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Further developing analysis of the gubernatorial tenure of Arnold Schwarzenegger, this program highlights an interesting aspect of Schwarzenegger’s cover-up of sexual harassment charges. In selecting a private investigator to look into his sexual misadventures, Schwarzenegger chose Anthony Pellicano, the private investigator for Mark Fuhrman during the O.J. Simpson case. Pellicano is being investigated for allegedly conducting illegal wiretaps and has been convicted for possessing illegal explosives. Previously, he had been involved in obscuring the facts concerning both the erasure of the Watergate tapes and the determination of a fourth shot from the grassy knoll in the Kennedy assassination. When Pellicano’s legal difficulties accelerated, Schwarzenegger backpedaled on his announced plans to have a noted P.I. firm look into the sexual harassment charges. To date, Schwarzenegger has played true to his character, engaging in the type of psychological warfare he engaged in as a bodybuilder. Much of the program focuses on Schwarzenegger’s role as “Der Emergency Fuehrer”. Creating fiscal emergencies on his own and taking advantage of natural disasters (which may have been deliberately created), Schwarzenegger has been able to project himself as the action hero, stepping in to save the day.
Program Highlights Include: Pellicano’s legal opinion that the famous 18.5 minute gap in the Watergate tapes may have been an accident; Pellicano’s opinion that there was no fourth shot from the grassy knoll (in contradiction of the official findings); Schwarzenegger’s deliberate exacerbation of the financial crisis in California; the Gropin’ Fuehrer’s solution to the problem he helped create; the Paso Robles earthquake of December 2003; review of the ENMOD treaty between the U.S. and Soviet Union; the projected use of earthquakes and wildfires as weapons of war in the ENMOD treaty; Schwarzenegger’s manipulation of the media in order to control the body politic; his appointment of the wife of The San Francisco Chronicle’s Sacramento bureau chief as his deputy chief of staff.
1. Beginning with the subject of Schwarzenegger’s political zig-zagging, the program notes that he has repeatedly reversed his position on numerous issues. Mr. Emory views these changes of direction in the context of Schwarzenegger’s penchant for psychological warfare and deliberate misleading of those he intends to manipulate or dominate. Schwarzenegger “flip-flops” because he is dishonest and has a penchant for lying and misrepresenting things in order to achieve his goals. “Whether it is political inexperience or simply a bumpy start to a new administration, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger continues to exasperate law-makers and interest groups by his sudden and inexplicable flip-flops on major policy questions. The new governor has already been criticized for breaking campaign promises to limit his fundraising, to audit the state’s books fully and to conduct an independent investigation into allegations of sexual harassment against him.” (“Governor’s Flip-Flops Worry Lawmakers” by Tom Chorneau; San Francisco Chronicle; 12/28/2003; p. A23.)
2. Focusing on one “flip-flop” in particular, the program underscores the Gropin’ Fuehrer’s reversal of a decision to hire a noted private investigator to look into charges of sexual harassment that have long dogged him. “Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who promised after his election to seek an independent investigation into allegations that he groped or harassed women during his acting career, has changed his mind, an aide to the governor said Monday. ‘After consulting with legal counsel and advisors, the governor has concluded that given the political nature of the allegations, an investigation could only provide more fodder for his political opponents,’ said Schwarzenegger spokesman Rob Stutzman.” (“Governor Aborts Groping Inquiry” by Bob Egelko and Christian Berthelsen; San Francisco Chronicle; 12/9/2003; p. A1.)
3. Schwarzenegger’s change of mind occurred as a former stuntwoman filed a lawsuit against him. One of the Gropin’ Fuehrer’s accusers, she alleges that Schwarzenegger’s staff libeled her by claiming she was a convicted felon. “The announcement came hours after a former movie stuntwoman sued Schwarzenegger for libel, claiming that one of his campaign operatives had smeared her after she accused the actor of sexually abusing her on two movie sets. She said the operative, Sean Walsh, had led reporters to believe that she was a convicted felon.” (Idem.)
