Schwarzenegger Lauds Bush on Terror Fight
By ERICA WERNER, Associated Press Writer
9-1-04
NEW YORK - California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger drew on his childhood in Soviet-occupied Austria to endorse President Bush's war on terror. "Terrorism is more insidious than communism," the bodybuilder-turned-politician said Tuesday in a speech to the Republican convention.
Bush "knows you don't reason with terrorists. You defeat them. He knows you can't reason with people blinded by hate," he said. Putting his star power to work for President Bush in a prime-time address, Schwarzenegger also urged optimism about the country's economy.
"To those critics who are so pessimistic about our economy, I say: 'Don't be economic girlie men!'" Schwarzenegger said — a line from a Saturday Night Live spoof of him that he used against Democratic legislators earlier this year.
Schwarzenegger was trying to reintroduce himself as a politician to a country that might still see him as a movie star. The convention appearance was his first chance to give a purely political speech to a national television audience since taking office in California last November.
Schwarzenegger's wife, Kennedy relative and Democrat Maria Shriver, watched from a convention hall box with the couple's four children, aged 6-14. She was seated next to President Bush's parents, Barbara Bush and former President George H.W. Bush, who appointed Schwarzenegger to head the President's Council on Physical Fitness.
"Wow, this is like winning an Oscar — as if I would know!" the governor said when he took the stage to wild applause from delegates who waved signs reading "The Governator" and "Arnold Rocks."
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&e=1&u=/ap/20040901/ap_on_el_pr/cvn_schwarzenegger------------
- Two points:
- Republicans have always moaned and bitched about Democratic 'movie stars' when they get involved in politics. The double standard here is astounding.
- And by invoking the word 'communism' and comparing it with terrorism...Arnold is trying to whip up another cold war frenzy in the zealots.