Belle Posted October 1, 2003 Share Posted October 1, 2003 As you will no doubt know, Arnold *name beginning with S, catch me trying to spell it* is now the clear leader for the position of Governor of the state of California. Ca is home to Hollywood, Los Angeles and Beverley Hills, several famous beaches, a lot of wealth and a lot of poverty. The question is, should the Americans follow an established path of voting for people just because they are famous, and everyone has heard of them (Ronald Reagan was a film star back in the 50s and became the President of the United States) or should they try and pick the best man or woman to do the job. If Sean Bean (apologies if I spelt that wrong) was up for election as a Sheffield Member of Parliament for instance, should he get elected purely because a lot of people have heard of him? Is fame and celebrity a good enough reason to allow anyone to run for office? Discuss Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RPG Posted October 1, 2003 Share Posted October 1, 2003 If anyones followed whats going on in california at the moment, i think arnold might bring a refreshing change the state has declared itself bankrupt loads of times over because of public money embezzlement (sounds familiar...) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaBouncer Posted October 1, 2003 Share Posted October 1, 2003 Arnie for Governor! Lets start the campaign over here! We want Arnie, We Want Arnie! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phanerothyme Posted October 1, 2003 Share Posted October 1, 2003 Having spoken to a couple of Californians on the issue, the main benefit in having Arnie running for governor is *no arnie films on the TV*. They love it and wish the election could run in perpetuity. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
max Posted October 1, 2003 Share Posted October 1, 2003 I wanted to vote yes because it would have meant no more Terminator films for a while but I couldn't bring my self to do it. Do I need to justify saying no? Surely being homophobic, misogynist and republican should be enough? Oh, silly me, that makes him an ideal candidate in America, doesn't it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
t020 Posted October 1, 2003 Share Posted October 1, 2003 Try this, with sound ON: http://www.funnyjunk.com/pages/arnoldgateway.htm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
purplepippa Posted October 2, 2003 Share Posted October 2, 2003 NB this is too long to print the whole of. Follow the link if you want to read the whole article. Pippa x http://Http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/recall/la-me-women2oct02,1,2313555.story?coll=la-home-headlines Women say Arnold groped, humiliated them Los Angeles Times Oct. 1, 2003 09:44 PM Six women who came into contact with Arnold Schwarzenegger on movie sets, in studio offices and in other settings over the last three decades say he touched them in a sexual manner without their consent. In interviews with the Los Angeles Times, three of the women described their surprise and discomfort when Schwarzenegger grabbed their breasts. A fourth said he reached under her skirt and grabbed 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. According to the women's accounts, one of the incidents occurred in the 1970s, two in the 1980s, two in the 1990s and one in 2000. "Did he rape me? No," said one woman, who described a 1980 encounter in which she said Schwarzenegger grabbed her breast. "Did he humiliate me? You bet he did." Four of the six women told their stories on condition that they not be named. Three work in Hollywood and said they were worried that, if they were identified, their careers would be in jeopardy for speaking out against Schwarzenegger, the one-time bodybuilding champion and box-office star who is now the front-runner in the Oct. 7 gubernatorial recall election. The other unnamed woman said she feared public ridicule and possible damage to her husband's business. In the four cases in which the women would not let their names be published, friends or relatives told the Times that the women had told them about the incidents long before Schwarzenegger's run for governor. None of the six women who gave their accounts to the Times filed any legal action against him. Schwarzenegger's campaign spokesman, Sean Walsh, said the candidate has not engaged in improper conduct toward women either on the set or off. He said such allegations are part of an escalating political attack on Schwarzenegger as the recall election draws near. "We believe Democrats and others are using this to try to hurt Arnold Schwarzenegger's campaign," Walsh said. "We believe that this is coming so close before the election, something that discourages good, hard-working, decent people from running for office." He said Schwarzenegger himself would have no comment. None of the women approached the Times on her own, and none was identified by Schwarzenegger's rivals in the recall race. All were interviewed by the newspaper in the course of a seven-week examination of whether Schwarzenegger had harassed women on or off the movie set. Schwarzenegger's attitudes about women have been an issue on the campaign trail, where critics have accused him of being misogynistic, based on past statements he has made to various publications. In response, Schwarzenegger has said he respects women and that many of his comments were said in jest or simply meant to be provocative. Schwarzenegger's conduct toward women also has been widely discussed in Hollywood over the years, no more so than after a March 