4. Next, the program highlights the controversial Anthony Pellicano, apparently hired by Schwarzenegger to investigate what dirt might be used by political opponents against him in a proposed campaign for Governor. Schwarzenegger’s body-building mentor Joe Weider swung a lucrative business deal with tabloid publisher American Media—a deal which appears to have quieted potential tabloid gossip about the Gropin’ Fuehrer. That deal may well have convinced Schwarzenegger to go forward with his decision to participate in the recall election, after the potential gossip and dirt unearthed by Pellicano’s investigation apparently deterred his 2002 run. “Hollywood’s hottest detective story may have a political subplot. Associates of just-jailed private eye Anthony Pellicano sat that just-inaugurated California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger once hired the gumshoe to see what dirt foes might dig up if he entered the 2002 gubernatorial race. Less than a week after Pellicano turned in a 27-page file, Schwarzenegger said he wouldn’t run, former Pellicano legman Paul Barresi tells L.A Weekly’s Nikki Finke.” (“Ahnold Got Pellicano Brief-On Self” by Rush & Molloy [“The Front Page”]; New York Daily News.)
5. The possibility that Pellicano’s firm was the “well-respected” P.I. firm that Schwarzenegger was planning to hire to conduct the investigation is not one to be too readily dismissed. “Curiously, Schwarzenegger announced on Nov. 6 that he was hiring a ‘well-respected’ P.I. firm to investigate allegations that he groped more than a dozen women. A former Pellicano colleague corroborated that the action star investigated himself. ‘Pellicano told me, ‘It’s already been done,” the source told us. Barresi won’t say what was in Pellicano’s report, commissioned in April 2001.” (Idem.)
6. Pellicano was already in hot water for illegal possession of explosive devices when another case broke, in which he was accused of illegal wiretapping. “When the news broke last year that the celebrity private investigator Anthony Pellicano was himself under police investigation, many here saw it as a delicious dollop of Tinseltown scandal to enliven dinner party gossip. They had no idea. The federal investigation has placed powerful lawyers and crooked cops under scrutiny amid suggestions that Pellicano may have routinely wiretapped movie stars, ex-spouses and even nannies in an effort to tip the outcomes of legal disputes in favor of his clients. “The circle of people implicated has widened by the day, making the case even more tantalizing and cliché-ridden than the best Raymond Chandler tale. The Los Angeles Police Department has already said one sergeant is under investigation for stealing confidential information from police computers and selling it to Pellicano.” (“L.A. Wiretap Flap’s Become a Potboiler of the First Order” by James Sterngold; San Francisco Chronicle; 11/16/2003; p. A2.)
7. “In addition, nearly every day, more lawyers and people involved in litigation are acknowledging that they have been interviewed by the FBI. They have been told their conversations may have been illegally taped or have been asked about apparent tapings of the combatants in litigation battles.” (Idem.)
8. “The investigation is a classic case of pulling a loose bit of yarn and having an entire sweater unravel. Pellicano built what was once a thriving business and a high-profile reputation by defending a range of clients from John DeLorean to Michael Jackson. When celebrities found themselves in trouble, Pellicano was often the first person they called. . . .” (Idem.)
9. ” . . . The widening scandal plays into every grainy, black-and-white pulp fiction image of Los Angeles as a city run by a corrupt subterranean cabal. It began on a hot June day, the sun like a hardboiled egg and the dishpan-gray streets steaming, when a reporter named Anita Busch, a Los Angeles Times entertainment writer, headed for her parked car. On the windshield, she found a dead fish, a rose and a note with a single word, ‘Stop.’ ” (Idem.)
10. “Busch had been investigating alleged ties between the actor and producer Steven Seagal and a reputed mobster. Not long after, an FBI informant taped a convicted drug dealer named Alexander Proctor confessing that he had delivered the threat. On whose behalf? He said it was a job assigned by Pellicano who, it turned out, was working for Seagal.” (Idem.)
