Readers split opinions on our Aug. 18 story about Arnold Schwarzenegger. Some hailed him as a “role model for millions,” and encouraged his run for governor of California. Others are already voting no.
MOVIE STAR MANIA
California is the world’s capital of the movie industry, so why not have a Hollywood star icon governing the state (“Only in California,” Aug. 18)? It wouldn’t make sense to me if Arnold Schwarzenegger were running for governor of the state of Oregon. Schwarzenegger has proved himself to be a bulletproof kind of guy. His determination and popularity can easily take him to the governor’s office, though maintaining these traits will be the hardest part of this endeavor. But, I trust him and believe the Latino community in California would welcome his plans. We Mexicans will watch any decisions made in our neighboring state, since good and bad choices there affect Mexican interests. With luck, Schwarzenegger’s ideas will fortify the state’s economy and elevate the number of “green bills” coming my way.
Ramon Araiza Quiroz
Aguascalientes, Mexico
Lest the United States’ most populous state be reduced to the level of a political cartoon and carry with it the pride, economic recovery and security of the country as a whole, we must ask hard questions of and demand good answers from Arnold Schwarzenegger, likely the next governor of California. To know whether he is up to the task, the media must take off their kid gloves and start requiring more than one-line answers to the serious and difficult questions that lie ahead for the Golden State.
Adam Frederic Dorin
San Diego, California
Thank you for your feature on Arnold Schwarzenegger’s announcement that he is running for governor of California. Schwarzenegger is a role model for millions worldwide. His determination to succeed in various endeavors shows that with enough hard work it’s possible if you want to achieve whatever you want in life. His desire to be the best has helped him rise to his past challenges, and I think he’ll probably win the race for governor.
Eric O’Rourke
Cork, Ireland
Does Arnold Schwarzenegger really think that anyone who cares about the environment will vote for someone who owns five Humvees? We have had the worst smog in southern California in years, due in part to “urban assault” vehicles that terrorize and pollute our space. I am one person who will not be jumping on the Schwarzenegger bandwagon.
Shirley Knight
Los Angeles, California
If Schwarzenegger can harness his brains and biceps to improve California’s situation, 34 million people will emerge as the winners. He’ll have less than a term to prove his mettle. Even Hercules would be daunted by the challenge. This transplanted Califor-nian wishes him well.
Michael G. Driver
Ichihara City, Japan
Arnold Schwarzenegger is not the issue. He seems like a decent enough guy, and anybody, experienced or otherwise, has the right to run for governor. What concerns me is a voting public that has made Schwarzenegger an instant favorite in an election to lead our most populous state based only on knowing of his body-building and Hollywood movies. The ignorance and irresponsibility of the voting public never ceases to astound me.
Jonathan I. Klein
Huntington Beach, California
CORRECTION
While Arnold Schwarzenegger has told several versions of an anecdote about a 1968 Hubert Humphrey-Richard Nixon debate, there was, in fact, no Humphrey-Nixon debate in 1968 (“Only in California,” Aug. 18). NEWSWEEK regrets the error.
InsertArt(2025054) Please clarify for your readers (and for me, for that matter) what a line concerning me was doing in your Aug. 18 article “Only in California.” At the end of a paragraph scrutinizing Arnold Schwarzenegger’s father, there appeared the line ” (And your point, Ms. Streisand, was what, exactly?)” The real question is, what is the point of that line? It sounds like the punch line to a New Yorker cartoon, but I don’t get the joke—and I shudder to think what interpretation your readers may have given this. It implies that I’ve made some cruel judgment, but I can’t even figure out what your writers imply I have judged. I’ve never commented on Arnold or his father. Arnold is a social friend whose company and whose wife’s company I enjoy. I truly resent someone’s imputing to me an unkind judgment so cryptically implied that a reader can assume anything.
Barbra Streisand
Malibu, California
Editors’ Note: Since Ms. Streisand is an outspoken Democrat, the author used her name as a way of pointing out the incongruity of a son of a member of the Nazi Party’s running for governor in her home state. NEWSWEEK did not intend any offense toward Ms. Streisand.
MORE THAN WARM AND FUZZY
Animal lovers have known that animals feel and understand much more than researchers have given them credit for (“Animal Emotions,” Aug. 18). To a great extent “new evidence” of animal intelligence and emotion opens a large and difficult question on the ethics of exploiting animals, given the false notion that animals are incapable of emotion and pain. One hopes the medical validation of what animal people have known all along will open an intelligent dialogue about how to address this complicated moral question.
