Good lord, actor with pickled-brain 'elected'

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Humanity took a huge leap backwards yesterday. Thanks to a loophole in the law a plurality decided that they would allow a pickled-brained bodybuilder to run a state which he is unable to pronounce.

So lets recap: In the White House we have a mentally deficient unelected fraud who has been arrested 3 times, got a C- average in a private university (unbelivably pathetic), and who is a pathological liar.

In California we have a groping, Hitler-admiring, steriod-using, b-movie actor who got elected purely because of his star status.

What next, Dennis Miller for Senate?

It's not a complete loss though, there will be comedic vaule associated with watching him fail just as we have watched Bush fail.

Foruntately, there are already groups assembled for a "Recall Schwarzenegger" campaign. I can't wait to sign the petition. Turnabout is fair play.

Favorite Arnold quote:
"Gay marriage should be between a man and a women."

That would be a great way to solve the problem!

 

Just because he's a bodybuilder doesn't mean that he's stupid. No one gets to be as successful as he is without having some brainpower. His movies were mostly big ones, not B movies. I don't believe for a second the reports of his so-called admiration for Hitler (anypone who cannot acknowledge that old Adolph was a skilled orator is in total cognitive denial -- making that acknowledgment does not imply approval for Hitler's ideas.)
I don't mind if you find his policies inappropriate or flawed, I don't mind if you believe that his skill set is not suited to politics, but writing him off as a big, dumb, stereotypical moron is unfair and illogical.

 

I am in no way an admirer of Arnold's politics or rather the lack of it as he did his best to avoid speaking about it before the election but there is one thing with him being elected that I kinda like. It is that the people of California were fed up with groomed, proffessional, bred since infancy politicans who are all basically sprung from the exact same background and context. You could call it a small revolution against hte political establishment. Too bad the people of California were screwed though, Arnie has been a part of the Bush clan for more than a decade and is firmly in their fold, so much for that revolution. The intention was good though!

 

He isn't the sharpest knife, that's for sure. But at least he's better than that **** star of hers. She only got around 9k votes, while Arnie got 3,5 million. Says a little, doesn't it?

 

How is this a huge travesty for Australian aborigines? Or is this just the first salvo in a post that was a tad bit hyperbolic?

Translation = constitution.

Pretty common actually. In this century, about 1/3 of all presidential elections resulted in the president being elected by a plurality. For example, Bush II, Clinton at least once (maybe twice - in 92 he had 43% and in 96 he had 50% according to the site I checked; I'm sure 96 was slightly one way or the other), JFK, Nixon etc.

http://www.multied.com/elections/

The plurality thing is raised in outrage by the side that loses (both sides) I think but there isn't much outrage when that side wins.

As noted above, is there a necessary connection between bodybuilding and being 'pickled-brained'? Indeed, is there any evidence at all he is 'pickled-brained'?

I think Translation = I disagree with him.

Tranlsation = Damn foreigner.


Like joacqin says, there are plenty of reasons to disagree with the guy's policies, the recall in general etc. However, your post doesn't even really give us a starting point to debate any of that since it was basically one big ad-hominem.

I don't know, is it asking too much to ask for something like:

"I can't stand that Arnold was elected because the recall was a sham because.... and because I have issues with his ability to be a leader because I believe the reports of his groping women and because that affects his ability to lead in the following way... and because I believe he really is a Hitler admirer and that will affect his ability to lead in the following way..."

I'm serious by the way - is asking for something like the above ok or... how much is reasonable to expect in the Alley? What kind of a reasonable response is expected to the initial post? I'm serious and genuinely asking, not being a smart ass.

 

Hi Laches, I knew you'd bite.

People are taught from a young age that if you work hard you can accomplish anything.

Events like this show that that is NOT the case, unfortunately. Our current president would be a broke derelict if his last name was anything besides "Bush".

And, do you think they picked Schwarzenegger for his scholarship and ideas?

Yes, Laches, we all know the Constitution is flawless.

The fact that our country doesn't have runoffs in the 21st century is disgraceful. Nearly every other civilized country does. At least, I THOUGHT our country was civlized until last night.

You think wrong, as usual. Do you know what steriods do to your mind? If not you should keep quiet.

No. The problem is he has lived in America for probably 3 decades now and is still unable to pronounce simple words. (Could it be the pickled-brain??)

Yes! That is exactly what I said! Except my post was mildly amsuing.

You didn't have to reply. You just couldn't resist though.

Maybe I should start pulling statistics out of geocities sites so I could bring your level of intelluctalism to the Alley? I'm serious and genuinely asking, not being a smart ass.

[ October 08, 2003, 23:43: Message edited by: InquisitorX ]

 

Arnold was born the son of a policeman in Austria. Now he's gov of Cali. How is that a human travesty again? You said something about his election showing people couldn't work their way up?

Not that I think it is particularly important whether he was born a middle class son of a policeman in Austria or a prince in England.

But that isn't what you said or implied. You said the recall was a "legal loophole." It isn't.

This makes the US uncivilized? I'm not certain of the final numbers, not sure anyone is at this point, but at this time CNN's site has Arnold with 50.3% of the vote - if that holds it's a majority and not a plurality.

Let's suppose there were a runoff - between Arnold and Bustamante I guess right? Arnold has 1.2 million more votes than Bustamante. The third place candidate was McClintock with 1 million +. Which way do you suppose those Republican votes would break?

