Woman says ‘family man’ Schwarzenegger sexually harassed her

By Jackson Thoreau

Arnold Schwarzenegger, family man who remains loyal to his four kids and Kennedy-clan wife.
Arnold Schwarzenegger, Republican hypocrite and woman chaser who gives Bob Packwood and Newt Gingrich and Bill Clinton and JFK a run for their money.
I choose the latter depiction. Or perhaps one in the middle, but closer to the latter description.
It’s not just the stories of an alleged Schwarzenegger extramarital affair published by the New York Post, National Enquirer and other media that appeared to have caused him to drop out of the 2002 California governor’s race.
It’s also an anecdote I was recently told by a source. A woman - a family member of this source - worked behind the scenes on a weekend shoot in one of Schwarzenegger’s movies years ago. He harassed this woman for two days about having sex with him in his movie trailer, my source says.
She tried to politely say no, but Schwarzenegger kept persisting, insisting she come to his trailer during a break. The woman tried to joke it off, saying at one point, “But Arnold, what about Maria?” He laughed and said, “My driver is very discreet.”
At the same time, Schwarzenegger also made inappropriate comments to the younger wardrobe girl, commenting about her behind when she bent over to pick up something, my source says.
After the first woman had not completed the trailer rendezvous by the end of the weekend, Schwarzenegger drove by her in his car. With his bodyguards around him, Robot Man shouted her name and yelled, “I can’t believe you pussied out on me!”
So why should I believe this source? For one thing, my source was told the story years ago, so it has nothing to do with Schwarzenegger’s sudden candidacy for governor. For another, this is by no means not the only such story floating around out there about Robot Man. Other stories are at http://democrats.com/view.cfm?id=15591 and http://www.moderateindependent.com/v1i8arnoldpic1.htm, among other places. Numerous people have contacted me with their own Schwarzenegger groping story. And finally, “pussied out?” Doesn’t that just sound like something the man who made “pump up” a catch phrase would say?
I’m not going to reveal my source or name names. The woman involved doesn’t deserve to be harassed over this. I really don’t think keeping her name out of it makes the story less believable. Where there’s smoke, there’s fire. Right, Kenneth Starr?
And what goes ‘round comes ‘round. Right, Packwood, Gingrich, Henry Hyde, Bob Barr, Joe Scarborough, Name Your Favorite Republican Hypocritical Marital Cheater?
So why should I care if the Republican candidate for governor of California is a hypocritical adulterer? Isn’t that only the business of Schwarzenegger and Maria and God, as we Clinton defenders said during the Monica days? Man, how I long for those good ol’ days, when most of us had good-paying jobs and 401Ks that rose in value and no fear of a nuclear war and our most pressing problem, according to much of our media, was whether Clinton lied about getting a blow job.
If Schwarzenegger wasn’t hypocritically campaigning as a good family man, taking Maria and the kids with him on campaign stops, I might give him a break. If he was running for mayor of Brentwood, not the most populous U.S. state with the most electoral votes in the life-and-death 2004 presidential race in which we HAVE to kick Bush out of the White House, I might cut him some slack.
If we knew something about what Schwarzenegger might do as California governor, I might back off. If Schwarzenegger would – or could – tell us his vision for the state or speak about exactly how he will solve California’s earthquake-sized budget woes, I might stop writing right here.
If Bush racketeer Rove hadn’t cynically and secretly engineered this recall after their guy, Richard Riordan, lost in 2002, I might keep my nose in Texas. You really think arch-conservative Rep. Darrell Issa wanted to drop out of this race after spending $2 million of his own bucks to get the damn recall election?
You really think Riordan just decided on his own not to run, especially after Schwarzenegger burned him by giving him indications he might not run and lied about how they both supposedly worked together to maintain suspense? You really think people like former Gov. Pete Wilson just happen to become this political neophyte’s campaign co-chairman?
For more on this White House link to the recall campaign and Schwarzenegger’s entry, see http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2003/08/06/MN114924.DTL and http://www.buzzflash.com/analysis/03/08/08_recall.html. Read the article on recall proponents and representatives of potential Republican candidates meeting at the Los Angeles office of Gerry Parsky, Bush’s top California adviser, to discuss the effort . Read about Bush’s endorsement of Schwarzenegger and Laura Bush’s press secretary, Noelia Rodriguez, helping Riordan assemble a possible campaign team .
Bush and Rove are lying again when they say they have nothing to do with the California recall. Just like they are lying about having no involvement with the plan to redistrict Congress in Texas to gain more Republican seats there – Rove has even met with Republicans in Texas about it - after they were heavily involved in the Colorado Republican redistricting power grab earlier this year. I don’t believe one damn thing a Bush administration official says. They just care about increasing their own partisan political power and couldn’t care less about most Americans, except when they want their votes. But these power grabs can backfire – New Mexico Democrats are among those discussing redistricting power plays of their own.
Add to all that how many in the mainstream media are already comparing Schwarzenegger to that other Hollywood actor who became California governor and a nightmare of a president, and we have to stop this guy - now.
