Terminate the Travesty

Terminate the Travesty
By MoveOn.org and MikeHersh.com staff, Oct 4, 2003

California has always had a special place in my heart. My grandparents lived there, and I visited them - and my uncle, aunt and cousins - several times. I love California. I'd hate to see her shamed and abused by Arnold Schwarzenegger.

It's not just Schwarzenegger's disgusting immoral if not criminal behavior. It's not just that this is one more right wing dirty trick. Desperate Republicans would use this opportunity to rig the 2004 elections, return California to racism against Hispanics and open the door to more economic abuse - which caused the current California Crisis, as detailed in "Arnold Unplugged" by Greg Palast. Here's a special message from MoveOn.org about how to terminate this travesty.

-- MH

From MoveOn.org

48 hours ago, we launched an emergency ad campaign to tell California voters the recent revelations about Arnold Schwarzenegger's life and character. As of 2pm yesterday, more than 12,000 people have contributed and enabled us to reach our goal of $500,000. The ad will begin playing throughout California on Sunday. It's appearing on at least 10 national news programs today. Incredible.

Earlier this week, there were revelations about Arnold Schwarzenegger's physical harassment of women -- charges which he has refused to deny. Today he is struggling to explain statements he has made throughout his life regarding Adolf Hitler and another Nazi war criminal.

As the Schwarzenegger campaign reels, it's clear that the outcome of this election is up in the air. Today, we're asking you -- no matter what state you live in -- to do something this weekend to ensure that Schwarzenegger is defeated. We're asking you to participate in MoveOn phone banking to California to make sure that voters know the truth. Every Californian deserves to know the truth about this man who will be elected unless they vote No Recall on Tuesday.

To sign up to help with the phone bank, click here and we'll email you back with simple instructions and phone numbers of voters to call. See: http://moveon.org/pac/lapb/

Our online phone banking system is easy to use, and if you have free weekend minutes on your cell phone, you'll be able to make the calls for free. If thousands of MoveOn members call tens of thousands of California voters this weekend, that we could make the difference in this race.

Help beat the recall by putting up a sign and by distributing information. Click here to go to the MoveOn.org download page. See: http://moveon.org/pac/recall/materials.html

With only a few days to go, it's critical we get this stunning new information into as many hands as possible. If you've read what's come out about Arnold Schwarzenegger's record and character, you'll want to get on the phone and talk to California voters about this. Please take a look at these news articles from yesterday and today:

LA Times: Women Say Schwarzenegger Groped, Humiliated Them
NY Times: Schwarzenegger Admired Hitler, Book Proposal Says
Washington Post: Effect of Allegations Is Unpredictable; Race's Focus Shifts

The recall campaign has been so short, and Schwarzenegger has received so little scrutiny from media that California is in danger of electing this man without knowing this very important and scary information about his record and character.

California is the most populous state and it is the fifth biggest economy in the world. We can't let California be hijacked in this bizarre election by a man like Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Together, we have the power to defeat the recall by making these calls this weekend. Please sign up right now to make calls Saturday or Sunday: http://moveon.org/pac/lapb/

Schwarzenegger's Abuse of Women -- Spread the Word

This is a real emergency. The polls in California show Schwarzenegger pulling ahead, while the truth about his character is only now starting to get out. We have just a few days to make sure everyone in California knows who this man is. Today we ask you to do two things: (1) contribute to a TV ad that we will run across the state of California on Sunday and Monday and (2) send this message on to friends, so they know the details that are only just now getting into the press.

Please contribute to the ad at: http://www.moveonpac.org/
We need to raise as much as possible, as soon as possible.

This morning the Los Angeles Times published the stories of six women who say they were physically abused by Arnold Schwarzenegger as recently as three years ago. We've included excerpts from the article at the bottom of this email. The stories are shocking, but they fit a pattern of previous reports.

We're launching a television ad devoted to putting Arnold's problem with women into the public eye. We feel that this is a critical step that absolutely must be taken, but we need $500,000 to make this happen. Please help us fund the ad campaign by clicking here: http://www.moveonpac.org/

Then join us for these last few days of our campaign to defeat the recall. There's a lot you can do to make a difference. Sign up to help by going here: http://moveon.org/pac/recall/

The stories published in the LA Times today are consistent with statements Schwarzenegger has made and incidents he's been involved in throughout his entire career.

