California uber alles (2)
At the height of the 1986 controversy over Kurt Waldheim's past as a Nazi war criminal, Arnold Schwarzenegger raised a toast to Waldheim at Arnold and Maria's wedding:
"My friends don't want me to mention Kurt's name, because of all the recent Nazi stuff and the U.N. controversy, but I love him and Maria does too, and so thank you, Kurt."
Waldheim was unable to attend the wedding.
The United States Department of Justice had placed Waldheim on the watch list of Nazi war criminals barred from entry to the U.S. But Schwarzenegger and Waldheim remained friends. Schwarzenegger endorsed Waldheim's controversial run for President of Austria, and the two were seen together were seen together in Austria on other occasions, as late as 1998.
Schwarzenegger expressed admiration for Hitler, according to transcripts of outtakes of "Pumping Iron." "Pumping Iron" director George Butler stated that Arnold was a "flagrant, outspoken admirer of Hitler," played "Nazi marching songs from long-playing records in his collection at home," and "frequently clicked his heels and pretended to be an SS officer."
And at his wedding, Arnold toasted a notorious Nazi war criminal. Doesn't Schwarzenegger owe the voters of California more of an explanation of the evolution of his thinking on the subject of Nazism and the Holocaust?
