

there have always been politicians (and some voters) this dumb, kiss-assy and clueless.

[Brucey]

4. I've an idea:

Let's worship and adore celebrities! They're better than us.

[truthisfreedom]

5. especially ones from other countries.

that's the ticket.

[DuctapeFatwa]

6. I understand he informed bush that California is on fire

That would certainly fall within his responsibilities as governor.

edit to note that it is entirely possible that the US might put the fire out if so many resources were not currently occupied by the Crusade.

[Pert_UK]

7. Maria, my mighty heart is breaking...if you need me, I'm in the Humvee.

And so forth.

What a twat.

P.

[Buns_of_Fire]

34. I want to know who informed AHNULD

that Collie-For-Nyah was on fire! Come on, 'fess up! Who let it slip?

(And who was the winner of the "Be The First to Kiss Arnold's Ass" contest?)

[Pert_UK]

8. "American People Ruled Unfit to Govern"

"WASHINGTON, DC—In a historic decision with major implications for the future of U.S. participatory democracy, the Supreme Court ruled 8-1 Monday that the American people are unfit to govern.

The controversial decision, the first of its kind in the 210-year history of U.S. representative government, was, according to Justice David Souter, "a response to the clear, demonstrable incompetence and indifference of the current U.S. citizenry in matters concerning the operation of this nation's government." "

http://www.theonion.com/onion3514/unfit_to_govern.html

It would be funny if it weren't true...

P.

[PartyPooper]

9. I want to immigrate to the UK!

I want to relocate to a remote village in the Scottish highlands...away from people and politics! Is that possible?

(My rebellious ancestors who themselves immigrated to the U.S. would be dumbstruck!) WTF! I don't give a f***!

Right now, I just wanna' get outa' this fascist country before it's entirely too late.

:bounce:

[callous taoboy]

33. There is

no utopia. I was hell-bent on becomming an ex-pat in Costa Rica back in 1999 because I'd heard cool things about it. Went and stayed a month in San Jose and was appalled at the extremes of haves and have-nots: Cardboard shacks next to pink marble palaces protected by armed sentries, gang graffiti all over these beautiful old buildings in San Jose, razor wire around every wall of every house, and the pollution and human destitution were abhorent. People hired gaurds armed with AK-47s to protect their Jaguars and Audis at night clubs and restaurants. Rich U.S. businessmen come there to go whoring and to gamble.

I know: I keep wondering where to go. I'm a teacher, and things are NOT good anywhere in public ed. since shithead introduced this BOGUS no child left behind sans funding. All of the teachers at my school are ready to revolt! I think about teaching in a nice village in the U.K. but I have a British friend who says that public schools there are not in good shape either, that they are desperate to hire people to teach and so, like the U.S., are hiring unqualified people who often leave after a few months. Welcome to Planet Wal-Mart.

[The_Casual_Observer]

10. Star struck congressmen and senators

This asshole Dana Rohrabacher has taken the #1 retard shmuck crown last held and worn proudly by Bob Dornan. I wonder how many of them are going to want to be seen with Arnold after he screws up the state even more.

[Julien Sorel]

12. He walks on water.

For a little while.

[Fridays Child]

13. Whoever is sitting the closest to Dianne Feinstein, right now...

...would you please slap her?

[Kinkistyle]

14. Mein Gott! Its der Ubermensch!

Mr. Governor, could you please sign the autograph "To my #1 Aryan fan"?

[FredScuttle]

15. "Yah....duh fiyah iss baad and stuff....now, watch this drive"

I can't say which is more nausea-inducing...Der Gropen Fuhrer cracking a smile over the suffering of thousands or the lickspittle congressmen and women enabling him.

MEIN GOTT IN HIMMEL! WAKE ME FROM THIS NIGHTMARE!!!

[Zhade]

16. What did SchwarzeNazi say about a Nazi rally, that one time...?

NT!

[radfringe]

17. ya know

all that ENRON money that Ahhh-nuld is going to "forgive" would go a long way to help with CA's budget....

any CA papers/media pointing this out?

[Voltaire99]

18. Then he groped Senator Kaye Bailey Hutchison (R-Tx.)...

...who asked him to autograph her tit!

No lie. Saw it on C-SPAN.

[0007]

19. I absolutely don't believe these asswipes,

Schwarzenegger is holy because because of his dick or his brain?