If you think his personal views and behavior can be separated from his new career as a politician, think again: Schwarzenegger has not included a single woman on his economic council. In a state where there are tens of thousands of women in positions of power, there was not even one he respected enough add to his team.

Schwarzenegger has a serious problem with women, reflected in both his actions and his words. His own statements -- even just months ago -- paint a clear picture of a man who has absolutely no respect for women:

"How many times do you get away with this--to take a woman, grab her upside down, and bury her face in a toilet bowl?"
July, 2003 Entertainment Weekly interview, speaking about a scene from his latest film.

"When you see a blonde with great tits and a great ass, you say to yourself, 'Hey, she must be stupid or must have nothing else to offer', which maybe is the case many times."
July, 2003 Esquire Magazine interview.

"Girls became sex objects. I saw the other bodybuilders using them in this way and I thought it was all right...Whatever I thought might hold me back, I avoided. I crossed girls off my list -- except as tools for my sexual needs."

From his 1977 Memoir, Arnold: the Education of a Bodybuilder

The stories revealed in the LA Times are consistent with many other cases which have been reported. Three years ago Arnold made headlines in the U.K. after a string of sexually abusive groping incidents -- one of which took place in an on camera interview. During the on-camera incident Schwarzenegger explained, "If my wife saw this I'd be in trouble, I'd have to tell her it was a stunt double."

Premiere, a respected film industry magazine, interviewed the women involved -- all reporters:

Anna Richardson of Big Screen claims that after the cameras stopped rolling for her interview segment, Schwarzenegger, apparently attempting to ascertain whether Richardson's breasts were real, tweaked her nipple and then laughed at her objections. "I left the room quite shaken," she says. "What was more upsetting was that his people rushed to protect him and scapegoated me, and not one person came to apologize afterward."

Apparently Schwarzenegger's behavior is an open secret in Hollywood. The same article quoted Hollywood insiders and Schwarzenegger colleagues saying that is typical behavior for the actor:

"You don't get it," said a producer who's worked with Schwarzenegger. "That's the way Arnold always behaves. For some reason, [this time] the studio or the publicists couldn't put enough pressure on the women to kill the story."

Arnold's problem with women is not a case of insensitive comments or inappropriate actions. It's an appalling record of disrespect and abuse of women. It would be a disgrace to women and a disgrace to all the people of California if Schwarzenegger became Governor.

The once-confusing recall election is now dramatically simple: if you don't vote against the recall, Schwarzenegger will become governor. Join us in these last few days we have to defeat the recall. Sign up here: http://moveon.org/pac/recall/

Sincerely,

-- Carrie, Eli, James, Joan, Noah, Peter, Wes, and Zack
The MoveOn Team

PS: Our TV ad has appeared or will appear on Good Morning America, CNN American Morning, CNN Headline News, CNN News Live Today, MSNBC News Live, NBC Nightly News, ABC World News Tonight, CBS Evening News, Crossfire and Hardball. You can watch the ad here: http://moveonpac.org/

Excerpt from today's front page New York Times article:
http://nytimes.com/2003/10/03/national/03BOOK.html?hp

Schwarzenegger Admired Hitler, Book Proposal Says
By ADAM NAGOURNEY and DAVID D. KIRKPATRICK

A film producer who chronicled Arnold Schwarzenegger's rise to fame as a champion bodybuilder in the 1970's circulated a book proposal six years ago that quoted the young Mr. Schwarzenegger expressing admiration for Adolf Hitler.

The book proposal by the producer, George Butler, included what were presented as verbatim excerpts from interviews with Mr. Schwarzenegger in the filming of the documentary "Pumping Iron." In a part of the interview not used in the film, Mr. Schwarzenegger was asked to name his heroes - "who do you admire most."

"It depends for what," Mr. Schwarzenegger said, according to the transcript in the book proposal. "I admired Hitler, for instance, because he came from being a little man with almost no formal education up to power. And I admire him for being such a good public speaker."

