Nissan 370Z Forum - View Single Post - Schwarzenegger's Infamous Letter (Not Politics)

frost · 10-30-2009, 06:02 PM

Schwarzenegger's veto message appears to have gone above and beyond

By Denis C. Theriault

dtheriault@mercurynews.com
Posted: 10/28/2009 05:24:59 PM PDT
Updated: 10/28/2009 10:44:37 PM PDT

SACRAMENTO — Tell us, governor, how you really feel.

In what's either a sly jab at a critic — or just an improbably "weird coincidence" — one of the scores of tart veto messages issued by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger this month apparently contained an extra-special statement of rejection.

As in, a certain four-letter curse word, followed by its familiar friend "you."

The phrase leaps out when reading the first letter of each line in the printed veto message — apparently the only one like it in the batch sent out Oct. 11. The hidden acrostic, first spotted by the San Francisco Bay Guardian, has since been splayed across the Internet and even on cable television. (You can check it out at gov.ca.gov/pdf/press/2009bills/AB1176_Ammiano_Veto_Message.pdf.)

"It's just a weird coincidence," Aaron McLear, the governor's spokesman, said Wednesday, doing his best to play it straight.

"We do hundreds of vetoes every year, so something like this was bound to happen."

But almost as remarkable is to whom it happened. The lucky recipient was Assemblyman Tom Ammiano, D-San Francisco, who'd authored the bill seeking financing help for San Francisco's waterfront — and who recently earned the governor's ire with some puerile remarks of his own.

At a Democratic fundraiser this month, where Schwarzenegger had popped in as a lark,
Advertisement
a feisty Ammiano shouted at the governor to kiss the spot where he sits down.

Schwarzenegger has rarely displayed a flair for the subtle when needling his legislative colleagues. During this year's budget grind, he sent sculpted bull testicles to the leader of the Senate.

And of course, during another budget stalemate early in his tenure, Schwarzenegger called his legislative foes "girly men."

"I think it was a very creative way of exercising veto power," Ammiano, a former stand-up comic, told reporters Wednesday.

"I guess the governor is feeling his oats."

10-30-2009, 06:02 PM	#2 (permalink)
frost Retired admin Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Winterfell Posts: 106,613 Drives: Your Wife Crazy Rep Power: 0	Schwarzenegger's veto message appears to have gone above and beyond By Denis C. Theriault dtheriault@mercurynews.com Posted: 10/28/2009 05:24:59 PM PDT Updated: 10/28/2009 10:44:37 PM PDT SACRAMENTO — Tell us, governor, how you really feel. In what's either a sly jab at a critic — or just an improbably "weird coincidence" — one of the scores of tart veto messages issued by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger this month apparently contained an extra-special statement of rejection. As in, a certain four-letter curse word, followed by its familiar friend "you." The phrase leaps out when reading the first letter of each line in the printed veto message — apparently the only one like it in the batch sent out Oct. 11. The hidden acrostic, first spotted by the San Francisco Bay Guardian, has since been splayed across the Internet and even on cable television. (You can check it out at gov.ca.gov/pdf/press/2009bills/AB1176_Ammiano_Veto_Message.pdf.) "It's just a weird coincidence," Aaron McLear, the governor's spokesman, said Wednesday, doing his best to play it straight. "We do hundreds of vetoes every year, so something like this was bound to happen." But almost as remarkable is to whom it happened. The lucky recipient was Assemblyman Tom Ammiano, D-San Francisco, who'd authored the bill seeking financing help for San Francisco's waterfront — and who recently earned the governor's ire with some puerile remarks of his own. At a Democratic fundraiser this month, where Schwarzenegger had popped in as a lark, Advertisement a feisty Ammiano shouted at the governor to kiss the spot where he sits down. Schwarzenegger has rarely displayed a flair for the subtle when needling his legislative colleagues. During this year's budget grind, he sent sculpted bull testicles to the leader of the Senate. And of course, during another budget stalemate early in his tenure, Schwarzenegger called his legislative foes "girly men." "I think it was a very creative way of exercising veto power," Ammiano, a former stand-up comic, told reporters Wednesday. "I guess the governor is feeling his oats."