Analyzing Arnold's Hitler quote

[RobertFrancisK]

To be somewhat fair, the quote was taken slightly out of context.
What he said was:
"I admired Hitler, for instance, because he came from being a little man with almost no formal education, up to power..."

"Like Hitler in the Nuremberg Stadium and have all those people scream at you and just being in total agreement whatever you say."

So Arnold didn't say he supported Nazism, just Hitler's skills as a politician. And to be fair, Hitler was a skilled orator and an incredibly effective politician. However, he was not a clean or fair politician. He was power-hungry and took advantage of people only to crush them later. I don't need to begin on what kind of villian Adolf was, for we all know. Arnold's quote showed that he admired a man greatly for his power, not his ideology, which reveals quite a bit about Arnold himself. Arnold is a man that wants power, not to accomplish anything in particular. He didn't say he admired Goldwater for his principles or Reagan for his effectiveness in shaping a conservative message, but a man whose ideology he didn't agree with just because he was powerful. That to me is almost as disturbing as agreeing with Nazism, for it shows that Arnold cares about nothing but his own power.
I would say that in that aspect he is far worse than Bush, because while Bush is pretty much all about the win, he does have some ideas that he'll abide to, whereas Arnold will do absolutely anything to secure power for himself. I truly fear for the people of Cali if he's elected, and for the trend it may set for the rest of the country. I truly would rather have a principled far right conservative win than someone who'll do anything to make himself more powerful. People can't be blinded by celebrity. Infact, I'll say that seeing Arnold's rise has made me back down from my unconditional support for Clark until I know a little more about him, because electing an official is an important responsibility and can't be taken too lightly.

[thebigidea]

1. yeah, and the SS had nifty uniforms

doesn't really get past the "creep" factor

[Dr Fate]

2. Pretend Ahh-nuld has a capital "D" behind his name...

...and tell me that this would not be a "big deal."

Pretend that Hillary said it, and then tell me it would not be a "big deal."

Of course, Hillary or a DEM have NOT said this- but a "morally pure" Republican did.

NO SALE. I hold all Republicans to the "Clinton Standard"- that is, the standard that the GOP/Media insisted that we hold to all DEMS and especially Clinton in the 90's.

[RobertFrancisK]

4. I dislike the Clintons because of stuff like this

Not Hitler quotes, they aren't that stupid or evil, but I feel that Bill had was for the most part about power for himself. He may have been ideological at one point, but I think around the time he started executing retarded people as governor he turned into a power mongerer with some shreds of liberal ideology left that kept us happy usually. He isn't even in the same league as Arnold, but I think it needs to be brought up that I am not a big fan of Bill, not because he was moderate, but just because he seemed to just be a moderate for the sake of being more popular.

[mlawson]

3. People ARE blinded by celebrity.

Assuming they LIKE them. Ronnie was elected twice in the 80s due to this; many voters disliked his policies (to the extent they bothered to learn about them) but they cheerfully voted for the Gipper anyway.

As ideologues we simply can not grasp this simplistic nonsense, but there are millions who vote, as if they were voting for class president, and we had better not ignore it.

BTW, I do not care about being 'fair' to Ah-nold; his election will be an unmitigated disaster, not only to CA, but possibly for us in 2004.