In addition to the transcript, Mr. Butler wrote in his book proposal that in the 1970's, he considered Mr. Schwarzenegger a "flagrant, outspoken admirer of Hitler." In the proposal, Mr. Butler also said he had seen Mr. Schwarzenegger playing "Nazi marching songs from long-playing records in his collection at home" and said that the actor "frequently clicked his heels and pretended to be an S.S. officer."
_______

Arnold quoted in Slate/MSNBC:
http://slate.msn.com/id/2086742/

Speaking at his 1988 wedding on controversial former-Nazi and war criminal Kurt Waldheim:

"My friends don't want me to mention Kurt's name, because of all the recent Nazi stuff and the U.N. controversy, but I love him and Maria does too, and so thank you, Kurt."
_______

Excerpts from yesterday's LA Times article:

Women Say Schwarzenegger Groped, Humiliated Them
By Gary Cohn, Carla Hall and Robert W. Welkos, Times Staff Writers

"Did he rape me? No," said one woman, who described a 1980 encounter in which she said Schwarzenegger touched her breast. "Did he humiliate me? You bet he did."...

In interviews with The Times, three of the women described their surprise and discomfort when Schwarzenegger grabbed their breasts. A fourth said he reached under her skirt and gripped her buttocks. A fifth woman said Schwarzenegger groped her and tried to remove her bathing suit in a hotel elevator. A sixth said Schwarzenegger pulled her onto his lap and asked whether a certain sexual act had ever been performed on her....

One of the women in the 2001 Premiere article was British television host Anna Richardson, who accused Schwarzenegger of touching her breast. In an interview with The Times, she reiterated that account...

"He kept looking at my breasts, kept asking if I worked out," she said. "I went to shake his hand and he grabbed me onto his knee and he said, 'Before you go, I want to know if your breasts are real.'" She said she looked around for help from other people in the room, but nobody came to her assistance. At that point, "he circled my left nipple with his finger and he said, 'Yes, they are real.'" She said he then let her go....

The secretary, then in her 30s, said she sat on a couch opposite Schwarzenegger while the actor and her supervisor talked. When the conversation ended, the secretary said she approached Schwarzenegger to shake his hand and say goodbye. He remained seated, she said, and he slipped his left hand under her skirt and grabbed her right buttock. "He just held on. He held on and said, 'You have a very nice ass.' He said, 'I'd love to work you out.'"....

Another woman, now a wife and mother in her 30s, said she also fell in Schwarzenegger's "sight lines" while working as a crew member on 'Terminator 2' in Fontana. "I was walking on the set and Arnold called out, 'Come here, you sexy devil,' and reached out and pulled me on to his lap," the woman recalled.

She said he then whispered in her ear: "Have you ever had a man slide his tongue in your [anus]?" "I didn't know how to react," the woman said. "It was bizarre. What he said was so specifically sexual, it was bizarre..." After the incident, she said, she continued on her way. "I didn't fall apart," she said, but added: "It's embarrassing and degrading when you're doing a job."
_______

Excerpt from the July 2003 Entertainment Weekly magazine story (not available on the web):

But nothing in T3 bears Schwarzenegger's creative stamp more than his epic tussle with the Terminatrix, a battle that begins in a bathroom. The sequence was made longer and more elaborate thanks to the actor's largess--and his singular imagination.

"As we were rehearsing, I saw this toilet bowl," says Schwarzenegger, an impish smile crossing his face. "How many times do you get away with this--to take a woman, grab her upside down, and bury her face in a toilet bowl? I wanted to have something floating in there," he adds. Apparently, he was [][out]vetoed.

"They thought it was my typical Schwarzenegger overboard," he says. "The thing is, you can do it, because in the end, I didn't do it to a woman--she's a machine! We could get away with it without being crucified by who-knows-what group." (Note to California's Democratic strategists: The soccer-mom set is now yours for the taking!)
_______

Excerpt from the March 2001 Premiere Magazine story on Arnold Schwarzenegger:

"Arnold the Barbarian"
By John Connolly

Once, he was a box office terminator. But now that Arnold Schwarzenegger has lost some of his muscle in Hollywood, stories of his boorish behavior can no longer be routinely erased. Then again, he'd make a helluva politician. The tabloid press got a nice Christmas present late last year when Arnold Schwarzenegger tore through a day of publicity work in London, promoting his latest film, The 6th Day, which had just opened there.

In less than 24 hours, the star was said to have attempted to, as high school boys used to say, cop a little feel from three different female talk-show hosts.

