Deja Vu

Arnold's RNC speech

I was proud to be an American while I listend to Arnold Schwarzenegger speak
at the Republican National Convention. You can find the text below.

Thank you.
What a greeting!

This is like winning an Oscar! ...As if I would know! Speaking of acting,
one of my movies was called "True Lies." It's what the Democrats should have
called their convention.

My fellow Americans, this is an amazing moment for me. To think that a once
scrawny boy from Austria could grow up to become Governor of California and
stand in Madison Square Garden to speak on behalf of the President of the
United States that is an immigrant's dream. It is the American dream.

I was born in Europe ...and I've traveled all over the world. I can tell you
that there is no place, no country, more compassionate more generous more
accepting and more welcoming than the United States of America.

As long as I live, I will never forget that day 21 years ago when I raised
my hand and took the oath of citizenship.

Do you know how proud I was? I was so proud that I walked around with an
American flag around my shoulders all day long.

Tonight, I want to talk about why I'm even more proud to be an American -
why I'm proud to be a Republican and why I believe this country is in good
hands.

When I was a boy, the Soviets occupied part of Austria. I saw their tanks in
the streets. I saw communism with my own eyes. I remember the fear we had
when we had to cross into the Soviet sector. Growing up, we were told,
"Don't look the soldiers in the eye. Look straight ahead." It was a common
belief that Soviet soldiers could take a man out of his own car and ship him
off to the Soviet Union as slave labor.

My family didn't have a car - but one day we were in my uncle's car. It was
near dark as we came to a Soviet checkpoint. I was a little boy, I wasn't an
action hero back then, and I remember how scared I was that the soldiers
would pull my father or my uncle out of the car and I'd never see him again.
My family and so many others lived in fear of the Soviet boot. Today, the
world no longer fears the Soviet Union and it is because of the United
States of America!

As a kid I saw the socialist country that Austria became after the Soviets
left. I love Austria and I love the Austrian people - but I always knew
America was the place for me. In school, when the teacher would talk about
America, I would daydream about coming here. I would sit for hours watching
American movies transfixed by my heroes like John Wayne. Everything about
America seemed so big to me so open, so possible.

I finally arrived here in 1968. I had empty pockets, but I was full of
dreams. The presidential campaign was in full swing. I remember watching the
Nixon and Humphrey presidential race on TV. A friend who spoke German and
English, translated for me. I heard Humphrey saying things that sounded like
socialism, which is what I had just left. But then I heard Nixon speak. He
was talking about free enterprise, getting government off your back,
lowering taxes and strengthening the military. Listening to Nixon speak
sounded more like a breath of fresh air.

I said to my friend, "What party is he?" My friend said, "He's a
Republican." I said, "Then I am a Republican!" And I've been a Republican
ever since! And trust me, in my wife's family, that's no small achievement!
I'm proud to belong to the party of Abraham Lincoln, the party of Teddy
Roosevelt, the party of Ronald Reagan and the party of George W. Bush.

To my fellow immigrants listening tonight, I want you to know how welcome
you are in this party. We Republicans admire your ambition. We encourage
your dreams. We believe in your future. One thing I learned about America is
that if you work hard and play by the rules, this country is truly open to
you. You can achieve anything.

Everything I have my career my success my family I owe to America. In this
country, it doesn't make any difference where you were born. It doesn't make
any difference who your parents were. It doesn't make any difference if,
like me, you couldn't even speak English until you were in your twenties.

America gave me opportunities and my immigrant dreams came true. I want
other people to get the same chances I did, the same opportunities. And I
believe they can. That's why I believe in this country, that's why I believe
in this party and that's why I believe in this President.

Now, many of you out there tonight are "Republican" like me in your hearts
and in your beliefs. Maybe you're from Guatemala. Maybe you're from the
Philippines. Maybe Europe or the Ivory Coast. Maybe you live in Ohio,
Pennsylvania or New Mexico. And maybe just maybe you don't agree with this
party on every single issue. I say to you tonight I believe that's not only
okay, that's what's great about this country. Here we can respectfully
disagree and still be patriotic still be American and still be good
Republicans.