11. “That led federal agents to raid Pellicano’s offices, on a tony stretch of Sunset Boulevard in West Hollywood. It turned into quite a fishing expedition. The agents not only found dangerous explosives in the office—Pellicano explained that an unnamed client had left plastic explosives, which included grenades that an FBI agent said had been modified so they could be used as booby traps.” (Idem.)
12. “Adding to the high drama, Pellicano copped his plea suddenly during a lunch break in his trial last month. He is scheduled to surrender and begin his prison term Monday, but will not be formally sentenced until January. He could serve from 27 to 33 months in prison. If Pellicano cooperates with federal prosecutors to shorten his sentence, even more fear could spread through Hollywood about other people he could implicate. But at least for now, that does not appear to be the case. He’s not cooperating with us at all,’ one federal official said.” (Idem.)
13. “In the meantime, Bert Fields, one of Hollywood’s most influential attorneys, has acknowledged he is a subject of the probe. He is known to be close to Pellicano, but has insisted he never authorized illegal wiretaps. Investigators have also questioned Ed Masry, the same attorney lauded as a hero in the movie ‘Erin Brockovich’ for his fight to help the real-life Brockovich nail a utility for poisoning the groundwater in a community near Los Angeles.” (Idem.)
14. Active duty LAPD officers helped to provide information to Pellicano. “The first LAPD officer implicated in the case, Sgt. Mark Arneson was allowed to quietly retire with a full pension early last month, but is still being investigated by the district attorney for having pilfered information about celebrities from police computers for Pellicano, according to a police spokesman, Lt. Art Miller. The case is an enormous embarrassment to the LAPD, which fired a third officer not long ago for reportedly stealing information on celebrities from police files and selling it to The National Enquirer.” (Idem.)
15. Not mentioned in the stories above is the fact that Pellicano had served as the private investigator for Mark Furman in connection with the OJ Simpson case. (“The Other Circus” by David Von Biema; Time; 9/19/1994.)
16. Among the other cases Pellicano has participated in was his technical legal opinion that the 18 ½‑minute gap in the Watergate tape might have been accidental. Interestingly, that was the opinion of Gordon Novel, a formidable US intelligence veteran with extensive electronic counterintelligence experience. Novel was one of the more controversial figures in Jim Garrison’s investigation of the JFK assassination. At one point Novel (who also participated with Pellicano on the John De Lorean case) was being actively recruited to study the feasibility of erasing the Watergate tapes. (Contract on America by David E. Scheim; Copyright 1988; published by Shipolsky.)
17. In another case, Pellicano disputed the authenticity of a dictabelt recording that indicated a fourth shot from the grassy knoll on 11/22/63. It is worth noting that with the OJ Simpson case, the JFK assassination and Watergate, there are strong evidentiary tributaries running in the direction of the Underground Reich. It is Mr. Emory’s considered opinion that Schwarzenegger is a primary political operative of the Underground Reich. (High Treason by Robert Groden and Harrison Edward Livingstone; Copyright 1989; Conservatory Press.)
18. When asked by attendees at lectures Mr. Emory delivered during the recall election, he was frequently asked what he thought Schwarzenegger would do if elected. In response to the question, Mr. Emory noted that Schwarzenegger would not be able to do what he said he was going to do, and that a terrorist incident or (more likely) a natural disaster would be required to distract from the failure. Further, Mr. Emory noted that, since a terrorist strike might make Bush look weak, a disaster—such as a triggering of “the Big One” in Northern California—would distract from Schwarzenegger’s failure to fulfill his campaign promises. In addition, this would devastate a primary area of liberal voter strength. It is to be hoped that this does not happen. A major quake in Central California has, however, given Schwarzenegger the opportunity to play the “Emergency Fuehrer” once again—comforting the destitute victims with his strong, action-hero persona. “An earthquake rocked California’s central coast Monday and shook the state from Los Angeles to San Francisco, collapsing old downtown buildings in this small town and killing at least two people in the rubble. The 11:16 a.m. quake—its magnitude measured at 6.5—pitched the roof of Paso Robles’ 1982 clock tower building into a street, crushing a row of parked cars in this San Luis Obispo County town about 20 miles east of the epicenter.” (“Two Dead As Quake Hits Central Calif.” [AP]; 12/22/2003.)
