Don’t Forget When Celebrating America Tomorrow To Also Celebrate the Fact That Schwarzenegger Cannot Be President
I filed my California State taxes today, even though I filled out the form and signed it back in February. I just never got around to mailing it because I owed $84 and didn’t have it back then. Then I kept forgetting it. So, I guess I have contributed to the $24 billion budget deficit and I am a hypocrite.
Because of the failure to pass the budget, news this week has not painted Schwarzenegger in a positive light. Schwarzenegger is obviously only a bad action film actor and not a political leader. He is also a die-hard conservative. While I agree on finding ways to trim the budget, I do not believe one of those ways is cutting benefits to the elderly. Does Schwarzenegger believe he can bully the elderly whom he should be serving?
In the building I manage, elderly tenants are under siege. They have had their benefits cut twice with a third cut expected in September. That means a very difficult time ahead. What happens when their benefits are cut so severely they cannot pay the rent? Am I supposed to evict them and put them out on the street?
As Governor, Schwarzenegger is a metaphorical father. What he is doing now is sitting at home, refusing to bring in any more income and expecting his family not to spend any money on housing, food, medicine, clothes and other necessities.
In doing so Schwarzenegger has become his father—the stern disciplinarian. According to the book True Myths of Arnold Schwarzenegger by Nigel Andrews, Schwarzenegger has said his father had “no patience for listening or understanding your problems…there was a wall; a real wall.” It seems California is suffering the same with Schwarzenegger.
But Schwarzenegger’s psychology has also been influenced by child abuse, as he told Fortune Magazine in 2004, “"My hair was pulled. I was hit with belts. So was the kid next door. It was just the way it was. Many of the children I've seen were broken by their parents, which was the German-Austrian mentality. They didn't want to create an individual. It was all about conforming. I was one who did not conform, and whose will could not be broken. Therefore, I became a rebel.”
Has Schwarzenegger twisted these emotional issues deep inside himself so that he is rebelling against the needs of those he should be serving? Does he equate political compromise with conforming? That question should be put to Republicans and Democrats. As the world gets more tenuous, our way forward more rocky, we need to know our leaders serve through wisdom not twisted hypocrisy or greed or blame or the need to be loved. We need better quality leaders. The word politician cannot be used here because it already denotes a corrupt idiot.
Money was also an issue for young Schwarzenegger. According to Arnold: An Unauthorized Biography by Wendy Leigh, the day the Schwarzenegger family got a refrigerator was a big day. Is it possible Schwarzenegger has slipped into the psychology of what was good for me is good for you—meaning suffering—except on a state-wide scale? In other words, because he had to go through tough times and he recovered from it all with his “mind-over-body power” to go on to international fame and success, he believes everyone else has to suffer and pull themselves up the way he did? Does he really expect the elderly in California to do that?
All of this from a man who, reportedly, violated the terms of his H-2 visa when he started a bricklaying business. So, in essence, the man who took advantage of benefits he did not deserve, as governor, is denying benefits to born-and-raised Californians.
Does this not remind one of the raw deal Indians were given by European invaders 400 years ago? This hemisphere belonged to Indians until the Europeans came and began restricting their lives and telling them that all they once knew they could no longer have.
Conservative fiscal policy has gotten us into the present mess. No tax, no spend, small government except when it comes to enabling corrupt politicians and the lobbyists and businesses whose teats they suck to flourish unrestricted and unregulated, is no basis for a system of government. As a wise man once said, “Supreme executive power derives from a mandate from the masses, not from some farcical conservative policy.” Okay, he didn’t say “conservative policy”, but you know what I mean.
While Schwarzenegger is obviously revealing himself to be in no way compassionate, his failure in California is another example of Republicans showing themselves to be completely out of touch with the current needs of Americans and Californians.
But even conservatives with "compassion" are fundamentally out of step with reality. How could George Bush take a $127 billion surplus and turn it into the mess we’re in if conservatism is so close to Divine Law (or aquatic ceremonies), as many conservatives seem to profess. Oh, yeah, a war based on lies, oil supply and war profiteering. Don’t get me wrong, liberal excess is obviously just as backward. However, why is Schwarzenegger so brutal to the elderly?
