Come on. . .he came to the country and was watching the debates and having a german friend translate for him? Through this translation, he concluded that Hubert Humphrey sounded like the Commies and declared that night, “then I am a republican”. Sure.
First, that “german translator” sounded like such a pre-emptive strike for getting called out if he had said he watched the debates since he couldn’t speak English back then.
Second, I’m supposed to believe that iron-pumpers are watching the debates in between their gang bangs and groping sessions?
Arnold talked about travelling between the Soviet and Allied zones with his father and unlce. Is it not possible that he saw the tanks at that time, not necessarily in the town where he lived.?
This GQ thread seems to have concluded that he quite possibly did see tanks, whether with his own eyes or on TV. They were certainly there while he was young, and even if they weren’t in his specific village, it’s more than possible that he went somewhere where they actually were. All in all, whether he actually saw them or not seems to be on the “really quite trivial” scale of political dishonesty, and can’t be proven either way. They were there at the time, and make for some nice rhetorical imagery. Basically, who cares?
Oh, it’s also good to bear in mind that a lot of European conservatives have many characteristics that in the USA would be considered highly socialist. In the UK even Thatcher, the great right-winger of our times (he said, opening vast cans of worms) didn’t dare dismantle the NHS. Not that I’m saying she was anything like a socialist, but you can see how even 17 years of Tory rule in this country (over 20 if you count Blair) have left us with a country that’s still relatively socialist from a US perspective.
Jeez, speaking of playing fast and loose with the facts. In Schwarzenegger’s convention address he neither (1) claimed he was watching “debates” or (2) claimed that his conversion took place in one night. Speech Transcript.
He said he watched the “race,” not the “debate,” and never indicates that he heard the candidates on the same night.
I call bullshit on the Governator. I was only 7 in 1968, but I can remember the era in broad strokes and “talking about free enterprise, getting the government off your back, lowering the taxes and strengthening the military” were not the issues of the time. I looked around for campaign speeches and couldn’t find them easily, but i did find Nixon’s inaugural address (warning pdf) at the Nixon Library. Politicians today should read and learn (bolding mine):
To promise stronger military would not have been a good move in '68. Less government is not mentioned in the speech, neither are there any statements about lower taxes or free enterprise.
That damn Nixon - fucking pinko liberal.
Indeed, many on the left side of left consider Nixon the last true liberal President on social issues. Ralph Nader has a soft spot for him in this regard. Foreign policy and overall integrity are not included in this assessment, of course…
I am reminded of Joe Lieberman’s story about why he became a Democrat. He said that he was in the Senate gallery watching the voting for the 1964 Civil Rights Act.
Hint: Republicans voted for that Act in higher percantages than Democrats.
"And I say to you tonight that when respect for the United States of America falls so low that a fourth-rate military power like Korea will seize an American naval vessel in the high seas, it’s time for new leadership to restore respect for the United States of America.
[…snip…]
America is a great nation today, not because of what government did for people, but because of what people did for themselves over 190 years in this country.
[…snip…]
Instead of Government jobs and Government housing and Government welfare, let Government use its tax and credit policies to enlist in this battle the greatest engine of progress ever developed in the history of man-American private enterprise.
[…snip…]
Black Americans - no more than white Americans - do not want more Government programs which perpetuate dependency. They don’t want to be a colony in a nation."
— Richard Nixon, Before the Republican Convention accepting its nomination for President, Miami - August 8, 1968
John Mace posted this Schwarzenegger quote in the GQ thread, but I think it is worth repeating.
Maybe the Historians should have checked Govenor Schwarzenegger’s speach more carefully - he never claimed to see Soviet tanks in his home town, but did in the Soviet Sector, were there certainly were tanks/armored vehicals.
As for the “Socialist” Austrian thing, well most European “Conservative” parties (at least the ones with political power) are far to left of the Republicans here in the US, and probably have politics closer to the Democrats here in the States. Europe in general is to the left of the US politcally.
And no self-respecting conservative party would call itself the “People’s Party”, like the ruling party when Arnold left Austria. A name like that just screams pinko.
You couldn’t find it so it doesn’t exist? Talk about BS. :rolleyes: I mean, wouldn’t we all expect those speeches from '68 to be posted on the web right after they were delivered…?
I say anyone with the *cojones *to evoke the memory of Nixon, wouldn’t do it trivially.
Well, he did institute wage and price controls once he was president, so it’s hard to argue with that.
What do you mean Schwarzegger was born in 1947? Liberal lies! He doesn’t look a day over 27! What? That’s spackle? Oh, yeah, it says here its Sears Terra Cotta Acrylic Spackle.
As DCU points out, Arnie’s speech does specify that he was watching the “campaign,” rather than the “debates.” The reason for these carefully-chosen words is that last year, when he was pursuing the job he currently holds, his speeches did assert that his epiphany came during the 1968 presidential debates.
After it was publicly pointed out that there were no presidential debates in 1968, the anecdote got tweaked.
Your skepticism as to the likelihood of the anecdote being true is as valid as before.
