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Posted on 10/05/2003 4:54:11 AM PDT by carbon14
By Robert Scheer
Published March 13, 2001 in the Los Angeles Times
Arnold Schwarzenegger for governor!
Well, why not? I hadn't thought of putting in a plug for the actor's political career until Gov. Gray Davis' top political operative, Garry South, conducted one of the meanest political smear jobs in recent memory.
South took the lowest of the low roads when he personally made sure that an article in Premiere magazine got into the hands of a host of reporters as well as potential Republican backers of a possible Schwarzenegger gubernatorial campaign. Not content with attacking Schwarzenegger as a womanizer, as the magazine did, South baited Republicans for even considering supporting a man whose political views might be described as more moderate than theirs.
As South told me, Schwarzenegger "defined himself as a social liberal, pro-choice and pro-gun control, plus he's married to a Kennedy." What a crime. But South sputtered on, adding that Schwarzenegger also is pro-gay rights, pro-immigrant and supported Clinton during the impeachment farce.
Most of this kind of talk is aimed at shocking Republicans, but apparently South got his call list mixed up and mistakenly placed me in the category of right-winger. Anything to destroy an opponent. South claimed Schwarzenegger's suggestion that he might be a gubernatorial candidate made him fair game. Referring to the actor's interview with Times columnist George Skelton, South said, "When Skelton put him in the ring, he [Schwarzenegger] trashed the governor."
Not so. Schwarzenegger criticized Davis' handling of the California energy crisis as being marked by uncertainty (an assessment shared by many) and said Davis hadn't kept his campaign promises. But he said nothing personally denigrating about the governor. In fact, he said of Davis, "I hope he does a great job so there's no reason for anyone to run against him. Because that's the ideal thing." I call that gracious.
Yet South felt compelled to answer with a no-holds-barred smear, explaining: "When someone attacks my client, I will respond, that's what I do for a living--when you do what Arnold Schwarzenegger did, you put yourself in the line of fire. That's my rationale; I have no apology whatsoever."
Nor does Davis. A campaign press spokesman, Gabriel Sanchez, when asked about the smear campaign conducted on behalf of the governor's campaign committee, said, "The governor hasn't made any comment on that issue, nor does he intend to."
The Premiere piece, which South also e-mailed and faxed to a long list of reporters and political operatives, contained the kind of anonymously sourced dirt that gets hurled with impunity at public figures, who have less protection under libel laws. The primary thrust of the article was that the actor was a serial groper. Weirdly, the magazine's writer also went into Schwarzenegger's congenital heart problem, speculating that it was instead the result of steroids used when he was a competitive bodybuilder. As a smarmy aside, the writer made much of the evidently unfounded claim that pig, rather than human, heart valves were implanted in Schwarzenegger. (Schwarzenegger's surgeon insisted the magazine was wrong, that human valves were used and that there's no evidence that he used steroids.)
In taking advantage of the hit piece, South began his e-mail with: "RE: Ah-nuhld's Piggish Behavior (Maybe It's the Pig Valve?)." How puerile.
Why denigrate a man who has been an exemplary community activist? While Davis' hatchet man chose to ignore his many charitable and service contributions over the decades, two are particularly well-known: Schwarzenegger is national chair of the effort to bring sports to inner-city kids and has been a major booster of the Special Olympics. Whatever his failings, and who among us is without, he is a family man seen frequently in Santa Monica in the company of his wife, NBC reporter Maria Shriver, and their four children, doing normal family things. I have observed Schwarzenegger in various settings and have never witnessed a scintilla of the crudeness ascribed to him. Many years ago, I occasionally would run into him at Elaine's restaurant in New York, when he was young Austrian immigrant bodybuilder who was suddenly the toast of the town after winning the Mr. Universe contest. It's amazing to me, after all the worldwide media attention over the following decades, that he survived to be someone this seemingly decent and balanced.
This ugly episode tells more about Davis than about his feared opponent. We all know that the governor is a control freak, and that South would not be doing this without his boss' approval. It is infuriating that Davis, whom I have long respected and thought to be a classy guy, would stoop to this level. It's time for Davis to terminate South's antics and issue an apology to Schwarzenegger.
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Robert Scheer Is a Times Contributing Editor
Says Drudge: "Connolly plans to name some names. Using the term 'fag hag' to describe Lewinsky player Lucianne Goldberg, Connolly told the Drudge Report that he has an "iron clad contract" with Talk/Miramax . . . Connolly has been spending the cash advanced to him by Talk to explore the personal backgrounds of Clinton scandal insiders.
Best-selling author and syndicated columnist Ann Coulter, who comes under the Connolly microscope, said on Monday that she was "harassed" after Connolly brought in a private investigator to dig into her background. 'The guy began a program of harassment by calling me at home 6 times a day until I changed my number, sending me flowers, and hiring a private investigator to look into my personal life. I have a copy of the letter his PI sent to an ex-boyfriend of mine, stating that he was hired by John Connolly to look into me.' . . . 'I will not be bullied around,' warns Connolly, 'by threats or lawsuits or anything else.' Hide your cigarettes under the bed, Snow White. A scorched earth alert has been issued."
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| Lighten Up, Francis! |
| Fundraising posts only happen quarterly, and are gone as soon as we meet the goal. Help make it happen. |
My God...he almost sounds reasonable. What's gotten into him?
They're imposed here too:
Isn't it great how every candidate Clinton campaigns for, bites the dust!
Of course, if he had the premonition of a successful recall in 2003, then he would have thrown the article in the trash.
Apparently the writer respected and thought Bill Clinton to be a classy guy too. These lib/dems are what they support.
Ohhhh...I hadn't noticed the date of the article on first read. Thanks for pointing it out.
Makes a LOT more sense now.
My feelings exactly. It's almost as if he lost his copy of the liberal talking points.
Since you aren't from Cali and are probably not familiar with this writer, I can understand your comment...but oh, my! You have no idea!
Words cannot describe how bad this guy is. To say he is a committed leftist would be an understatement. He is positively demented.
Double-take here too.
Can I still refer to Limbaugh? The LA Times ran one "poll" that was somewhat beneficial to Schwarzennegar. If Arnie
comes out on top, the LAT can point to "that" article saying "See? We reported the truth, blah, blah, blah.
My guess is that the reports of a backlash against the media have Dims of most stripes worried.
Where were they [the media in general, LAT in particular] when Davis's lies, distortions, reports of "insert cash,
get favors", etc. kept surfacing, let alone the obvious incompetence? Nary a peep from the print and TV people.
I think the deliberate obfuscation by the NYSlimes on the Hitler comments finally work up a good portion of
undecided voters that Davis, the Dims, and Co., speak with forked tongues.
Scheer's trying to mitigate the damage by giving cover to any Dims on the talking heads circuit.
Just saw Art Torres a couple of minutes ago. A rude, lying SOS, imo.
Methinks many will need an ample supply of crying towels on Friday.
Good luck Thursday, Californians!
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