There are nearly 37 million people in California. There must be millions of businesses. Is it not possible that all of us carrying the weight—Schwarzenegger should understand that—so we could get California through this mess by paying a little extra?
It never had to get this bad. Republicans and Democrats in the state legislature, both of whom blame Schwarzenegger, are also to blame. And, according to Rob Burnett’s Huffington Post post last week entitled, “Who Ruined California?”, Californian’s are also to blame. In 1978, Californian’s passed Proposition 13, the “People’s Initiative to Limit Property Taxation”. With Prop. 13, property tax, which was previously used to generate budget funds was taken off the map.
Reducing taxes and limiting spending have long been staples of conservative fiscal policy. And it was two conservatives, Howard Jarvis and Paul Gann, who co-authored Prop. 13. However, while it has benefited California taxpayers, what good is that benefit in a bankrupt state?
So, Californians are partly responsible for this budget armageddon. They wanted lower taxes, which removed any cushion for tough times like these. Californians—but not me—also voted for Schwarzenegger twice. They bought the bullshit.
The celebrity culture in America is so strong, too strong. That’s why an idiot like Joe the Plumber can become famous based on his ridiculous opinions and statements. That’s why Sarah Palin can have a following. We the People need to understand our country better and make tough decisions, not the easy ones. By making easy decisions, Schwarzenegger has put us all at maximum risk.
There is a principle among the Iroquois called the Seven Generations which says, “Make decisions today which benefit the seventh generation to come.”
We as a supposed “superior culture” cannot even make decisions that benefit us in seven months to come, let alone whole generations.
Schwarzenegger is a man with an intense psychology that is geared and modified over years and years to benefit him and his, not a whole state of other people. His running for governor was wholly ego, not out of concern for people, which is the basis of the American government and, therefore, California’s government. What else was an aging bad actor dwindling at the box office supposed to do?
Is he angry because he knows he failed as governor and his failure will prevent him from becoming president of the United States?
I leave that question in a paragraph unto itself because I think it deserves some consideration.
I filed my California State taxes today, even though I filled out the form and signed it back in February. I just never got around to mailing it because I owed $84 and didn’t have it back then. Then I kept forgetting it. So, I guess I have contributed to the $24 billion budget deficit and I am a hypocrite.
Because of the failure to pass the budget, news this week has not painted Schwarzenegger in a positive light. Schwarzenegger is obviously only a bad action film actor and not a political leader. He is also a die-hard conservative. While I agree on finding ways to trim the budget, I do not believe one of those ways is cutting benefits to the elderly. Does Schwarzenegger believe he can bully the elderly whom he should be serving?
In the building I manage, elderly tenants are under siege. They have had their benefits cut twice with a third cut expected in September. That means a very difficult time ahead. What happens when their benefits are cut so severely they cannot pay the rent? Am I supposed to evict them and put them out on the street?
As Governor, Schwarzenegger is a metaphorical father. What he is doing now is sitting at home, refusing to bring in any more income and expecting his family not to spend any money on housing, food, medicine, clothes and other necessities.
In doing so Schwarzenegger has become his father—the stern disciplinarian. According to the book True Myths of Arnold Schwarzenegger by Nigel Andrews, Schwarzenegger has said his father had “no patience for listening or understanding your problems…there was a wall; a real wall.” It seems California is suffering the same with Schwarzenegger.
But Schwarzenegger’s psychology has also been influenced by child abuse, as he told Fortune Magazine in 2004, “"My hair was pulled. I was hit with belts. So was the kid next door. It was just the way it was. Many of the children I've seen were broken by their parents, which was the German-Austrian mentality. They didn't want to create an individual. It was all about conforming. I was one who did not conform, and whose will could not be broken. Therefore, I became a rebel.”