19. Listeners unfamiliar with the development of seismic weaponry are encouraged to check out FTR#69. Such weaponry is a reality, and has been for quite some time. Based upon the development of technology discovered by Nicola Tesla, the seismic weaponry utilizes the oscillation of the earth’s magnetic field and the resonant properties of the earth itself to produce the desired effect. That resonance is obliquely mentioned: “California’s largest earthquake in years struck on Monday, causing Planet Earth to ring ‘like bell. . . .” (“Calif. Earthquake Rang Planet ‘Like a Bell’ ” by Peter Henderson [Reuters]; 12/22/2003.)
20. In FTR#434, we examined the (deliberately set) wildfires that occurred as Schwarzenegger prepared to take office. The notion that wildfires could be employed as weapons of war and terror is not one to be too readily dismissed. “Zapatista communities have also voiced suspicion that the extensive fires recently experienced in their region could be the product of deliberate attempts to influence the course of their insurgency. . . .They are not alone in their concern about the use of fire to achieve economic and political objectives. Angry at the damage caused by deliberately-set fires in the Amazon, in 1998 a Yanomami spokesman told Reuters: ‘The white men started these fires and they have to put them out. If the fire is not put out, we will have nothing to hunt and nothing to fish . . . They will come and take the Indians’ land. Our reservation will disappear.’ ” (“Addressing Environmental Modification in Post-Cold War Conflict” by Susana Pimento Chamorro and Edward Hammond [The Sunshine Project]; p. 3.)
21. Next the program further develops the subject of seismic weaponry—one of the devices specifically covered by a treaty signed by the U.S. and U.S.S.R. during the Cold War (known as ENMOD.) ” . . .Activities that could violate ENMOD include: Triggering earthquakes . . . Setting fires . . .Manipulation of El Nino/La Nina . . .” (Ibid.; pp. 4–5.)
22. ” . . .Article II lists examples of environmental modification techniques and includes among them provocation of earthquakes, tsunamis, hurricanes (typhoons), disruption of ecological balance in climatic elements, change in ocean currents, and changes in the state if the ozone layer. . . .” (Ibid.; p. 8.)
23. Again, the Paso Robles quake, whether by caprice or design, gave the Gropin’ Fuehrer the opportunity to play “Emergency Fuehrer”—his favorite role to date. “Against a backdrop of crumpled store-fronts and driving rain, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Tuesday declared a state emergency in San Luis Obispo County, as a first step toward financial aid for the central California region hardest hit by Monday’s 6.5‑magnitude earthquake. . . .” (“Schwarzenegger Visits: Governor Declares State of Emergency, Offers Hope” by Barbara Feder Ostrov and John Woolfolk; San Jose Mercury News; 12/24/2003; p. 1A.)
24. Schwarzenegger declared an economic emergency in California, after taking steps to create that very emergency. To date, Schwarzenegger has been successfully promoted as “Der Emergency Fuehrer,” the action hero stepping in at the moment of crisis (fiscal or physical) to save the day. “In light of all the praise Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is receiving for keeping his word to continue funding local government, it is important to take a step back and review the nature of our state’s budget crisis.” (“Limited Funds, Unlimited Needs” by Mark Leno; San Francisco Chronicle; 12/22/2003; p. A23.)
