Arnold’s drops mask, gets smacked down.
Schwarzenegger’s homophobic, insulting comment calling California legislators who dare disagree with him, “girlie men”, has backfired. As I write this, the story is front page on Google News, with 367 links, the overwhelming majority of which reacted negatively to his comments.
Forget the jolly big-smile pose he puts on for the cameras. Like Jesse Ventura, who also had temper tantrums when his intimidation tactics stopped working, Arnold’s self-created train wreck has begun.
Schwarzenegger comments hurt budget talks
Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s weekend road trip — during which he targeted Democratic lawmakers for ouster in November and mocked uncooperative legislators as “girly men” — appears to have moved budget talks backward.
‘Girlie men’ jibe backfires on Arnie
The humour, however, did not translate politically. “It uses an image that is associated with gay men in an insulting way, and it was supposed to be an insult,” said state senator Sheila Kuehl. “That’s very troubling that he would use such a homophobic way of trying to put down legislative leadership.”