Thursday, August 21, 2003
Schwarzenegger still an Austrian
Arnold Schwarzenegger is an Austrian citizen. The leading Republican candidate to replace California Gov. Gray Davis should Davis be recalled on October 7 holds dual Austrian-United States citizenship. The San Francisco Chronicle reported on August 18 that the bodybuilder engaged in the exercise of political string pulling to maintain his Austrian citizenship after becoming an American citizen. Austria generally does not allow dual citizenship, but Joseph Krainer, former governor of Styria, Schwarzeneggers home province, helped the celebrity retain his status as an Austrian.
"We would have been idiots if we had denied Schwarzenegger's express wish at the time to be allowed to keep his Austrian citizenship," the Chronicle quoted Krainer as saying, "After all, today Arnold is the best known Austrian in the world."
Dual citizenship may be fine for the average Tom, Dick, or Arnold. But shouldn't a governor of California owe his allegiance to only one country, ours?
"We would have been idiots if we had denied Schwarzenegger's express wish at the time to be allowed to keep his Austrian citizenship," the Chronicle quoted Krainer as saying, "After all, today Arnold is the best known Austrian in the world."
Dual citizenship may be fine for the average Tom, Dick, or Arnold. But shouldn't a governor of California owe his allegiance to only one country, ours?
Tuesday, August 19, 2003
Is Bush getting apocalyptic advice?
That's the question Jeannette Wall Of MSNBC's The Scoop is asking.
In her Aug. 13 column, Wall wrote, "Is the Bush administration turning to a televangelist doomsayer for political predictions? Apocalyptic preacher Jack Van Impe is claiming that he was contacted by Condoleezza Rice’s office and the White House Office of Public Liaison for an 'outline' of his take on world events."
The author of such books as “Israel’s Final Holocaust” and “The Great Escape: Preparing for the Rapture, the Next Event on God’s Prophetic Clock,” Van Impe, according to Wall, "has predicted that the end of the world will strike somewhere between 2003 and 2012 and one reviewer has called his TV preaching show with wife Rexella 'a fantastically loopy apocalyptic take on the week’s news.'"
Wall said the disclosure of the alleged involvement between Van Impe and the Bushies came in a response to someone who asked on his website, "Do you think that President Bush, apparently a Christian man, believes and knows he is involved in prophetic events concerning the Middle East and final battle between good and evil?"
Van Impe reportedly responded, "I was contacted a few weeks ago by the Office of Public Liaison for the White House and by the National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice to make an outline. And I’ve spent hours preparing it. I will release this information to the public in September, but it’s in his hands. He will know exactly what is going to happen in the Middle East and what part he will have under the leading of the Holy Spirit of God. So, it’s a tremendous time to be alive."
Wall said NSC spokesman Sean McCormack contended his "investigation" into Van Impe's claim showed "that there’s no truth to it, but I’m continuing to look into it."
It would behoove Wall to ask if McCormack's investigation showed there is no truth to it, what is he continuing to look into.
In her Aug. 13 column, Wall wrote, "Is the Bush administration turning to a televangelist doomsayer for political predictions? Apocalyptic preacher Jack Van Impe is claiming that he was contacted by Condoleezza Rice’s office and the White House Office of Public Liaison for an 'outline' of his take on world events."
The author of such books as “Israel’s Final Holocaust” and “The Great Escape: Preparing for the Rapture, the Next Event on God’s Prophetic Clock,” Van Impe, according to Wall, "has predicted that the end of the world will strike somewhere between 2003 and 2012 and one reviewer has called his TV preaching show with wife Rexella 'a fantastically loopy apocalyptic take on the week’s news.'"
Wall said the disclosure of the alleged involvement between Van Impe and the Bushies came in a response to someone who asked on his website, "Do you think that President Bush, apparently a Christian man, believes and knows he is involved in prophetic events concerning the Middle East and final battle between good and evil?"
Van Impe reportedly responded, "I was contacted a few weeks ago by the Office of Public Liaison for the White House and by the National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice to make an outline. And I’ve spent hours preparing it. I will release this information to the public in September, but it’s in his hands. He will know exactly what is going to happen in the Middle East and what part he will have under the leading of the Holy Spirit of God. So, it’s a tremendous time to be alive."
Wall said NSC spokesman Sean McCormack contended his "investigation" into Van Impe's claim showed "that there’s no truth to it, but I’m continuing to look into it."
It would behoove Wall to ask if McCormack's investigation showed there is no truth to it, what is he continuing to look into.