25. “The Legislature knew this past September when we passed the budget that we would face an $8 billion deficit in the coming fiscal year. That hole grew to approximately $14 billion on Nov. 17, when the newly sworn-in governor signed an executive order that rescinded the increase of the vehicle license fee, otherwise known as the car tax. This was clearly a popular first step for the new chief executive to take, but was it fiscally wise or prudent?” (Idem.)
26. “Schwarzenegger had repeatedly stated during his campaign that the problem in Sacramento was the Legislature’s spending addiction and that he would stop spending money the state did not have. Ironically, his first official act as governor was to spend billions the state did not have.” (Idem.)
27. “Given that the proceeds of the VLF go directly to cities and counties to cover the cost of fire and police protection, [Italics are Mr. Emory’s] park maintenance, street sweeping and libraries, any interruption of those funds would have serious consequences. Unfortunately, the governor had no stated plan to provide for local government to replace the fee. He even suggested that it was the responsibility of the Legislature, and not him, to fill the increased deficit hole he had dug.” (Idem.)
28. One of the factors that has permitted Schwarzenegger to get away with what he has done has been the perpetual state of emergency that has prevailed in the state. With his last minute gambit to save funding for local police and fire units (jeopardized by his own repeal of the vehicle tax), Der Emergency Fuehrer has had repeated crises–fires and earthquakes—in which to dramatize his own “heroics.” “So the governor quickly came to the rescue of his personally created predicament by proclaiming a public safety emergency and invoking extraordinary powers to make budget cuts sufficient to cover local governments’ immediate needs. [Italics are Mr. Emory’s] State law allows him to do so independently, without any legislative or public review or comment. Subsequently, there is no way of assessing whether his cuts make sense or will result in even greater future costs.” (Idem.)
29. The program reviews a presentation of a German university professor’s account of what it was like to live during the rise of Hitler. Note the similarity to aspects of the contemporary political landscape. Consider Schwarzenegger (Der Emergency Fuehrer) and Hitler. “What happened here was the gradual habituation of the people, little by little, to being governed by surprise, to receiving decisions deliberated in secret, to believing that the situation was so complicated that the government had to act on information which the people could not understand, so dangerous that even if the people the people could understand it, it could not be released because of national security. And their sense of identification with Hitler, their trust in him may have incidentally have reassured those who would otherwise have worried about it. Their trust in him made it easier to reassure others who might have worried about it. ’ ‘This separation of government from people, this widening of the gap, took place so gradually and so insensibly, each step disguised (perhaps not even intentionally) as a temporary emergency measure or associated with true patriotic allegiance or with real social purposes. And all the crises and reforms (real crises and reforms too) so occupied the people that they did not see the slow motion underneath, of the whole process of the Government growing remoter and remoter.’ ” (They Thought they Were Free: The Germans 1933–1945; by Milton Mayer; copyright 1955 [SC]; University of Chicago Press; ISBN 0–226-51190–1; pp. 166–167.)
30. Another factor that has facilitated Schwarzenegger’s tenure as governor and distracted public attention from his sexual harassment and his stated admiration for Hitler has been his use of “the opinion-forming media.” With his own status as the quintessential action hero and his wife’s status as an NBC reporter, the Gropin’ Fuehrer has played the media like a piano. The print media have fawned over Schwarzenegger, and the following story gives a hint as to one of the reasons why: “Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger named a Sacramento public relations executive Wednesday as his deputy chief of staff to oversee ballot initiatives and the governor’s office of special projects. The executive, Donna Lucas, worked briefly earlier this year as an adviser to Maria Shriver, Schwarzenegger’s wife, during his transition into the governor’s office. Lucas, 43, worked for the public relations firm Porter Novelli, overseeing its offices in Sacramento, Irvine and San Diego. She and three other partners sold their public relations firm, Nelson Communications Group, to Porter Novelli in 2000.” (“Governor Names PR Executive to a Top Staff Post” [Chronicle Staff Report]; San Francisco Chronicle; 12/19/2003; p. A18.)