The result would be the same. Unless you think Gary Coleman and Larry Flynt's votes would swing the election another way.

And if this is your view, was it really only last night that you realized how common it was for someone to be elected by a plurality?

I've known plenty of college ball players on steroids and wouldn't characterize them as pickled-brained because of it. Also, this is the first time that you've told us why you thought Arnold was pickled-brained - Steroid use. A lot of people said something similar about Clinton and pot smoking but I still think that didn't make Clinton 'pickled-brained'. Think he's pretty smart actually.

What relevance does having a foreign accent have on his ability to govern? Obviously he can be a succesful communicator. Lots of people mispronounce lots of things but I don't see how that makes them unable to govern.

No it isn't, you never finished the part after 'because'... And still haven't with the exception of at least telling us you think he's stupid because you know what steroids do to people.

Are you disputing any of the figures here? If so, which ones? There aren't that many of them. You are, of course, always free to support any statement you make.

 

Well, he can't do any worse than the last governor. Let's give the man some credit.

 

Here's the real problem, IMO: Now, if Arnold does a poor job, say in the first year, guess what? Yes, a new recall. How can anyone govern without a chance to run a long term plan? The recall set a bad precedent. Now all that the oppostition has to do is pass around a petition to throw the governemnt into chaos. Even if whoever is the target survives, it is a huge distraction and may change long term goals. This is a bad deal all the way around for anyone who wants to govern in a serious manner.

As far as Arnold goes, after seeing the field it is understandable that he could win, considering the choices. The odd thing is that Bush suffers from many of Grey Davis' shortcomings. Could be a bit of foreshadowing for the nationals.

http://www.msnbc.com/news/977791.asp?pne=11947&0ct=-300&cp1=1

 

Movie-stars and politicians have a lot in common. Money. You need a lot of money to get elected for Mayor of just about any city. So who's to say that Arnie is going to be any worse then any other rich b*****d out there?
Anyway I'm Canadian so I'm just trying to picture which famous Canadian actor can come and replace the current mayor of Edmonton. ...I know! How about Micheal Ironside...

[ October 12, 2003, 02:03: Message edited by: Dragonfly ]

 

You realize that a professional wrestler has been governor of Minnesota for some time now. I'd take Arnold over Jessie Ventura any day. I wouldn't call this a total step backward. I'm not in California, so I don't know what Davis did exactly, but it seems that the majority of people wanted Arnold to be the winner.

Do you know how much time and money is required to conduct an election? The system we have now works fine, why change it for something that's not quite as practical?

Since when are flaws and loopholes synomous? There was no loophole involved at all.

Yes, the money thing is kinda annoying. I agree though, don't rag on someone until you have reason to.

Your whole post sounds like the raving of someone who doesn't get his own way.

 

Wow, I didn't realize that Canada ranked as uncivilized.

It is very common here to have elections where a candidate or party wins with less than 50% of the vote. In my riding of the latest provincial election the winner received 46.2% of the votes. In fact, after looking up the results of the first ten riding I find that only four of the ten winners received over fifty percent of the vote.

Overall, the elected party received 46.45% of all votes - and the elction result was considered a landslide.

In this election there were three main parties as well as several fringe parties and a few independents. Unless you have candidates who are complete idiots they will manage to structure their campaign promises to earn at least some votes. Increase the number of candidates to the number competing to become the Governor of California and I can only say that Arnold's support was overwhelming. I am not saying that I think that he is qualified for the job but then again I wouldn't say that about most people who manage to get elected.

Just for fun I looked up the results of the elections for the United Kingdom Parliament. The first web site that I found was for 1997 results, and what do you know but the elected representatives of thirty of the seventy four London boroughs received less than 50% of the vote. I guess they are pretty uncivilized over in the U.K.

Out of curiosities sake, which countries exactly are these civilized ones where candidates consistently have runoffs?

 

Actually I find it interesting to see Arnold as governor. He says he doesn't do it for the money (since he has plenty), and there I believe him.
He thinks the place is going to hell and want to try and fix it. Support him I'd say, he is not the most qualified, but an inspirational idol can often be just what a people in the dirt needs to stand up.

 

As for the steroid use business, the only article I ever read said that he used them for a few months and then quit -- unless there's some data out there that proves he used them chronically for years on end, I'd say it's a minor transgression that happened a long time ago -- similar to Bush's drunk driving or Clinton's "not inhaling". It has NO bearing on his mental abilities now.
As for him being stupid, like I said, look at his accomplishments -- he cannot have done what he's done up until now and be stupid. I sincerely doubt he'll be recalled unless he does something majhorly stupid, and I doubt he'll do that. Recalls, while permitted in many jurisdiction, are very rare, IIRC.

 

Is steroid use an actual felony somewhere, or is it simply banned in competitive athletics? If the latter, why is this even being brought up in relation to the election?

 

I agree with Lokken here. He is at least the last one who will try to gain something out this seat. He has already everything (and plenty too) this position could possibly give him and furthermore he may be not so clever as the headers implies but he is not the one who will use his brains for the decisions of this state. He is just the frontman, why don't you learn who is in his advisors and see how well fitted are for this task?

 

Are Anglo-Saxon electoral systems desirable ? Not from my contiental point of view. I prefer proportional vote systems, because they are more democratic.

The British planned reforms. I think they did in Scottland and Wales, but didn't do it on a national level.

Here