http://www.malibutimes.com/articles/2005/06/15/news/news1.prt

Schwarzenegger faces boos, turned backs at Santa Monica College
The governor gave his commencement speech, enduring constant chanting and disapproval from faculty and students alike.

By Ryan O'Quinn/Special to The Malibu Times

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger took the stage Tuesday at Santa Monica College's Corsair Stadium, which was filled with a maximum capacity crowd, and faced boos, chants, turned backs and signs of protest to his policies on education funding.

As the governor entered the stage to give his commencement address, a handful of people left the auditorium and immediately chants, boos and whistling commenced and continued during his entire speech. Of the 200 employees seated onstage behind the governor, most of which were faculty members, eight stood up and turned their backs and two of the six held a sign that read "$80 million buys a lot of books."

About 10 graduating students seated in front of the audience got up and turned their backs to the governor onstage, later that group grew to 16, and scattered throughout the audience five groups of 10 or so students booed. Several held a 10-foot by 6-foot banner that read "$80 million for higher education, not for special education." When Santa Monica police took the sign away from the students, it seemed as if the entire audience booed the action, and the 10 who were holding the sign held their hands out with their thumbs down and chanted.

Schwarzenegger gave his speech as if nothing unusual were happening, even receiving a cheer when he mentioned one of his movies "Conan the Barbarian."

He spoke of how Santa Monica College taught him to read, write and speak English, and spoke highly of his professors who encouraged him, telling him he could do anything he wanted to do. As his speech progressed, several faculty members seated behind him stood up and cheered the governor.
Other SMC faculty, staff and students protested at the other end of the campus in order to not disrupt the ceremonies.

Before and during the governor's speech, which began at 6 p.m., approximately 300 protestors filled Santa Monica's streets between 16th and 23rd on Pico Boulevard waving signs, marching and yelling. Santa Monica and other college faculty members gathered at 20th and Pico.

One woman was seen with three children, who appeared to be less than 10 years old, marching down the street. The children wore red and white signs that read "For Sale, by Arnold."

Malibu High School junior Teddy Siegel and his friend, Dane Sandberg, also a junior at the school, were among protesters Tuesday.

"I think it's absolutely spectacular that there's a big turnout against what Schwarzenegger is doing," Siegel said. "I hope this sends a message that California won't accept what he's doing."

Sandberg agreed, saying, "It's about time that people show their true beliefs about Arnold."

The governor has come under fire recently from a barrage of special interest groups and labor unions, including teachers, who say he reneged on campaign promises that included an increase in education spending.

This comes on the heels of another teachers union, The California Teachers Association, approving a dues increase to replenish monies the union plans to use to fight a special election Schwarzenegger announced on Monday. One ballot measure will call for a limit on the increase in state education spending and another increases the amount of time it takes for a teacher to receive tenure.

Sherman Lambert, a member of the union, United Teachers of Los Angeles, said, "The special election is a tremendous waster of resources. Our schools are already running short."

Another community college teacher, Cynthia Kastan, who did not want to reveal which college she worked for, said, "I want Arnold to stop representing corporate interests and start representing the interests of working individuals."

"Give back the $3.2 billion dollars you borrowed from education and do no cut my pension," she added.

The Schwarzenegger camp as well as the unions have taken their respective agendas to the street by using radio and television ads. Schwarzenegger spokeswoman Margita Thompson has accused the unions of distorting the truth and says the governor has spent more money per student than any other governor.

There was a small group of 30 or so supporters of the governor, including Genevieve Peters, a former teacher with the Long Beach Unified School District. "He's making really tough choices and that's what a governor should do," she said. "Also, it's not about money, it's about qualified teachers in classrooms."

Of the choice of the governor as guest speaker, Peters said, "He's a success story, he's an excellent representative for Santa Monica College."

Rumbles of SMC faculty planning to protest the governor's appearance surfaced last week as members circulated e-mails debating the pros and cons of protesting Schwarzenegger's address and how to carry out various protests to the governor's visit and subsequent speech.