Back in the 1960s, if some media types had slammed Reagan with all those stories of extramarital affairs that were swirling around then, perhaps we would not have come so close to nuclear Armageddon in the 1980s. Perhaps we would still have federal grants helping to pay for middle-class students’ college costs. Perhaps we wouldn’t be paying for a bloated military that plays policeman all over the world and wouldn’t have such an astronomically high federal debt. Perhaps we wouldn’t have as many as 71 million Americans without health insurance . Perhaps we wouldn’t have to suffer through an airport named after Reagan and idiotic talk about putting his mug on Mount Rushmore.
But most reporters steered clear of politicians’ private affairs back then. They also cared more about what average Americans really thought. Still, I wish some reporters would have risked their public personas and jobs and exposed the affairs of Reagan back then. I would have – had I been older than grade-school age.
Even after what Republicans did to Clinton in these tell-all days, many people – even Democrats whose party is on thin ice these days – have advised me to lay off the reporting on Republicans’ sex lives. As if reporting on those affairs and abortions and other hypocritical acts somehow debase me. Perhaps in a way, they do, but I don’t give a damn. If my mud-slinging helps some Republicans fall on their swords, people can call me whatever the hell they want. Unlike many conservatives, I can take the hits as much as I dish them out.
I’m merely the messenger, pointing out how hypocritical those Republicans and the mainstream media were to continually publicize Clinton’s affairs and Condit’s affairs while downplaying or ignoring Hyde’s and Scarborough’s. In this sex-crazed environment, I’m trying to provide some balance, something few are doing on this issue. I’m trying to show that Republicans have extramarital affairs about as often as Democrats.
You think that’s obvious? Think again. Why do so many people and comedians like Jay Leno still joke about Clinton’s affairs? Why don’t they still tell jokes about the affairs of the former Republican Senator Packwood, who had at least 29 women – mostly Senate and campaign employees - accuse him of sexual harassment and in some cases assault? Packwood makes Clinton look like a marital saint, yet Leno and others still act like Clinton is the only politician out there who has ever chased a woman who was not his wife.
Why don’t they target Gingrich and Hyde and Bush and Reagan and, yes, Schwarzenegger? Because thanks to the conservatively-owned mainstream media, most people instantly equate Democrats with affairs more than Republicans. And when they get in the voting booth, that image affects Democrats negatively. As much as many Democrats want this issue to just go away, it’s not going to until they start fighting fire with fire.
Hey, you ask, can’t we just hit Schwarzenegger with the issue-driven story that he voted for a 1994 ballot measure to deny social services to illegal immigrants? Voters approved the GOP-backed Proposition 187, but some wiser judges rightly ruled the callous measure unconstitutional.
Surely Schwarzenegger will lose votes among Hispanics if that continues to receive wide publicity. And it can’t help that Pete Wilson, the architect of Proposition 187, leads Schwarzenegger’s campaign.
You and I might care, but the average voter who mostly gets news from the boob tube and reads newspapers for the sports or TV guide does not. Republican leaders like Rove understand this – that’s why he pushed so hard to get a popular actor on his side. I’m not sure Democratic leaders understand this, or else they would have recruited someone like Martin Sheen, who plays a much more believable president on The West Wing than Bush does, to run against Schwarzenegger.
So I have to slam Schwarzenegger with all I have, including the alleged affairs, the reports of sexual propositions, the “pussied out” comments. Put a story on TV that Schwarzenegger is facing many questions of extramarital affairs, and that could have some impact on what swing voters do.
This is that important. If you don’t have the stomach for such mud-slinging, fine. A few years ago, I might have stayed in my ivory tower myself, believing in some political la-la land where being right – or left – on important issues really wins out.
But not these days. Not after the Starr Report, the $100 million in public funds to investigate Clinton’s private life that Republicans spent, the hijacking of the White House in 2000, and all the damn dirty deals since. Now, I’m fighting the Republi-Thugs by giving them a dose of their own medicine. Now, I’m not pulling my punches.
And hell yes, it feels good. When I read all those emails from hypocritical conservatives who idiotically call me a Communist and worse for simply turning the tables on them, it just makes my day. Hell yes, it feels real good that I can get their goats.
I might not play the political game this way for the rest of my life. But right now, we are in a crisis. We are in a war against the Republi-Thug terrorists, not just the Al-Qaeda ones who we once trained and financed. And we HAVE to win, by most any means necessary - I’ll not resort to physical violence.
That’s why I started a petition to “totally recall” Schwarzenegger just in case he wins. If that disaster occurs, I will forward the petition to the California State Democratic Party and hopefully someone there will have the gumption to turn the tables on Bush and Rove and Robot Man.
To sign the petition, go to http://www.petitiononline.com/schwarze/petition.html. More than 500 people already have signed it in the first few days.
Finally, to those who chided me for mentioning Schwarzenegger’s Nazi father and Austrian background in a prior column at http://www.bushwatch.net/thoreau.htm, check this article on his ties to Nazi Kurt Waldheim: http://www.msnbc.com/news/949666.asp?0cv=CB20.
See, I could have been harder on Schwarzenegger. I will have to work on that….

