"To what purpose are powers limited, and to what purpose is that limitation committed to writing,
if these limits may, at any time, be passed by those intended to be restrained?"
-- Chief Justice John Marshall, Marbury v. Madison, 1803

Skeletons in the Closet

by Lee

Arnie should have seen this coming.

Facing potentially damaging new allegations about sexually harassing women, Arnold Schwarzenegger issued an extraordinary apology on Thursday as he started the last phase of his campaign to become California’s governor.

The superstar actor, who has been dogged throughout the recall campaign over allegations about sexist attitudes toward women, said that although many of the stories were politically motivated, “where there is smoke there is fire.”

“Yes, I have behaved badly some times, yes it is true that I was on rowdy movie sets ... and I have done things I thought were playful that now I recognize that I have offended people,” Schwarzenegger told a rally in San Diego to kick off a four-day bus tour of the state.

“I want to say to them that I am deeply sorry about that, and I apologize because that is not what I was trying to do.  When I am governor I will prove to women that I will be a champion for women. I hope you will give me the chance to prove this.”

When he first announced his candidacy on the Tonight Show he specifically said that the opposition was going to bring up all sorts of allegations about his past.  Knowing that this sort of thing was going to happen, why not bring this out yourself beforehand?  This is a standard legal tactic during a trial, to bring out any damaging evidence against your witness before the opposing side has the chance to do so, thus getting to define the news on your own terms.

Will this hurt?  Who knows, maybe so.  There is nobody, nobody, better at dirty politics than Gray Davis, and he’s got absolutely nothing to lose by going as dirty as possible.  Stay tuned.

Comments

<< Back to main