The level of consternation expressed by those who received this hands-on treatment from the hulking, Austrian-born international superstar ranged from none whatsoever (Denise Van Outen of The Big Breakfast invites her guests to lie on a bed with her and, hence, probably has a rather elastic definition of what constitutes inappropriate behavior) to irked (on tape, Celebrity interviewer Melanie Sykes looks a little thrown off after Arnold gives her a very definite squeeze on the rib cage, directly under her right breast) to, finally, righteously indignant.

Anna Richardson of Big Screen claims that after the cameras stopped rolling for her interview segment, Schwarzenegger, apparently attempting to ascertain whether Richardson's breasts were real, tweaked her nipple and then laughed at her objections. "I left the room quite shaken," she says. "What was more upsetting was that his people rushed to protect him and scapegoated me, and not one person came to apologize afterward."

No apologies, indeed: A subsequent statement from Schwarzenegger attorney Martin Singer characterized Richardson as someone trying to get her "15 minutes of fame." After all, why else would she create such an "outrageous fabrication" (Singer's phrase) against a married man - Schwarzenegger has been wed to NBC's Maria Shriver since 1986 - a father of four, someone who ceaselessly espouses family values in the press?

On the other hand, the stills of Schwarzenegger grinning as he pats Van Outen's hip or of his give-me-some-sugar-baby expression as he tries to draw Sykes close to him are a little unsettling. Was Arnold jet-lagged? Going through a midlife crisis?

"You don't get it," says a producer who's worked with Schwarzenegger. "That's the way Arnold always behaves. For some reason, [this time] the studio or the publicists couldn't put enough pressure on the women to kill the story."

Terminating bad press was once relatively easy for Schwarzenegger, who for much of the '80s and a good part of the '90s was a veritable money-making machine for the studios. And while some of his most recent films have enjoyed less-than-stellar box office performances, he is still a very huge star and one of the highest-paid actors in the world:

He reportedly received $25 million for his work in the 1999 disappointment End of Days. Accordingly, Schwarzenegger films are always big-budget affairs; as such, they provide lots of jobs to lots of people and generate lots of money to lots of studio suits and other peripheral players. Arnold is not just a rich movie star; he's the straw that stirs the drinks. The sort of person, in other words, who tends to get indulged. A lot."

"The second I walked into the room," Anna Richardson says, several weeks after the incident, "he was like a dog in heat." Other stories about Schwarzenegger tend to fit her simile. During the production of the 1991 mega-blockbuster Terminator 2: Judgment Day, a producer on that film recalls Arnold's emerging from his trailer one day and noticing a fortyish female crew member, who was wearing a silk blouse.

Arnold went up to the woman, put his hands inside her blouse, and proceeded to pull her breasts out of her bra. Another observer says, "I couldn't believe what I was seeing. This woman's nipples were exposed, and here's Arnold and a few of his clones laughing. I went after the woman, who had run to the shelter of a nearby trailer. She was hysterical but refused to press charges for fear of losing her job. It was disgusting."

The full Premiere article is reprinted on the web here:
http://www.slumdance.com/blogs/brian_flemming/archives/000300.html

Reuters story citing Schwarzenegger's books:

http://asia.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=politicsNews&storyID=3394868

Schwarzenegger, 1975: Asked who his heroes are, he answered, "I admired Hitler, for instance, because he came from being a little man with almost no formal education, up to power."

http://abcnews.go.com/sections/wnt/Politics/arnold031002_past.html

He had seen Mr. Schwarzenegger playing "Nazi marching songs from long-playing records in his collection at home" and said that the actor "frequently clicked his heels and pretended to be an S.S. officer."

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/10/03/national/03BOOK.html

Schwarzenegger Acknowledges 'Offensive' Behavior, After LA Times Provides Six Testimonials of Arnold Groping Women. He's the Grand Hypocrisy Party Hero, That Governor Gang Bang the Groper is! He Admits to Groping and Sexual Harassment.

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/10/02/national/02WIRE-CALI.html?hp

With Schwarzenegger as guv, the Golden State prepares to devolve into a thick-necked, inarticulate joke

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2003/10/03/notes100303.DTL&nl=fix

Help beat the recall by putting up a sign and distributing information. Click here to go to the MoveOn.org download page: http://moveon.org/pac/recall/materials.html

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