Jackson Thoreau is an American writer and co-author of We Will Not Get Over It: Restoring a Legitimate White House. The updated, 120,000-word electronic book can be downloaded on his Internet site at http://www.geocities.com/jacksonthor/ebook.html. Citizens for Legitimate Government has the earlier version at http://www.legitgov.org/we_will_not_get_over_it.html.

1. He hasn't LIED about it like Clinton did.
2. He has done all sorts of sexual and violent things on camera and people have seen it already so they don't care if he has done it in real life.

I am not making this up. I believe I heard both of these things from pundits on CNN.

He said that one instance with a British talk show host never happened.

There's a video of it available on the Internet.

about this on his site...
So arnie's a groper and sexist pig to boot!!
Who knew??

is the group that did the same to my beloved Clinton. And they are the right wing republicans. No Democrat should criticize Arnold for this because he was a supporter of Clinton when it was happening to him. I saw that quote where he said he was ashamed of being a republican when Clinton was impeached...yet acquitted.

Criticize Arnold on other stuff, not womanizing.

I'm no particular fan of Clinton's (too far right for me) but his frollicking with Monica was his (and her) business. Same goes for Ahhnuld. Plenty of good reasons for Californians to reject him other than his sexual escapades.

It smacks of hypocrisy for us, who defended Clinton during the impeachment, to now turn pious.

Let the blue-nosed rightwingers attack him for such. They already are for his pro-gay, anti-gun, pro-choice, stances. Hell, in some states, he'd be considered "too liberal" if he were a Democrat.

I'm no particular fan of Clinton's (too far right for me) but his frollicking with Monica was his (and her) business. Same goes for Ahhnuld.

excuse me, but Clinton's messing with Monica was mutually consensual. Arnie's groping of all these women, was not. that makes a world of difference.

I hadn't thought about the consensual/nonconsensual part.

please stop minimizing the Nazi's crimes

but I thought that this was referring to another incident where are was supposed to have harrased a woman into have sex with him.

Also, he is innocent until proven guilty. However, I am starting to here enough different claims to believe that something may be there.

Didn't they vet this guy?

Oh, you meant Arnold.

... it's sexual harassment. Clinton's behavior was less egregious in my opinion, and he paid a high price. i don't think Arnie "the groper" should get a free pass just because he was smart enough to recognize the relevance of the saying, "people who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones".

That's the real point of these groper stories. It's not about sex -- it's about character.

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Studies have proven that sexual harassers are in it for the power.

Arnold is power hungry.

If you knew anything about his dealings with movie studios and his other business dealings, you would recognize this.

rooftops if I get a chance.

I am so sick of Dems trying to go moral here. You know, I had a whole lot of friends who went the high-road in 2000 and voted for Nader. I love the old Bob Newhart quote "I make a motion that we face reality."

I think if the universe hands you a weapon with which to defeat evil you should use it and not throw it back, and end up regretting it later.

Oh, Arnie felt so bad about Sciafe's orchestrated character assasination of Clinton that he was ashamed to call himself a Republican during that time, huh? Well I only have one question for him, why didn't he change parties? Why does he still call himself one, hell, it's even worse now, then all they did was break the Lewinsky story, now they have murdered thousands of innocent Iraquis and American servicemen and women are dying everyday in Iraq for the sake of Bush's oil lust. The time to be ashamed of being a Republican is right now, and this is lost on him?