2001 article in Premiere magazine called "Arnold the Barbarian." After the article appeared, a number of Schwarzenegger's colleagues wrote to the magazine saying that the story was inaccurate and that Schwarzenegger treated women with respect and kindness. The earliest incident of the six described to the Times was said to have occurred in 1975 at Gold's Gym near Venice Beach, Calif. E. Laine Stockton, then newly married to professional bodybuilder Robby Robinson, said she had come to the gym to watch her husband work out. Stockton was 19 at the time. She said she was wearing slacks, tennis shoes and a loose-fitting T-shirt. She said she was not wearing a bra. As she sat on an exercise bench, Stockton said, Schwarzenegger walked up behind her, reached his left hand under her T-shirt and touched her bare left breast. "The gym is full of bodybuilders and Arnold comes and he gropes my breast -- actually touches my breast with his left hand," she said. She said Schwarzenegger then walked away without comment. Stockton said she does not rule out the possibility that Schwarzenegger "may have meant it in playfulness." But she did not take it that way. "I was just shocked, shocked to the point where I almost didn't know how to react, because it was so out of the blue and so unexpected," she said. "It just completely caught me off guard, and when I finally came to my senses, I immediately went over to Robby and I said, 'Look, Arnold just groped my breast.' " Robinson, a former Mr. America, Mr. World and Mr. Universe, said that at the time of the incident, he had been across the gym getting a dumbbell. "I ran up and tried to comfort her," said Robinson, who has since had a falling out with Schwarzenegger. (A black known as the "Black Prince" during his years on the professional bodybuilding circuit, Robinson has accused Schwarzenegger of racism -- a charge that Schwarzenegger's campaign denies.) Robinson said he was upset by what Schwarzenegger had done to his wife, but did not confront him. "What he did was uncalled for, but I couldn't say nothing," Robinson said, explaining that he feared he'd be ostracized by the bodybuilding world. He said he told his wife to stay out of Gold's Gym from then on. Robinson and Stockton are now divorced. They were interviewed separately by the Times. The next incident described to the Times was said to have occurred in 1980. A former pro beach volleyball player said Schwarzenegger touched her breast on a Santa Monica, Calif., street. The woman remembered walking down 19th Street, just off Wilshire Boulevard, when Schwarzenegger spotted her and got out of his car, the motor still running. "Come here," she recalled Schwarzenegger saying, as he motioned with his finger to the woman, then 22. The two knew each other. She worked as a waitress at Fromin's deli, she said, a place Schwarzenegger frequented. One day, she recalled, Schwarzenegger asked her when she was going on break. "We could have a lot of fun in half an hour," she remembered him saying. She said she was both a little scared and a little flattered. "I can't say I wasn't flattered. Arnold invited me to his apartment." She said she declined his invitation. Schwarzenegger renewed his invitation, she said, when he spotted her playing in a women's volleyball tournament at Venice Beach. "After the game, he came up to me and said, 'Now you will come to my apartment.' He didn't want to hear no." The woman said she told him, "It's not going to happen." This time, she said, as she walked along 19th Street, Schwarzenegger conveyed a sense of urgency: "Come close, it's very important." As she drew nearer to hear what he had to say, she recounted, Schwarzenegger "grabbed and squeezed" her left breast. "If I was a man," she said she told him, "I would bust your jaw." As tears welled in her eyes, she said, Schwarzenegger laughed. "He thought it was hilarious." She said she went to her car and "just started crying and crying." (to complete the story follow the link above) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaBouncer Posted October 2, 2003 Share Posted October 2, 2003 Women also said John Lesley raped them. It turned out not to be true. Lets get off the subject of 'just cos a woman says it happened and starts crying, doesn't mean it happened'. Cos, things aren't just black and white like that. If Arnie DID do those things, that would be some serious skeletons in his closet... which he would've known would come back and bite him in the a$$. I'm sorry, I don't buy it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
purplepippa Posted October 3, 2003 Share Posted October 3, 2003 Originally posted by DaBouncer Women also said John Lesley raped them. It turned out not to be true. I see that differently. Women said that John Leslie raped them, and the courts dismissed this. I don't necessarily see that as the same as it not being true. In this country, less than 7% of reported rapes end in a conviction. This is an outrageous figure. Noone can believe that 93% of women who report rape are lying, therefore an awful lot of rapists are getting away with it. And many many more women don't report rapes which inevitably adds to the number of rapists getting away with it. Just because someone hasn't been convicted of something does *not* mean they didn't do it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaBouncer Posted October 3, 2003 Share Posted October 3, 2003 Just because someone said someone did something to them doesn't mean they did it!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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