The Malibu Times obtained a few of the intra-college e-mails by the SMC faculty and administrators.

One faculty member suggested that the faculty wear their graduation regalia as usual until Schwarzenegger takes the podium, then either turn their back or walk out on him during his speech. Another recommended that the faculty wear graduation attire while protesting outside the stadium.

Yet others in the e-mail correspondence reminded faculty that the event was a celebration for the students and their families, and encouraged a graduation without incident. One said any protest could backfire and cause the governor to emerge as the champion of students and also galvanize his opposition to community colleges.

"I've talked to a lot of people and I think there's a real mix of people on campus," said Bruce Smith, public information officer for the college, in an interview prior to commencement ceremonies. "There are students and employees who think that it's really cool that the governor's coming and they are excited. There are students and employees who wanted us to un-invite him and there are those who may or may not like the governor's policies, but feel that graduation is not the place to turn it into a three-ring circus."

Some administrators and professors claimed they would be doing the student body an injustice by not exercising their First Amendment rights by vocalizing their discontent with the governor's policies. Others, using the same logic, said professional educators must adhere to civil etiquette during such a gathering and save the public protests for before or after the ceremony.

"We invited [Schwarzenegger] right after he was elected," Smith said. "He is an alumnus and he wasn't able to make it in 2004, but was [able] in 2005. I think you are going to find that, among the protestors, most of them are off-campus people. It's a real mixed bag of sentiment about the whole thing."

Smith also noted that this is the first year the college has had to issue tickets to graduation. Corsair Stadium in Santa Monica had 5,000 seats for the event and all were distributed in a short amount of time, he said.

Near the end of his speech, Schwarzenegger said, "Don't just take, give something back," and, "Win, win, win and give back to the community." The audience responded with half cheering and half jeering.

After the governor left the stage, Robert Adams, vice president of student affairs, said, "This is a graduation I will never forget.

"This is about you. Let's focus on you."

The entire audience of family members, graduating students and faculty erupted into a deafening response of applause and stomping and cheering.
###

And yet the Governor gave his speech. You lost. Your temper tantrum was exposed for everyone to see.

This is just great.

Do you think Shwarzenegger actually gives a simple fuck about the silly juvenile antics of a handful of sheepminded hobbyists?

C'mon.

Thank you students. You are smarter than the people who run that college.

By the way arnnuld spent four years there (it's a two year college) and did not graduate.

I wonder if his grades are public. I’m willing to bet his grades were on par with Bush or Kerry.

The Governor is a man of principle and a legal immigrant who has worked hard for everything he has.

When he's giving a speech to college kids, probably 85% agree with his message about hard work and giving back.

It's the loser "educators" who live high on the taxpayer's dole and the minority of rude leftist thugs that spoil it for everyone else.

Notice the leftists' rotten, backwards attitude: everything is expected to be handed to them with no hard work.

This is how California's economy took a shit in the first place.

Once again, a Republican has to clean up democrap droppings.

Arnnuld was not always legal. Not that I care.
Arnnuld over stayed his visa in the 70's. Not that I care.
But he is a hypocrite to support groups like MM given his past.
(You know, It’s easier for immigrants from Europe to get away with.)

Arnold is to Gray Davis as BMW is to Hyundai.

Arnold is to Jerry Brown as BMW is to Schwinn

Arnold is a great Governor with outstanding leadership skills. He's just what California has been needing.

Now we need to kick out the remaining Democrats in the state legislature and clear a path to the goal line for our fine Governor.

A Frightening Analysis

We all know Dick Lamm as the former Governor of Colorado. In that context his thoughts are particularly poignant. Last week there was an immigration-overpopulation conference in Washington, DC, filled to capacity by many of American's finest minds and leaders. A brilliant college professor named Victor Hansen Davis talked about his latest book, "Mexifornia," explaining how immigration — both legal and illegal — was destroying the entire state of California. He said it would march across the country until it destroyed all vestiges of The American Dream.