[SammyWinstonJack]

24. I'm not voting "his brain"

This is just sick. :puke: Do these people(and I use the term loosely) take anything seriously, except voting themselves pay increases and tax cuts? I'm with Party Pooper, I want to move to a remote village in the Scottish Highlands too. I wish I could be outraged over this, but I have reached the saturation point and am now completely numb with regards to whatever the repukes (and the dems who allow them) do.

[Rebel_with_a_cause]

20. Our fire fighters are exhausted. Arnie should lend a hand

He can't debate. Maybe he can lift fire hoses.

I hope the historic town of Julian can be saved. It was a stagecoach stop, and the hotel is wonderful. Grab a bucket, Arnie, and leave your smirk at home!

[piece sine]

22. you ain't seen nuttin' yet!

wait until Bush is out there, helping the firefighter pump-up his poll numbers....I mean, fight the fire. The emperor hero (with a haircut to match)will be all over southern California soon, posing for campaign ads with exhausted firefighters...but not until all of Barbra Streisand's mansions burn down. THEN, the feds will help fight the fire. You'll see.

[Wednesdays]

30. A slap at Streisand, I see...

How about dissing the Dixie Chicks too, while you're at it?

[Fovea]

36. That was not a slap at Streisand

it was an admission that this is a reichstag fire, and soon we will see them trot out Marinus van der Lubbe in a PETA teeshirt for the sheep to stone.

There has been a protracted economic war over California, to paint the west red (I hear a song in there somewhere). This fire is being milked like a guernsey by the fascists.

[BiggJawn]

21. What a scmuck. Davis takes the Heat, Groepenfuehrer thrills the shills

Everybody's busting Davis' chops over not getting the "right Resources" to fight the fire, and the Meat Puppet is in DC passing out autographs to the immpressionable Representitaves of The People....Well, I guess they're behaving properly, because most of their constituency would be swooning at AHH-nuld's feet if they had the chance...

[dusty64]

23. This is a joke right.

I'm appalled again, these repigs never cease to render me speechless in disgust.

[Algorem]

25. These Republican boys seem to be bi partisans for the molester.Gross.

[gasperc]

26. some of Drier's slime is dripping off my computer

how can that be?

[ninkasi]

27. I'm just so *%#$@ glad

that there is a huge fire in California, giving Herr Groppenfuhrer a chance to charm star struck fucking politicians! What's the death toll now, 20? How many homes destroyed? And these people are treating the whole thing like a big joke, oblivious to California's fires, too busy being smitten by California's pathetic governor?

I'm sorry...I'm just becoming so ashamed of this country, for so many reasons, on so many levels.

[demdave]

35. I thought Davis was still Governor.

Isn't he?

[Snellius]

28. Arnold didn't even know CA was declared a "disaster area"

I watched the press photo op with Arnold and Frist/Stevens. The Terminator explained to the Senators that he was in D.C. to get "Caleefornia" designated a federal disaster area. Frist had to inform him that the state was already declared a disaster area that morning.

I watched Arnold too at a fire site the day before yesterday. It basically involved him sitting in fire engines and waving for the camera.

[kskiska]

29. Same Story, Different Paper

WASHINGTON, Oct. 29 — Star-struck lawmakers cozied up to him, angling for a picture. Senate pages stood in line, pens and notecards in hand, hoping for an autograph. Plainclothes police officers kept gawkers at bay.

So many photographers snapped so many images that at times the movie star's face looked like a kaleidoscope of flashing white light bouncing off skin with so perfect a tan that no one could tell if it was real or makeup.

Arnold Schwarzenegger came to Washington on Wednesday, with the kind of orchestration usually reserved for a foreign head of state. Not since Nelson Mandela and Tony Blair had there been such a frenzy.

(snip)

Asked if he would raise taxes to help defray the cost of the fires, he said, "Now is the wrong time to make that decision."

I have to wonder whether he considers these fires an "emergency."

more…
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/10/30/national/30ARNO.html

[ignatius]

31. Image over substance will win every time in this celeb crazy country.

Every congressman should be made to live,unguarded, in a housing project for 3 months with a $100.00 in pocket money. Bring them down to reality instead of their ivory towers, let them see the serious sid of live instead of going apeshit over some over steroided piece of living dog shit.

Sickening behaviour!!!

[Rex]

32. Hatch will get his way and they will run the Gropenator in '04

This is just further proof IMO that Congress works for ITSELF and not the American people.