Schwarzenegger keeps trying
God knows we all have our flaws, our blind spots and weaknesses. The Austrian immigrant who became an international superstar and California governor has his. One thing wealth and fame have not erased is the memory of what World War II did to his father and to the broken men of his father’s generation who served the Nazi cause.
Arnold Schwarzenegger filmed a 12-minute sermon on how the path of hate eats the soul:
Schwarzenegger’s rhetoric was couched in terms of a motivational pep-talk for those with prejudice: “Nazis? Losers. The Confederacy? Losers. The apartheid movement? Losers. I don’t want you to be a loser. I don’t want you to be weak … despite all my friends who might say, ‘Arnold, don’t talk to those people. It’s not worth it.’
“I don’t care what they say. I care about you. I think you’re worth it. I know nobody is perfect … I can understand how people can fall into a trap of prejudice and hate.”
Schwarzenegger is not talking just about antisemitism but, in the subtext, about the kind of venom being spewed at CPAC and by Gov. Wokety-woke DeWoke at immigrants, at nonwhites, and at transgender people MAGA Republicans think easy targets.
Is this guy still a Republican?
“It’s easier to hate than it is to learn … Nobody who has chosen the easy path of hate has gotten to the end of the road and said, ‘What a life.’ No. They die as miserably as they lived.
“No matter how far you’ve gone, I want you to know you still have a chance to choose a life of strength. You have to fight the war against yourself … The [hate] path is easier – you don’t have to change anything, everything in your life that you aren’t happy about can be somebody else’s fault … [But] you will end up broken. I don’t want you to go through all that.”
Embrace the discomfort that comes with growth, the former bodybuilder urges. “Conquer your mind.”
Schwarzenegger has a message, too, for Russians fighting in Ukraine:
“To the Russian soldiers listening to this broadcast, you already know much of the truth that I’m speaking. You’ve seen it in your own eyes. I don’t want you to be broken like my father.”
That message echoes one Schwarzenegger sent to the Russian people about Vladimir Putin’s disinformation campaign surrounding the Ukraine invasion.
“Ukraine did not start this war. Neither did nationalists or Nazis,” Schwarzenegger said nearly one year ago. “Those in power in the Kremlin started this war.”
It is hard to believe these days that there are any sane-ish Republicans left who have not fallen under the “crush your enemies” spell of bullies wearing lift shoes. There are. But for anti-Trump Republican, their party’s future is “Mostly Despair.”
Jeff Sharlet (“The Family,” “The Undertow: Scenes from a Slow Civil War“) credits Schwarzenegger for trying:
I know the 99 ways some will say this falls short, or, “who cares about this old Republican,” but this guy keeps trying. Count the stars who don’t. I doubt he has much sway left. But he’s using whatever he has. This Jew dad of a trans kid appreciates it.
I do too.