Angela Hamby
San Francisco, California
If anyone doubts that animals love and understand more than people give them credit for, then he has never seen therapy animals at work. I can’t begin to count the times sick children or people with Alzheimer’s disease have held my therapy cat, Laser, hugged him tightly while he snuggled in close or gave them a hug in return, and have said, “Look, he loves me!” I’m certainly not going to argue with them.
Nancy Kucik
Pelham, Alabama
When I take the time to notice, I realize my yellow tabby spends most of his day with me basking in the heat of my home-office lamp, leaping from flower beds as I garden and growling softly when strangers come to the front door. If he is using me for food and shelter, he is no more manipulative than my husband or kids.
Kay Rodriguez
Seattle, Washington
SOLUTIONS FOR SEXISM
NEWSWEEK’s article on the sexual violence against female immigrants who live in Europe’s many large social-housing complexes was interesting and compelling (“Sexism in the Cites ,” Aug. 18). However, the conclusion that suggests that in order to help the women “you have to help the men—not only to find jobs and education, but to learn to live in Western societies” is old-fashioned, vintage, baseless nonsense. I do not understand why any nation is obliged to provide jobs or education for immigrants who come to Europe by their own free will, in many cases evading immigration controls. To help these women what is really needed is to provide swift and severe consequences for the men and boys who perpetrate such lawless behavior. I bet that after offenders are given a one-way ticket to their native lands with no chance of returning to the European Union, word would rapidly spread that committing gang rape, sexual abuse and assault are sure ways to earn lifelong expulsion from Europe.
David Beale
Haste, Germany
Your article states, “young men try to rule their families and neighbors under a macho code drawn partly from Muslim tradition, partly from the violence and porn in the media.” What? How can you insinuate that Islam has anything to do with the act of people whose knowledge of Islam seems to be at best superficial? In my opinion, the most macho-minded societies are located all over southern Europe and Latin America. And if I’m not mistaken, these areas are predominately Roman Catholic. Does that mean that Catholicism promotes macho behavior or is it a trait of the area?
Mishal Kanoo
Dubai, United Arab Emirates
The French government of the past should be blamed for segregating Muslim immigrants without giving them an opportunity to interact with the French community. While French people of their age enjoy a comparatively comfortable and rich life, without proper education and employment the younger generation of these cites [segregated low-income housing] feels alienated. Perhaps this feeling of separation leads the immigrants to frustration and violence. This problem has existed in France for years and nobody has cared to speak about it or find a solution. With the emergence of the organization Ni Putes, Ni Soumises (roughly, Not Whores, Not Servants), the problems of the women living in these ghettos are coming to light. But such a serious problem cannot be solved even with the emergence of thousands of like-minded organizations. The concept of the cite should be abolished and the French government should relocate these people in French society, creating equal opportunities for these youngsters and making them feel that they are part and parcel of the French community. Such action would help change their negative attitude toward their native community and assist with integration into French society.
Asokan Suppiah
Neuilly-Sur-Seine, France
SPIRITUAL, NOT POLITICAL, AID
In the Aug. 18 story “Fighting a Peace Plan” you report that some Christian aid groups are supporting the rebels in the conflict in Sudan—specifically that Samaritan’s Purse is “among a handful of Christian groups that have taken sides in the dispute. They work exclusively in southern Sudan—and provide not only humanitarian aid but also political and sometimes logistical support for the southern rebels.” As president of Samaritan’s Purse for 25 years, I would like to make it clear that our organization has never given political or logistical support to either side in this conflict. Through all our relief work in this strife-torn nation, we have remained absolutely neutral. While it is true that our relief work has been concentrated in the southern part of Sudan, that is because it is the south that has the greatest human need. Indeed, the government has thanked us for our humanitarian work in the country. Even though a hospital which we operate in the southern town of Lui has been bombed more than half a dozen times by government forces from the north, we have maintained our neutrality by meeting with leaders of both political factions. Our focus as a Christian organization is to provide spiritual and physical aid to hurting people, not to provide political support to anyone.
Franklin Graham
President, Samaritan’s Purse
Boone, North Carolina
© 2003 Newsweek, Inc.