Another Late Hit(-ler)
ABC (not the Australian one, believe it or not), has just proved that Godwin’s Law no longer applies only to Usenet, but now applies to traditional media as well. My initial reactions:
- As with today’s other hatchet job, the timing of this story is purely coincidental, and has absolutely nothing to do with the fact that there is an election scheduled next Tuesday. I’m sure Dan Weintraub (who I hate to mock, but have to over his naivete on this issue) and Kevin Roderick (who I have no problem mocking) will agree.
- Arnold may have a thick accent today, but his grasp of the English language was perfect in 1975. Therefore, there is absolutely no chance that his reference to having “admired” Hitler was based on a language mistake. More specifically, even though there are two German words commonly translated as “admire” (bewundern and verehren) - and only one of them (verehren) denotes admiration in any moral sense of the word (bewundern would probably be better translated as “marvel at”), there is absollutely no chance that Arnold got these words mixed up.
- On the other hand, he did make one language error when it comes to tense. When he said “I admired Hitler,” what he really meant was “I admire Hitler now, and will continue to honor him for all time, or at least for the next 28 years or so.”
- When the author of the book proposal said that the quotes needed to be seen in context, and that Arnold had never said anything anti-Semitic, he was kidding. Or maybe he’s a Nazi, too, you never know.
Link via the Angry Gloating Clam.
October 2nd, 2003 at 8:07 pm
Isn’t it a bit of a leap to assume these quotes are accurate? I mean, I’m not a fan of Arnold politically, but sheesh.
October 2nd, 2003 at 9:39 pm
This is the same man who gets the simon Weisnthal Center award for humanitarian efforts. Who you gonna believe — the guy promoting a Pumping Iron book 30 years ago or the Rabbi?
October 2nd, 2003 at 9:49 pm
Then again, Justene, Arnold is great pals with Kurt Waldheim, long after that man’s Nazi connections came to light.
October 2nd, 2003 at 9:55 pm
Ich verehren XRLQ’s command of German; google translation-bot confirms his point here. Does anyone think this may be why he always used the world “fag” instead of gay, homosexual, or “people like us” (which was the politically correct term at the time). I mean, until politely corrected by the concierge at the Chateau Frontenac in Quebec, I always used the word “p
October 2nd, 2003 at 9:57 pm
Angry Clam:
I wouldn’t gloat too much, AC, seeing as how your guys campaign manager has said that Jews would feel more comfortable in Isreal.
October 2nd, 2003 at 9:59 pm
Du verehrst XRLQs Deutsch. Ich verehre das. Wir konjugieren die Verben!
October 2nd, 2003 at 10:00 pm
Hell, I’d feel more comfortable in Israel than in his wacky fundy town too.
October 2nd, 2003 at 10:21 pm
Warum verstehen Sie so gut Deutsch?
October 2nd, 2003 at 10:24 pm
BFT - Probably. The only slang term I can think of for “gay” is schwul, which does not have a pejorative connotation.
October 2nd, 2003 at 10:34 pm
Warum? DARUM!
Ich habe viele Sprachen (Latein, Griechish, und andere) studiert.
October 3rd, 2003 at 12:14 am
Ich habe Deutsch auf der Uni gelernt, und habe ein Jahr jeweils in Deutschland (als Student) und
October 3rd, 2003 at 10:50 am
Arnold Appears on Antiques Roadshow
With yesterday’s revelation by ABC News of shocking pro-Nazi statements by Arnold Schwarzenegger, On the Fritz is repeating the following story that we published several weeks ago. BEVERLY HILLS — The crowd at the Beverly Hills Civic Center…
October 3rd, 2003 at 2:41 pm
You guys are great. I had 5 years of German courtesy of the California educational system and glaube keine Deutsche.
But, seriously, if there’s one thing that this hit proves it’s that Arnold really is a Republican. I mean the media would never have promoted this outrageous slander if he wasn’t. I mean, sheesh, how predictable - you have a german-accented Republican so naturally his a nazi-symp. Ignore the support of the Weisenthal Center, which is obviously a “beard” for his true politics and base the story on a twenty-five year old bit of hearsay. It’s been a good week for journalism between this and National Enquirer being the source for the hit on Rush Limbaugh.