Hilarious.

Historians dispute Schwarzenegger's convention comments

VIENNA, Austria (AP) -- Austrian historians are ridiculing California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger for telling the Republican National Convention that he saw Soviet tanks in his homeland as a child and left a "Socialist" country when he moved away in 1968.

Recalling that the Soviets once occupied part of Austria in the aftermath of World War II, Schwarzenegger told the convention on Tuesday: "I saw tanks in the streets. I saw communism with my own eyes."

No way, historians say, challenging Schwarzenegger's knowledge of postwar history -- if not his enduring popularity among Austrians who admire him for rising from a penniless immigrant to the highest official in America's most populous state.

"It's a fact -- as a child he could not have seen a Soviet tank in Styria," the southeastern province where Schwarzenegger was born and raised, historian Stefan Karner told the Vienna newspaper Kurier.

Schwarzenegger, now a naturalized U.S. citizen, was born on July 30, 1947, when Styria and the neighboring province of Carinthia belonged to the British zone. At the time, postwar Austria was occupied by the four wartime allies, which also included the United States, the Soviet Union and France.

The Soviets already had left Styria in July 1945, less than three months after the end of the war, Karner noted.

"Let me tell you this: As a boy, I lived for many years across the street from where the Russians were based in Vienna -- and honestly, I never saw a Russian tank there," retiree Franz Nitsch said Friday. "He said it all on purpose -- and that's bad."

In his convention address, Schwarzenegger also said: "As a kid, I saw the Socialist country that Austria became after the Soviets left" in 1955 and Austria regained its independence.

But Martin Polaschek, a law history scholar and vice rector of Graz University, told Kurier that Austria was governed by coalition governments, including the conservative People's Party and the Social Democratic Party. Between 1945 and 1970, all the nation's chancellors were conservatives -- not Socialists.

What's more, when Schwarzenegger left in 1968, Austria was run by a conservative government headed by People's Party Chancellor Josef Klaus, a staunch Roman Catholic and a sharp critic of both the Socialists as well as the Communists ruling in countries across the Iron Curtain.

Schwarzenegger "confuses a free country with a Socialist one," said Polaschek, referring to East European Communist officials' routine descriptions of their countries as Socialist.

Polaschek saw the moderate Republican governor's recollections at the convention as a tactical move. Schwarzenegger, he said, was "using the old Communist enemy image for Bush's election campaign."

"He did not speak as a historian, after all, but as a politician," Polaschek said.

Norbert Darabos, a ranking official of Austria's opposition Social Democratic Party, sharply criticized Schwarzenegger's "disdain for his former homeland."

"The Terminator is constructing a rather bizarre Austria image," he said.

But many ordinary Austrians seemed to be in a forgiving mood Friday over the gaffes.

"Maybe he has a wrong recollection -- it's so many years since he left," said Wilma Fadrany, 32, a Vienna waitress.

"There must be political reasons for such comments," she said. "You've got to tell the (convention delegates) what they want to hear in order to win them over. Politicians always talk the way it fits into their agenda."

http://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/....ap/index.html

And grouping Bush with Abe Lincoln was a bit of a stretch !!

So the Soviets had left Styria in 1945. Austria was still divided by the Allies, just as Germany was. You don't think Arnie's family ever travelled?

Honestly, if this is the best you liberals can do, you might as well give up now. [img]graemlins/idontagreeatall.gif[/img]

Heya bro. Mind telling us just what the hell that was supposed to mean?

Que? I don't believe the political affiliations of the historians involved are even mentioned in the article... Heck, and I'm not an American liberal, either. I'm simply some foreigner who likes to laugh at silly people who make silly remarks. ;)
Speaking of which... *snort* :D

[img]graemlins/biglaugh.gif[/img] [img]graemlins/biglaugh.gif[/img] To-may-to, to-mah-to. Call it what you will, anything there sounds socialist to me. [img]graemlins/biglaugh.gif[/img] I'll buy Arnie's version, thanks.

So TL, are you saying that if the veneer on the outside looks OK, but it smells like 5 hour old diapers, you are willing to pick it up and stick it in your buttonhole? You can't use the sound of the parties to decide if they are socialist or not. Our conservative party are called the Liberal Party - they are amongst GW's annointed. Is our Liberal Party then full of socialists and commies too?

I'm not sure I get your very disturbing analogy, Davros.

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It should be noted, Arnold never said in which town or province he saw said tanks.</font>

[ 09-07-2004, 02:34 PM: Message edited by: MagiK ]

Hello MagiK - making another return I see - that should add some pleasant spice to proceedings. Welcome back.

An the subject of your comment - the fact that he doesn't quote a town or place - don't that make it even less likely he ever saw any? I mean if you or I was asked to substantiate something like that we would be asked for details. Unless of course, Arnie is going to fall back on the "Carmen Lawrence" defence :D .