Has Schwarzenegger twisted these emotional issues deep inside himself so that he is rebelling against the needs of those he should be serving? Does he equate political compromise with conforming? That question should be put to Republicans and Democrats. As the world gets more tenuous, our way forward more rocky, we need to know our leaders serve through wisdom not twisted hypocrisy or greed or blame or the need to be loved. We need better quality leaders. The word politician cannot be used here because it already denotes a corrupt idiot.
Money was also an issue for young Schwarzenegger. According to Arnold: An Unauthorized Biography by Wendy Leigh, the day the Schwarzenegger family got a refrigerator was a big day. Is it possible Schwarzenegger has slipped into the psychology of what was good for me is good for you—meaning suffering—except on a state-wide scale? In other words, because he had to go through tough times and he recovered from it all with his “mind-over-body power” to go on to international fame and success, he believes everyone else has to suffer and pull themselves up the way he did? Does he really expect the elderly in California to do that?
All of this from a man who, reportedly, violated the terms of his H-2 visa when he started a bricklaying business. So, in essence, the man who took advantage of benefits he did not deserve, as governor, is denying benefits to born-and-raised Californians.
Does this not remind one of the raw deal Indians were given by European invaders 400 years ago? This hemisphere belonged to Indians until the Europeans came and began restricting their lives and telling them that all they once knew they could no longer have.
Conservative fiscal policy has gotten us into the present mess. No tax, no spend, small government except when it comes to enabling corrupt politicians and the lobbyists and businesses whose teats they suck to flourish unrestricted and unregulated, is no basis for a system of government. As a wise man once said, “Supreme executive power derives from a mandate from the masses, not from some farcical conservative policy.” Okay, he didn’t say “conservative policy”, but you know what I mean.
While Schwarzenegger is obviously revealing himself to be in no way compassionate, his failure in California is another example of Republicans showing themselves to be completely out of touch with the current needs of Americans and Californians.
But even conservatives with "compassion" are fundamentally out of step with reality. How could George Bush take a $127 billion surplus and turn it into the mess we’re in if conservatism is so close to Divine Law (or aquatic ceremonies), as many conservatives seem to profess. Oh, yeah, a war based on lies, oil supply and war profiteering. Don’t get me wrong, liberal excess is obviously just as backward. However, why is Schwarzenegger so brutal to the elderly?
There are nearly 37 million people in California. There must be millions of businesses. Is it not possible that all of us carrying the weight—Schwarzenegger should understand that—so we could get California through this mess by paying a little extra?
It never had to get this bad. Republicans and Democrats in the state legislature, both of whom blame Schwarzenegger, are also to blame. And, according to Rob Burnett’s Huffington Post post last week entitled, “Who Ruined California?”, Californian’s are also to blame. In 1978, Californian’s passed Proposition 13, the “People’s Initiative to Limit Property Taxation”. With Prop. 13, property tax, which was previously used to generate budget funds was taken off the map.
Reducing taxes and limiting spending have long been staples of conservative fiscal policy. And it was two conservatives, Howard Jarvis and Paul Gann, who co-authored Prop. 13. However, while it has benefited California taxpayers, what good is that benefit in a bankrupt state?
So, Californians are partly responsible for this budget armageddon. They wanted lower taxes, which removed any cushion for tough times like these. Californians—but not me—also voted for Schwarzenegger twice. They bought the bullshit.
The celebrity culture in America is so strong, too strong. That’s why an idiot like Joe the Plumber can become famous based on his ridiculous opinions and statements. That’s why Sarah Palin can have a following. We the People need to understand our country better and make tough decisions, not the easy ones. By making easy decisions, Schwarzenegger has put us all at maximum risk.
There is a principle among the Iroquois called the Seven Generations which says, “Make decisions today which benefit the seventh generation to come.”
We as a supposed “superior culture” cannot even make decisions that benefit us in seven months to come, let alone whole generations.