31. “Lucas, who will earn $123,000 per year in the position, has a background in managing state-wide ballot measure campaigns, a skill that Schwarzenegger is keen to tap since he has threatened to take many of his legislative proposals directly to voters if the legislature is unwilling to enact them. Donna Lucas is the wife of Greg Lucas, the Capitol bureau chief of The San Francisco Chronicle. While Donna Lucas is working for Schwarzenegger, Greg Lucas will be reassigned. To avoid any conflict of interest, he will not report on the Schwarzenegger administration or state government.” (Idem.)
32. Looking ahead to some of the discussion in FTR#441, the fiscal crisis affecting municipalities in California is being exacerbated by the terror alerts, which drain valuable resources away from communities. California under Der Emergency Fuehrer is going through in miniature what the country as a whole is experiencing. If one considers the fiscal impact of the emergencies, state and national, those emergencies could be seen as an application of Von Clausewitz’s concept of Total War. Von Clausewitz’s concept was discussed in FTR#‘s 366 and 396, and will be discussed at greater length in FTR#441. “For cash-strapped U.S. cities and states, this week’s heightened national threat alert level has reignited concerns about costs alongside fears of a new terror attack. From overtime for police officers to extra patrols at key facilities and borders, cities nationwide must spend tens of millions of dollars each week for the additional security measures, money some local officials say they do not have.” (“Cash-Strapped Cities Grapple with Security Costs” by Caroline Drees [Reuters]; 12/22/2003; p. 1.)
33. “It’s enormously frustrating,’ said Randy King, spokesman for the city of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, a state capital of 49,000 people near the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant. ‘All of it costs money, lots of money, and there’s no federal reimbursement,’ he said.” (Idem.)
34. “On Sunday, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security raised the color-coded terror alert level to ‘high’ orange from ‘elevated’ yellow—the fourth such move this year. Lifting the level triggers a raft of automatic additional federal security precautions, and serves as a guideline for cities and states. ‘We need to recognize that every time the government ratchets up the threat level, we force the state and local government officials to make a choice,’ said analyst David Heyman at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.” (Idem.)
http://pagesix.com/2013/10/18/schwarzenegger-mounting-legal-challenge-to-run-for-president/
Arnold lobbies for White House run
By Emily Smith
October 18, 2013 | 12:53am
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Photo: FilmMagic
Action star and former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has been lobbying for support to change the law to allow him to run for president in 2016, Page Six has exclusively learned.
We’re told Ahnold has been openly talking about his political ambitions while in New York to promote his new movie with Sylvester Stallone, “Escape Plan.”
One source said: “Schwarzenegger has been talking openly about working on getting the constitutional rules changed so he can run for president in 2016. He is ready to file legal paperwork to challenge the rules.”
Arnie was born in Austria, and the US Constitution prevents foreign-born citizens from holding the nation’s top job. Any amendment to the Constitution must be approved by two-thirds majority in the House and the Senate.
But Arnold, who became a US citizen in 1983, still could mount a legal challenge. In 2010, he appeared on the ‘Tonight Show,’ and was asked by Jay Leno if he would make a White House run if the law were changed.
Schwarzenegger replied, “Without any doubt.” With America becoming more diverse, it is not clear what would happen if Arnie or any other foreign-born naturalized citizen decided to run.
Columbia University Law School professor Michael Dorf, an expert in constitutional law, said about the Governator’s case in 2007, “The law is very clear, but it’s not 100 percent clear that the courts would enforce that law rather than leave it to the political process.”
While Arnold’s rep didn’t respond to us, even Mayor Mike Bloomberg has spoken playfully about forming a presidential ticket with Schwarzenegger.
“There would be a fight to see who would be the presidential candidate and who would be the vice presidential candidate,” Bloomberg quipped a few years back. “He would want to arm-wrestle for the top spot; I would want to check the Constitution.”
If it does happen, an arm wrestle between Arnold and fellow 2016 contender Hillary Clinton would be a spectacle, although our bets are on Hillary.