Who's Apologizing Now?
The Governator, again. Jeez. This guy can't seem to get the PC thing right. Some feel that's refreshing...some are pissed. Whatever you think, the election politics are heating up and he may want to watch it.
Then again, wimpy Angelides isn't much of an opponent...so Arnold probably doesn't have much to worry about:
SANTA MONICA, California (AP) -- Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger apologized Friday for saying during a closed-door meeting that Cubans and Puerto Ricans are naturally feisty and temperamental because of their combination of "black blood" and "Latino blood."
He said the tape-recorded comments "made me cringe" when he read them in Friday's Los Angeles Times.
"Anyone out there that feels offended by those comments, I just want to say I'm sorry, I apologize," Schwarzenegger said. He added that if he heard his children make similar comments, "I would be upset." (Watch Gov. Schwarzenegger apologize for his remarks -- 2:18)
The statements were captured on a six-minute tape made during a March 3 speechwriting session between Schwarzenegger and his advisers. On it, Schwarzenegger and chief of staff Susan Kennedy speak affectionately of state Assemblywoman Bonnie Garcia and speculate about her nationality.
"I mean Cuban, Puerto-Rican, they are all very hot," the governor says on the recording. "They have the, you know, part of the black blood in them and part of the Latino blood in them that together makes it." ( Watch what the governor actually said -- 0:15)
Garcia, who is Puerto Rican, told the Times the governor's remarks did not bother her.
"I love the governor because he is a straight talker just like I am," she said. "Very often I tell him, 'Look, I am a hot-blooded Latina.' I label myself a hot-blooded Latina that is very passionate about the issues, and this is kind of an inside joke that I have with the governor."
