I was just watching a video of former California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger speaking with CNN’s Dana Bash. I came away completely impressed.
I’ve not been a huge fan of Arnold, and I’m not completely sure why. I remember his rise as an actor, witnessed with surprise his election as governor, and witnessed the manner in which he helmed America’s most populous state. At some point, you’ve got to give a person the credit they deserve based upon the actions they’ve taken and the way in which they walked their talk.
Schwarzenegger is increasingly concerned with the tone of society, specifically the anger and the hatred of the tone. What’s important about this is the fact that Schwarzenegger is a steadfast Republican, the type you once got back when Republicans were rational and hadn’t yet let disrupters and obstructionists take over the party.
Arnold hails from Austria, a nation that was absorbed into Germany just prior to World War II. His own father was a Nazi official, as German views about Jews became or reinforced Austrian views about Jews. Schwarzenegger says his dad, and many thousands like him, were mobilized through deceit and lies, and through their belief in these lies, created a situation where they would become, as he put it, “losers.” By that he meant that the cause they pored their support into turned out to be a lost cause, one ultimately defeated by a coalition allies marshalled against them.
Schwarzenegger talks about the proliferation of hate in society, and how some use it to agitate others to their cause. He’s very clear that he’s not okay with this.
Hate is a plant that grows in all soils and in all conditions and it sometimes overwhelms the local plants that are in the area. It causes untold damage to everything around it, to the point where the only way to deal with it is to burn it out. And sometimes, unfortunately, plants will burn that, had they been left alone, might have prospered.
Good on you Arnold. We need more people like you speaking out. Thank you for your service to a respectful and inclusive society.
NEWSMAGRENFREW 