Thanks to the thread author, I'm with you.

The Republicans certainly ascribe to what I call The Untouchables School of Politics - "If he pulls a knife, you pull a gun, if he sends one of yours to the hospital, you send one of his to the morgue"

These people are trying to steal another election and we can't stoop to their level? There are no levels left folks. And pretty soon there won't be a democracy left either!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I CANT believe a Democrat would say this ! ...

FIRSTLY: .. EVERY person is responsible for their OWN behavior: .... The facts surrounding CLINTONS behavior are CLINTONS cross to bear ... and NO ONE ELSES ! ....

The SAME must be said for Arnold: ... HE has to be held responsible for what ARNOLD does: .. NOT what Clinton did .....

SECONDLY: .. Clinton was accused of very boorish things, which if some were substantiated, SHOULD have been used to prosecute him, even if in office ... I am referring to accusations of rape ....

It is one thing to have sex with a consenting adult .... it is a COMPLETELY different issue to have sex with an UNconsenting adult, which is what Clinton was accused of: .... IF he did such a thing, and it was provable: ... then he SHOULD have paid the price .... there aint NO free ride to morality ....

THIRDLY: .... Accusations against Arnold are of a COMPLETELY different nature than those against Clinton: ... Clinton wasnt accused of the terroristic harassment that Arnold is accused of ....

Arnold has been accused of an extramarital affair with a 16 year old girl .... which constitutes STATUTORY rape .... this carries a FAR greater gravity than the 'Monica Affair', who was of adult age ....

You cannot compare the two different sets of circumstances .. they are entirely different ...

Furthermore, you cannot absolve one because of the sins of the other: .. EACH man is measured by HIMSELF against what is 'right or wrong' .... There is a UNIVERSAL morality we should adhere to, not a relative position that allows one to commit criminal actions and hide behind the actions of others as a mea culpa absolving ones own sins ... This is the same moral relativism that the high and mighty right wing rails against: .. if they can have their cake, then they can eat it to ....

The GOP viciously attacked Clinton for his 'womenizing' ... and no GOP candidate should get a free ride, no matter HOW much latitude was given Clinton by some democrats: .... Arnold isnt being accused of 'womenizing', but menacing harrassment, .... and statutory rape ....

These are completely different issues ... and deserving of the close scrutiny of the electorate .....

Why should we be quite? That makes no sense at all. Democrats weren't silent when Clinton was being raked over the coals. Every single Democrat said it was inexcusable but just not impeachable.

This isn't just about Arnie being a womanizer. He has ASSAULTED women right and left. He should be in PRISON for his assaults. This is not womanizing or bad character. It's criminal behavior.......

So.....I think the right wingers absolutely must come out against him; and everyone who supported Clinton has many more reasons to come out against Arnie.

Clinton's womanizing was welcomed, Arnold's was harassment.

If you are going to accept tabloid stories as your primary source, then you will also have to accept all the other ridiculous stories they printed about Democratic politicians.

Don't rely on tabloids for anything!

I am not ready to jump all over this story until I get a little proof.

this kind of think before from Arnold. In fact, it was Linda Hamilton on the BBC's (Letterman-style) talk show, So Graham Norton. During one of the Terminator movies, they used Linda's twin sister for part of the filming. The first day her sister is on the set, Arnold came up behind her as she bent down to get something out of her bag. He grabbed her hips and pulled her to his crotch immitating sex. Now, to be fair he didn't know she was Linda's identical twin. But the kind of mindset that would allow you to walk up to a woman you are not married to and pretend to have intercourse with her says alot to me, whether your friends or not, whether it's consentual or not.

I was willing to cut him a little slack since I don't know everything there is to know about his relationship with Linda Hamilton, but my husband found it absolutely hypocrital and sexist and has never watched another Schwartzenegger movie since.

on edits: spelling/grammar

really good reason (like they were sleeping together)to believe that Hamilton would not be offended.

as it may have been part of some kind of standing joke between him and Linda. She was telling the story because she thought it was funny so I also gave her the benefit of the doubt as well.

Even as a joke, even if the people involved are excellent friends, I would never tolerate that kind of behavior myself.

Just seemed to speak volumes to me. And this show was taped about 4 years ago.

The arrogance of that man with all those stories swirling around him....to run as Governor of CA is too much!

