Tim Blair

CNN? It is based in Atlanta, Georgia, a historic hotbed of the Klu Klux Klan and the home of Lestor Maddox (a Democrat), the restaurateur that greeted his black customers with swinging axe handles and thereby elected Georgia’s governor.

While Steyn's column is amusing, as always, he makes a serious error toward the end:

The fact that in the most populous state in the nation the two leading Democrats are Gray Davis and Cruz Bustamante is as telling as anything.

Uh, no. The fact that these were the only two Democrats in the gubernatorial race was due to the fact that the party refused to support any other Democrat who might enter it, presumably out of loyalty to Davis (or perhaps because it would be admitting that they'd made a mistake, or that the recall was valid, or something). This is still bad news for the Democrats' grasp on reality. I think that if they would have fielded someone else---Boxer, Feinstein, pretty much anyone (Jerry Brown, Willy Brown), they could have won.

Maybe Feinstein, but I think the others would have lost, too. Willy Brown is widely reviled on the right and has a record in the state assembly and as SF mayor that could be exploited. Jerry Brown is still regarded as a flake. Boxer is a mediocrity and I don't think she'd have survived Arnie's star power.

clearly, tim's beloved mark steyn did as many others from this website did, and didn't actually read the paragraph (let alone article) in which the sentence appeared.

so says "john" who shares similar political beliefs to noted mass-murderers such as pol-pot and lenin.

Wasn't Mozart also born in Austria?

Yes, he was -- as were Sigmund Freud and Arnie's friend Kurt Waldheim. Remember him?

john, who, uses a computer similar to hackers.

well, my political sympathies aside, here's the full quote, kids:

He has also been dogged by allegations that he expressed admiration for Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler in a 1975 interview, though those charges largely dissipated after two figures involved in the interview discounted them. Schwarzenegger, who, like Hitler, is a native of Austria, has vehemently denied that he ever had Nazi sympathies.

this is the second-last parargaph of the story, and the final one notes that arnie's team suspected that the davis campaign was behind the hoo-ha.

and i don't even understand 'gary' - what? i use a computer similar to hackers? it's just a standard PC, as far as i can tell...

John,

Yes, indeed, hackers also use "standard PCs" - I think that's the whole point; creating guilt by association, just like the "Arnee and Hitler are both from the same country" innuendo...really not all that complex...

"john" says, "My political sympathies... expressed admiration for...Adolph Hitler..."

treehugging... and "roscoe" - nice to see you both engage with the issue. good work. anyone who wants to actually respond to the points i raised - i will be interested in your message. random abuse - not so much. though it is sort of fun to be compared to or aligned with lenin, pol pot and hitler all on one page. wonder who i'll be next...

you finally get the point...

In terms of a lack of perceptiveness, Phil Adams may be a good comparison....

roscoe - so, i should revert to abusing people, and stop trying to make actual points here, is that the deal?

THHC - that's probably the only time we'll see anyone compare tim b. or mark s. with phillip a.

abuse "john"? you're receiving the same "spin" that arnie was subjected to. dont you get the "irony" of it all?? lol

john

Why did CNN remove that line?

Tim.B,who, like Osama has been on TV.

No John, it was not TB or MS I was talking about ... love them or hate them, you can't say they're clueless/witless like Fatty Phil...

You were the one wondering who you would be compared to next ... work it out...

THHC - no, of course i knew that you were drawing the comparison with me & phil. my point was that adams is frequently criticised on this site (sometimes justifiably, in case you think i won't accept when people are wrong myself) for mis-quoting etc, when that is clearly what both mark s. and tim b. have done with this arnie quote.

gary - i don't work for cnn. ask them. maybe because, in the end, large media companies are always going to be pro-republican in the us or pro-liberal here.

"roscoe" - well, arnie DID say things about hitler - even if those things were misinterpreted and blown out of proportion (which they surely were). but i never said anything in support of lenin or pol pot or any other mass murderer. so it's not so much spin the same as poor ol' arnold got as it was just leaps like - 'this guy questions something, he must be like a mass murderer.'

Only "sometimes" justifiable to fisk Phil Adams ?????

yes, since adams is not always wrong.

John,

I do agree with you there - because sometimes Adams writes an article completely contradicting an earlier article. so with such extremities, I guess he must occasionally be at least partially right. Doesn't do much for his credibility though - perhaps he should re-read "The Boy Who cried Wolf".

john, surely you jest when you say that CNN and almost all of American media are "pro-republican!"
CNN's other name is Clinton News Network and the other networks are just as skewed to the Left.
If it werent for that wonderful Ozzie Rupert Murdoch with his "fair and balanced" FoxNews--which is only partially Liberal--we warmongering, right wing Christian neo-cons would be totally on our own!
Good on ya, Rupert!