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Gov. Schwarzenegger Refuses to Send Troops to Border

By Jeralyn, Section Civil Liberties
Posted on Fri Jun 23, 2006 at 09:07:37 PM EST
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Arnold refuses Bush, who would have thought? The Associated Press reports that California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has rejected Bush's request to send an additional 1,500 California National Guard troops to the Mexican border to fight illegal immigration.

Arnie says California needs them more.

Schwarzenegger said the request would stretch the California Guard too thin in case of an emergency or natural disaster.....Schwarzenegger spokesman Adam Mendelsohn....said the governor believed sending more troops would create an inappropriate burden on the state and disrupt the guard's training schedule.

Earlier, Schwarzenegger agreed to send 1,000 troops to the border by July 31. 250 are there now. Under his executive order, they must leave by the end of 2008.

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    Gov. Schwarzenegger Refuses to Send Troops to Border | 12 comments (12 topical)
    Re: Gov. Schwarzenegger Refuses to Send Troops to (none / 0) (#1)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Fri Jun 23, 2006 at 10:00:43 PM EST
    Schwarzenegger is a Democrat disquised as a Republican. It's no secret that Schwarzenegger wants to be President and is frustrated by not being able to become President because he is from a foreign country. This is no shock.

    Re: Gov. Schwarzenegger Refuses to Send Troops to (none / 0) (#2)
    by pax on Fri Jun 23, 2006 at 10:40:25 PM EST
    I don't have any love for Schwarzenegger, but I say Good for him. Maybe his standing up to this administration will empower other governors to do the same. We need to keep our National Guard home to do the things they are supposed to do, such as intervene when there are natural disasters like hurricanes, tornados and forest fires. If Schwarzenegger prompts the growing of spine in the other govenors, good on him. IMHO

    Re: Gov. Schwarzenegger Refuses to Send Troops to (none / 0) (#3)
    by Aaron on Fri Jun 23, 2006 at 10:56:34 PM EST
    That's the good thing about having and ex-bodybuilder for governor, he's able to recognize practical necessities when they're staring him in the face. Playing into the immigrant hysteria may work well politically in the East and Central Western states, but most people in California came there from somewhere else, to live the good life, and they don't like being made to feel unwelcome. Schwarzenegger wants to get reelected, and he needs the immigrant communities to support him.

    Re: Gov. Schwarzenegger Refuses to Send Troops to (none / 0) (#4)
    by Johnny on Fri Jun 23, 2006 at 11:18:06 PM EST
    Why does Arnold hate America? I bet he is an AQ sympathizer and we should immediately invade CA and install a democracy there.

    Re: Gov. Schwarzenegger Refuses to Send Troops to (none / 0) (#5)
    by HK on Sat Jun 24, 2006 at 01:23:56 AM EST
    Let us not forget that Mr. Schwarzenegger is himself an immigrant. I wonder how long it will be till The Great Simian tries to deport him. (BTW if that comes to pass, don't send him back to Europe - we don't want him.)

    Re: Gov. Schwarzenegger Refuses to Send Troops to (none / 0) (#6)
    by jimakaPPJ on Sat Jun 24, 2006 at 07:14:36 AM EST
    HK - Now you understand about how we feel about the 10 - 12 million illegal aliens we have in this country. Welcome to the world.

    Re: Gov. Schwarzenegger Refuses to Send Troops to (none / 0) (#7)
    by Che's Lounge on Sat Jun 24, 2006 at 08:06:51 AM EST
    Oh the great representative of the USA has spoken for all of us again. Arrogance is our main export these days.

    Re: Gov. Schwarzenegger Refuses to Send Troops to (none / 0) (#8)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Jun 24, 2006 at 09:42:57 AM EST
    California may well have as many undocumented aliens as it has citizens, certainly moreCentral and South American immigrants than citizens. Ahnuld isn't being a liberal about this. No chance of reelection if he helps take away the dirt cheap labor pool. The merely inexpensive one has been, for the most part, already chased off to states where they might still afford to live, or to the streets.

    Re: Gov. Schwarzenegger Refuses to Send Troops to (none / 0) (#9)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Jun 24, 2006 at 10:17:05 AM EST
    Schwarzenegger is a Democrat disquised as a Republican. In other words, he's showing a bit of maturity, sense and responsibility instead of asking "how high?" every time the WH or the RNC tells him to jump. I was b and r'd in California and most of my relatives live there. They have earthquakes (and a nasty one's likely soon). And like most Western states, CA's going into the fire season now; naturally, the Republicans have cut firefighting funds, and who's the back-up? The Guard. And unlike all those Red-state whistle-stops that pork-barrelled anti-terrorism funds, California has cities that really are likely terrorist targets. So they're needed at home, and Schwartzenegger's right to keep 'em there. The Guard's got real things to do--not just whatever fool's errand the WH dreams up and is too cheap to pay for, and too lazy to plan for. (Which brings up another point: Traditionally, Guard units train as militia. But, barring war criminals in the White House, they work in situations where shooting at things isn't all that useful. For example, all those Guardsmen sent to help out after Katrina brought . . . sandbags? Backhoes? Cement? No, they brought firearms, which was about as helpful under the circs as bringing, say, their cats. The rationale was going after looters, but of all the problems there that needed immediate attention, how big was some idiot swiping a television? It was one of those "when your only tool is a hammer, you think everything needs banging down" situations. The Guard needs other, more relevant tools. Even in a terrorist attack, they wouldn't be repelling an invasion--they'd be helping to clean up a messy domestic emergency. They should train, and be equiped, in that direction.)

    Re: Gov. Schwarzenegger Refuses to Send Troops to (none / 0) (#10)
    by HK on Sat Jun 24, 2006 at 10:32:17 AM EST
    HK - Now you understand about how we feel about the 10 - 12 million illegal aliens we have in this country.
    Actually, Jim, I was talking about that particular immigrant and not immigrants in general. My family are (legal) immigrants and have contributed positively to their new society. And had they not been granted legal status, they would have been illegal immigrants, since they were fleeing from an politically unstable country and an oppressive regime. Immigration is not a bad thing. Furthermore, aside from the handful of Native Americans you have allowed to remain, pretty much the whole of the US population is descended from immigrants. So no, I can't understand any part of how you feel on this one.

    Re: Gov. Schwarzenegger Refuses to Send Troops to (none / 0) (#11)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Jun 24, 2006 at 01:13:11 PM EST
    It still gets on my nerves to have to think of an Austrian weightlifter, turned bad-to-so-so actor, turned Kennedy in-law, as governor of my state. So then thinking in terms of his policy decisions gives me a headache.

    Re: Gov. Schwarzenegger Refuses to Send Troops to (none / 0) (#12)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Mon Jul 03, 2006 at 07:43:04 AM EST
    I'm happy that "Molly, NYC" is from the same city as me. Picturing the NG arriving at a disaster site with their cats, well... that's just priceless! Very witty, I must say. As for the CA governor's decision: each state has the right to decide how, when, where and why to deploy its [oddly named] National Guard. I give him credit for doing so based on local issues, problems, and the perception of those issues and problems. Oh, and finally, regarding the comment that "playing into the immigrant hysteria may work well politically in the East...", perhaps that writer (Aaron) has never been to the east? We New Yorkers certainly know about immigration. We too are not convinced that locking down the border with Mexico is at all on-target.

    Gov. Schwarzenegger Refuses to Send Troops to Border | 12 comments (12 topical)