Some California legislators are angry with Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger after he referred to them as “girlie-men” during a speech on Saturday.
The movie star-turned-politican used the term to describe opposition Democrats he said who are too weak to stand up to unions and trial lawyers demanding changes in the governor’s state budget proposal.
The phrase comes from an old television comedy routine where two Schwarzengger-like bodybuilders use it to mock those who lack their bulging muscles.
Several Democratic lawmakers say the remark was insulting to women and homosexuals. State Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez said the comment was “beneath the governor.”
…State Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez then hiked up his cotton leg warmers and skipped away in a poncy, choreographed huff. Not that there’s anything wrong with that…
The funny thing is, isn’t it prejudicial to assume that all gay men are effeminate? Or that all effeminate men are gays?
I mean, did it offend you, Jeff?
No. It didn’t offend me at all. Because I can recognize pop-cultural references for what they are. And I don’t like when people trot out the injured victim card when they aren’t really injured, and aren’t really victimized.
PC rot.
This could be likened to him referring to them as pansies, or pussies even. That’s a bit inappropriate, don’t you think?
Hey, here’s a thought. Maybe he should stop writing his own speeches.
Pansies or pussies would’ve been fine, too, if a bit inelegant.
But “girlie men,” as I say, has a pop-cultural referent. In a joke. A joke originally made at Arnold’s expense.
So again: No, I don’t think it’s inappropriate. I think it’s a joke. And I think taking seriously anyone who claims to be injured by this joke diminishes the injury to the truly defamed.
Also, it’s a relatively infamous self-parody popularized by the Saturday Night Live skits. I thought it was easily recognized as such.
I love the quote Wizbang pulled up from a California Dem here.
It doesn’t offend Fabian but his 13 year old daughter found the term derogatory. Right. Perhaps I’m a little skeptical that during dinner the 13 year old popped in with this opinion. Perhaps teenagers have changed from the one I was and the ones I know.
I do know that this reads like a politician that doesn’t have the stones to stand up say they don’t like something. But rather someone who wants to pawn it off on their daughter.
Jeff is so right. The only people who should feel insulted here are real, actual girlie-men for being compared to flaccid Democratic California legislators who are, in Ahnold’s view, unduly beholden to certain powerful special interest segments. These legislators would rather see California’s economic woes continue unabated rather than support reforms initiated by their Republican governor to help the state turn things around.
What Ahnold would really like to do is kick their asses, but they go off easy this time.
I bet you all thought I was pretty on top of things when I just repeated what the post said before I realized the post said what I said. Did I mention it was from SNL? ……
Arnold doesn’t quite have the political acumen of a former governor of California.
But I’m sure he’ll pick up the pace.
Shouldn’t they have a protest march when the Guvanata insults gays like that ?
Or maybe it’s just much ado about nothing. You know, what Republicans call a joke.
Further evidence that Schwarzenegger is a better governor than his predecessor, whose name I’ve already forgotten.
I don’t know if that comment was “beneath the governor” but this little Fabian stunt sure was beneath contempt.
And what’s up with the “Fabian” thing, anyway?
Heh. They could’ve just laughed along with this (as others have pointed out) self-deprecating joke, but instead they had to complain and make it clear that not only are they in fact girlie-men, but whiny little bitches as well.
The Angry Left never misses an opportunity to trot out their sensitive-to-the-plight-of-the-victimized-by-the-man credentials every time a hat is dropped somewhere. I never thought Hans and Franz had anything to do with insulting homosexuals. Perhaps pumping irony is dead.
I think the girlie-men are upset because they prefer to be called chicks with dicks.
Except that these people don’t have dicks…
If you’d had the misfortune of meeting rep. Sheila Kuhl as I have, you wouldn’t find anything about this funny. At all.
how’s that transfusion-in-a-recall going? did enron give the money back yet?
You mean the money that Enron stole from the poor grandmothers while “Shades Of” Gray and Cruz BustaMeCHA were running things, and signing long-term energy contracts at three times the going rate? Not yet, but our new Republican governor is getting around to it. He just has to cope with the girlie men in Sacramento right now…