Schwarzenegger is a man with an intense psychology that is geared and modified over years and years to benefit him and his, not a whole state of other people. His running for governor was wholly ego, not out of concern for people, which is the basis of the American government and, therefore, California’s government. What else was an aging bad actor dwindling at the box office supposed to do?
Is he angry because he knows he failed as governor and his failure will prevent him from becoming president of the United States?
I leave that question in a paragraph unto itself because I think it deserves some consideration.
Ronald Reagan allowed drugs to be brought into this country to fund the Contras--that was his psychosis at work.
In fact, I think Michele Bachmann should do a penetrating expose to answer my prior question. I think politicians should be given psychological tests by a panel of non-partisan experts to see if they want to become a leader for personal gain or to help further corrupt government and business, or for the betterment of the people. We need to weed out the Bushes, the Nixons, the Schwarzeneggers, the Palins, the Bachmanns and the Cheneys, not to mention the Democrats (who I did not mention) that suffer from the same corrupt and immoral drive.
Schwarzenegger’s career before governor was playing a series of action heroes who would save innocents by walking, carrying or driving them through dangerous circumstances and many close calls to the happy ending. Why can he not do that now? Oh, because there is no script? Our state’s ruined credit rating, which only makes the situation worse, is not the only collateral damage his stubbornness has caused.
He cannot think his way through this without a writer or director? Well, he’s the director and producer now, and the elderly in California are all just extras in a scene he believes makes him look good.
Schwarzenegger’s 2004 campaign financial advisor, Warren Buffet, recommended repealing or modifying Prop. 13 as a measure to balance the budget. Schwarzenegger’s reaction was that if Buffet kept talking about repealing Prop. 13 it would be the end of his career as governor.
This is not Schwarzenegger being a leader. This is Schwarzenegger being a girlie man. With regard to the budget crisis, he has yet to make a good executive decision. He is exhibiting the same lack of leadership and decisiveness he accused Gray Davis of exemplifying. The reason for this, I believe, was that Schwarzenegger was only using the governorship as a stepping stone to the first foreign born president—his ego is that big.
Given the conservative conspiratorial fervor of Obama’s birth certificate, California legislators can bet good budget funds (through IOUs) that in a year or two these same conservatives will trumpet Schwarzenegger’s presidential aspirations. When asked why the double standard, they will perhaps say that while Schwarzenegger is foreign born—and Obama is as well, they will say—Obama tried to cover his up. That’s American politics.
Schwarzenegger needs to lead Californians through these tough times, not be afraid of them. He is being the girlie man that he so arrogantly accused Gray Davis of being. One thing that can be said is that Schwarzenegger is not improving the lot of the Republican Party right now when they so desperately need it. Traditionally, when Senators and Representatives in a party are in trouble, it is to the governors that they turn. Schwarzenegger, Sanford, Palin, Jindhal and Rick Perry are damaging Republicans on a state level as well at a time when they certainly don’t need it. Now, the Republicans have nowhere to run.
Schwarzenegger as president of the United States would only be George Bush with an accent—not very bright, looking good in a flak suit on an aircraft carrier with a deceptive banner behind him, and exuding a false aura of fatherly protection at press conferences. During his bodybuilding days, Schwarzenegger earned the nickname of “Austrian Oak”. Today it seems many may consider “Austrian Oaf” to be more appropriate.
Schwarzenegger’s approval rating as of May 7, 2009 was at 32 percent, comparable to George Bush’s at the end of his presidency as the worst president in U.S. history. He and Bush are twins.
His ego is so big, and the mental prowess of many American voters so small, that in a few short years when Schwarzenegger gets the selfish, egotistical itch, he will sit with Karl Rove to figure out how to make girlie man fun of whoever the president is, unless its Hillary in 2016, and surround himself with a lot of brain power whose advice he will ignore, and run.
On July 30th Schwarzenegger turns 62. That’s the early-retirement age. Schwarzenegger should retire. He is not a political leader. He is an elected bad action film actor.
And he needs to stop believing he can scare the elderly into accepting him effectively killing them slowly by simply flexing his muscles.
