Latino outrage growing from Schwarzenegger’s recordings

Outrage, both real and staged, is growing as a result of the private recordings Governor Schwarzenegger made with his speech writer last year. A six-minute excerpt was first made public in September where Schwarzenegger and his Chief of Staff Susan Kennedy debated ethnic background of state Assemblywoman Bonnie Garcia. After trying to decide whether she is Cuban or Puerto Rican, Schwarzenegger says: “They are all very hot. They have the, you know, part of the black blood in them and part of the Latino blood in them that together makes it”. Assemblywoman Garcia later said she was not offended by the remarks.

The tapes had been discovered on the Governor’s website by an aide to Democratic rival Phil Angelides, and Schwarzenegger clearly did not want any more of this information released. He essentially “called the cops” on Angelides by asking the State Police to investigate. Apparently as a result of the Police conclusion that no laws were broken in downloading material from a public government website, an additional remaining 3 1/2 hours has been made available from sources of the Los Angeles Times. Possibly the most damaging is where the Governor compare illegal immigrants to a guest who come into a family home where everyone is working, but who refuses to contribute and instead lays around reading a novel.

We see protesters carrying the Mexican flag, and stepping on the American flag, and speaking in Spanish and talking about, “We are going to stay”. So now imagine someone coming to your place and he has no place because his house burned down next door. Now, he comes to your house because of the misery he went through, or she went through, comes to your house now and you say, “Come on in for a week or two weeks until you get going.” And that person comes out and says, “I’m not going to move anymore. You know something, Gary? I’m here to fucking stay”.

The recordings are part of a brainstorming session, and in addition to saying things that might offend Latinos, he said some things they might like. He is apparently not in favor of any kind of mass deportations and doesn’t like the idea of a border wall.