And, if he has that arrogance it's because the Bushistas have assured him "you can get away with it!"

The media IS covering him with articles and pictures of Reagan interspersed. They see him being groomed for "higher things" like the White House.

I agree....if we don't fight back now and hard.....what will we have left? We've lost so much there's not much left to lose.

Bring on the gals whom Arnold has harrassed and propostioned.......

Down with arrogance and cockiness (literaly...cockiness). This is a total "Put up by Rove Job!" Californians, I hope won't fall for it!

says you have to be born American. Maybe he could become a
Senator but never resident.

Second of all, the lifestyle in Hollywood would not lead him
to shame as his acts of groping apparently are the norm there.
so why would he think he has "gall" when everybody he knows does
it?

Third of all, Schwarzwengger is not toast. Not with Warren Buffet
laying out the economic salvation of California for Onnie and on his
team/

Schvarzenegger is in like Flynn. But the republicans may be in for a
surprise. He may act more as an independent than a republican I suspect.

Certainly he wants to be richer ( I forget whether the report says
he's worth 80 mil or 800 mil) and hang out with the rich guys...but
and here's a big BUT...he's married to MARIA SCHRIVER DEMOCRAT and she has influence there. She just had his campaign manager replaced
because she didn't like his making Arnie look stupid.

Perhaps we are saved in that if Onnie goes too far fascist - she'll
pull him back to reality - or else he could be very sorry if she ever
decides to put him back in his place.

Both halves of Congress introduced bills eliminating the "born in America" clause.

she married the dolt! Wow.......pinnacle of judgment! ACK!

ALSO, are you SURE she fired the manager? Or is that a smokescreen designed to capitalize on the fact that he is married to a dem from a prominent dem family? You know.....just a little minor Rovian twist so that some more moderate dems might say, "well.....maybe Arnie isn't a radical right winger; he is married to Maria, afterall". Just standard propogandic fare being put before the people..... We need to be question EVERYTHING ROVE!

What is the big deal? A guy tried to get a date, or to have sex.

Harrassed? Nah. Persistent? Sure. He's a movie star. He can't have sex?

Arnold isn't a republican. He's a democrat in sheep's clothing. He is a kennedy, bottom line, and at the end of the day.

The bush regime hates him, which alone, on it's own merit, is enough for me.

that "no" means "no." You call it "persistence," I call it sexual harrassment and have been in her position too many times to name. It's like how many times/ways do I have to say this, "I'M NOT INTERESTED! LEAVE ME ALONE! GO AWAY!" This was a work situation, as in, she was paid to be there to do a job and SO WAS HE.

please stop minimizing Ahnold's crimes by calling them "harrassment"

dates? Or ask for sex? It's not harrassement, it's persistence. She HAS the right to tell him she's not interested. No laws were broken here... he may have been RUDE but this is hardly an actionable event.

ASIDE from the fact it was like what? 20 years ago? BFD.

It's just sex kids. It's just life. Heck, it's just MEN. We know how they are, bless their hearts.

wants to is quite different from harrassing someone who doesn't. And "groping"? Yech! Harrassing is close to criminal. Groping is just pathetic (remembering the gropers I have known). Double yech! Why these double standards for "macho men"?

If he did not have their support, he would not be running. He is not a Democrat. He has some liberal views, but he is a long time Republican.

as Governor of California. The problem, which is HYSTERICAL to watch, is that they can't come out against him!!! It's so much fun to just sit back and know they don't own him.

It's truly a delight.

as Governor of California. The problem, which is HYSTERICAL to watch, is that they can't come out against him!!! It's so much fun to just sit back and know they don't own him.

It's truly a delight.

1-800-Arnie groped me too!

If you can get enough testimonies, you might have a pattern of behavior that will stick to him.

Seriously, I'm willing to bet that Arnold wins the recall. If you only need 800,000 people to start another recall, then someone will get it started.

When will it end?

I remember watching So Graham Norton a while back, with guest Linda Hamilton. She was telling a story about Arnie during the filming of T2.

I can't find a transcript, but here's the gist of it. Linda has a twin sister, who was brought out for filming a few scenes that involved a double of Linda's character. At one point, Linda's sister was bent over doing something, and Arnie just "playfully" came up behind her and simulated a sex act. Linda said he did it all the time, and you had to be fairly stern with him to make him stop. Went on about how priceless the look on his face was when he realised it wasn't Linda. Described it as "Terminator bootie smackin'", I believe.

Just another data point.