Moments later, former Colorado Governor Richard D. Lamm stood up and gave a stunning speech on how to destroy America. The audience sat spellbound as he described eight methods for the destruction of the United States. He said, "If you believe that America is too smug, too self-satisfied, too rich, then let's destroy America. It is not that hard to do. No nation in history has survived the ravages of time. Arnold Toynbee observed that all great civilizations rise and fall and that 'An autopsy of history would show that all great nations commit suicide.'"

"Here is how they do it," Lamm said: First to destroy America, "Turn America into a bilingual or multi-lingual and bicultural country. History shows that no nation can survive the tension, conflict, and antagonism of two or more competing languages and cultures. It is a blessing for an individual to be bilingual; however, it is a curse for a society to be bilingual. The historical scholar Seymour Lipset put it this way: 'The histories of bilingual and bi-cultural societies that do not assimilate are histories of turmoil, tension, and tragedy. Canada, Belgium, Malaysia, Lebanon all face crises of national existence in which minorities press for autonomy, if not independence. Pakistan and Cyprus have divided. Nigeria suppressed an ethnic rebellion. France faces difficulties with Basques, Bretons, and Corsicans."

Lamm went on: Second, to destroy America, "Invent 'multiculturalism' and encourage immigrants to maintain their culture. I would make it an article of belief that all cultures are equal. That there are no cultural differences. I would make it an article of faith that the Black and Hispanic dropout rates are due to prejudice and discrimination by the majority. Every other explanation is out of bounds.

Third, "We could make the United States a 'Hispanic Quebec' without much effort. The key is to celebrate diversity rather than unity. As Benjamin Schwarz said in the Atlantic Monthly recently: 'The apparent success of our own multiethnic and multicultural experiment might have been achieved! Not by tolerance but by hegemony. Without the dominance that once dictated ethnocentrically and what it meant to be an American, we are left with only tolerance and pluralism to hold us together.'"

Lamm said, "I would encourage all immigrants to keep their own language and culture. I would replace the melting pot metaphor with the salad bowl metaphor. It is important to ensure that we have various cultural subgroups living in America reinforcing their differences rather than as Americans, emphasizing their similarities."

"Fourth, I would make our fastest growing demographic group the least educated. I would add a second underclass, unassimilated, undereducated, and antagonistic to our population. I would have this second underclass have a 50% dropout rate from high school."

"My fifth point for destroying America would be to get big foundations and business to give these efforts lots of money. I would invest in ethnic identity, and I would establish the cult of 'Victimology.' I would get all minorities to think their lack of success was the fault of the majority. I would start a grievance industry blaming all minority failure on the majority population."

"My sixth plan for America's downfall would include dual citizenship and promote divided loyalties. I would celebrate diversity over unity. I would stress differences rather than similarities. Diverse people worldwide are mostly engaged in hating each other - that is, when they are not killing each other. A diverse, peaceful, or stable society is against most historical precedent. People undervalue the unity! Unity is what it takes to keep a nation together. Look at the ancient Greeks. The Greeks believed that they belonged to the same race; they possessed a common language and literature; and they worshiped the same gods. All Greece took part in the Olympic Games.

A common enemy Persia threatened their liberty. Yet all these bonds were not strong enough to over come two factors: local patriotism and geographical conditions that nurtured political divisions. Greece fell.

"E. Pluribus Unum" — From many, one. In that historical reality, if we put the emphasis on the 'pluribus' instead of the 'Unum,' we can balkanize America as surely as Kosovo."

"Next to last, I would place all subjects off limits ~ make it taboo to talk about anything against the cult of 'diversity.' I would find a word similar to 'heretic' in the 16th century - that stopped discussion and paralyzed thinking. Words like 'racist' or 'x! xenophobes' halt discussion and debate."

