Toasting Waldheim Was "Stupid"But Schwarzenegger's renunciation is incomplete.
Posted Friday, Aug. 15, 2003, at 11:06 AM ETThe Los Angeles Times reported Thursday that Arnold Schwarzenegger has changed his views on Kurt Waldheim since he toasted him at his 1986 wedding. "[I]f he knew then what he knows now [about Waldheim's past], he would not have offered the toast," said spokesman Rob Stutzman. "Arnold has said it was a stupid thing to say."
PRINT
DISCUSS
E-MAIL
RSS
RECOMMEND...
Facebook
MySpace
Mixx
Digg
Reddit
del.icio.us
Furl
Ma.gnolia
Sphere
StumbleUponIt's a good start, but it falls short in two ways. First, this is not the sort of statement you can fob off on your spokesman. Schwarzenegger himself is going to have to address the matter. Second, as Chatterbox demonstrated in an earlier column, Schwarzenegger's toast to Waldheim was not a single, isolated incident. After the wedding, Schwarzenegger permitted Waldheim to use his name on campaign posters, protested a year later when Waldheim, then president of Austria, was banned from entering the United States, and was seen in Waldheim's company as recently as 1998. Schwarzenegger can't shrug off his 1986 toast as a momentary gaffe. There was a long-standing relationship that continued well past the time when the full extent of Waldheim's association with Nazi atrocities had been documented. A more complete renunciation will be necessary.
E-mail Timothy Noah at .
Is It More Important for Your Turkey To Be Organic or Local?
Why Gift Cards Are a Terrible Gift
Is Sarah Palin's Approval Rating Really as High as Barack Obama's?
Justice Scalia's Most Eccentric Habits
How Do You Know Whether a Sleepwalking Murderer Was Really Asleep?
Democrats Have a Lot To Be Thankful For