"Having made America a bilingual/bicultural country, having established multi-culturism, having the large foundations fund the doctrine of 'Victimology,' I would next make it impossible to enforce our immigration laws. I would develop a mantra: That because immigration has been good for America, it must always be good. I would make every individual immigrant symmetric and ignore the cumulative impact of millions of them."

In the last minute of his speech, Governor Lamm wiped his brow. Profound silence followed. Finally he said, "Lastly, I would censor Victor Hanson Davis's book Mexifornia. His book is dangerous. It exposes the plan to destroy America. If you feel America deserves to be destroyed, don't read that book."

There was no applause.

A chilling fear quietly rose like an ominous cloud above every attendee at the conference. Every American in that room knew that everything Lamm enumerated was proceeding methodically, quietly, darkly, yet pervasively across the United States today. Every discussion is being suppressed. Over 100 languages are ripping the foundation of our educational system and national cohesiveness. Barbaric cultures that practice female genital mutilation are growing as we celebrate 'diversity.' American jobs are vanishing into the Third World as corporations create a Third World in America — take note of California and other states — to date, ten million illegal aliens and growing fast. It is reminiscent of George Orwell's book "1984." In that story, three slogans are engraved in the Ministry of Truth building: "War is peace," "Freedom is slavery," and "Ignorance is strength."

Governor Lamm walked back to his seat. It dawned on everyone at the conference that our nation and the future of this great democracy are deeply in trouble and worsening fast. If we don't get this immigration monster stopped within three years, it will rage like a California wildfire and destroy everything in its path, especially The American Dream.

Repost From Yahoo

By TOM CHORNEAU, Associated Press Writer

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's call for a special election and a new advertising campaign to promote his agenda have failed to arrest his slide in popularity, according to a new statewide poll.

According to the Field Poll released Tuesday, 37 percent of registered California voters approve of Schwarzenegger's job performance, a drop of 18 percentage points since February.

Continuing a trend that began in January, 53 percent of registered California voters said they do not approve of Schwarzenegger's performance. That's a jump of 18 percentage points since February.

The biggest decline came among Democrats and nonpartisan voters, but the poll also found Schwarzenegger's support among Republican voters has fallen.

"In many ways, this poll was a reaction to the call for the special election," said poll director Mark DiCamillo, who noted that the seven-day survey began June 13, the same night Schwarzenegger announced his decision to call the special election.

"I was surprised," he said. "Usually, you would think there would be some positive spin coming out of an event like that, but not here."

Schwarzenegger said at a news conference Tuesday the poll's message is that lawmakers should work together to solve California's problems.

"I don't think the people are telling us anything new," he said. "It's very clear the people are sensitive to what's happening in the Capitol. Everyone wants us to work together."

When asked whether he shares blame for the bitter partisan atmosphere in the statehouse, Schwarzenegger said, "All of us in this building can share blame, including myself."

Among the measures the governor is asking voters to approve Nov. 8 are limits on state spending, redrawn legislative and congressional districts, and changes in tenure for public school teachers.

The poll found that 52 percent of voters oppose holding the election while only 37 percent are in favor of it. In February, 51 percent of voters favored the idea with 45 percent opposed.

When voters were told that the election will cost between $45 million and $80 million, support fell to 28 percent, with 61 percent opposed and 11 percent undecided.

The governor's job approval among Democrats dropped to 16 percent from 34 percent in February. Among independents, his support fell from 48 percent four months ago to 35 percent today. Among fellow Republicans, approval fell from 84 percent to 66 percent.

The Legislature also shared some of the voters' wrath, according to the Field Poll, with just 24 percent of voters saying they approve of the job lawmakers have been doing. That represents a drop of 10 percentage points since February.

The survey, conducted over seven days ending June 19, was drawn from interviews with 954 California adults that included 711 registered voters. It has a sampling error of 3 percentage points.

Source: Yahoo.com

Also see: http://field.com/fieldpollonline/subscribers/