My fellow immigrants, my fellow Americans, how do you know if you are a
Republican? I'll tell you how.

If you believe that government should be accountable to the people, not the
people to the government...then you are a Republican! If you believe a
person should be treated as an individual, not as a member of an interest
group... then you are a Republican! If you believe your family knows how to
spend your money better than the government does... then you are a
Republican! If you believe our educational system should be held accountable
for the progress of our children ... then you are a Republican! If you
believe this country, not the United Nations, is the best hope of democracy
in the world ... then you are a Republican! And, ladies and gentlemen ...if
you believe we must be fierce and relentless and terminate terrorism ...
then you are a Republican!

There is another way you can tell you're a Republican. You have faith in
free enterprise, faith in the resourcefulness of the American people ... and
faith in the U.S. economy. To those critics who are so pessimistic about our
economy, I say: "Don't be economic girlie men!"

The U.S. economy remains the envy of the world. We have the highest economic
growth of any of the world's major industrialized nations. Don't you
remember the pessimism of 20 years ago when the critics said Japan and
Germany were overtaking the U.S.? Ridiculous!

Now they say India and China are overtaking us. Don't you believe it! We may
hit a few bumps - but America always moves ahead! That's what Americans do!

We move prosperity ahead. We move freedom ahead. We move people ahead. Under
President Bush and Vice President Cheney, America's economy is moving ahead
in spite of a recession they inherited and in spite of the attack on our
homeland.

Now, the other party says there are two Americas. Don't believe that either.
I've visited our troops in Iraq, Kuwait, Bosnia, Germany and all over the
world. I've visited our troops in California, where they train before they
go overseas. And I've visited our military hospitals. And I can tell you
this: Our young men and women in uniform do not believe there are two
Americas!

They believe we are one America and they are fighting for it! We are one
America - and President Bush is defending it with all his heart and soul!

That's what I admire most about the President. He's a man of perseverance.

He's a man of inner strength. He is a leader who doesn't flinch, doesn't
waiver, does not back down. My fellow Americans, make no mistake about it
terrorism is more insidious than communism, because it yearns to destroy not
just the individual, but the entire international order. The President
didn't go into Iraq because the polls told him it was popular. As a matter
of fact, the polls said just the opposite. But leadership isn't about polls.
It's about making decisions you think are right and then standing behind
those decisions. That's why America is safer with George W. Bush as
President.

He knows you don't reason with terrorists. You defeat them. He knows you
can't reason with people blinded by hate. They hate the power of the
individual. They hate the progress of women. They hate the religious freedom
of others. They hate the liberating breeze of democracy. But ladies and
gentlemen, their hate is no match for America's decency.

We're the America that sends out Peace Corps volunteers to teach village
children. We're the America that sends out missionaries and doctors to raise
up the poor and the sick. We're the America that gives more than any other
country, to fight aids in Africa and the developing world. And we're the
America that fights not for imperialism but for human rights and democracy.

You know, when the Germans brought down the Berlin Wall, America's
determination helped wield the sledgehammers. When that lone, young Chinese
man stood in front of those tanks in Tiananmen Square, America's hopes stood
with him. And when Nelson Mandela smiled in election victory after all those
years in prison, America celebrated, too.

We are still the lamp lighting the world especially for those who struggle.
No matter in what labor camp, they slave no matter in what injustice they're
trapped - they hear our call ... they see our light ... and they feel the
pull of our freedom. They come here as I did because they believe. They
believe in us.

They come because their hearts say to them, as mine did, "If only I can get
to America." Someone once wrote - "There are those who say that freedom is
nothing but a dream." They are right. It's the American dream.

No matter the nationality, no matter the religion, no matter the ethnic
background, America brings out the best in people. And as Governor of the
great state of California - I see the best in Americans every day ... our
police, our firefighters our nurses, doctors and teachers, our parents.

And what about the extraordinary men and women who have volunteered to fight
for the United States of America! I have such great respect for them and
their heroic families.

Let me tell you about the sacrifice and commitment I've seen firsthand. In
one of the military hospitals I visited, I met a young guy who was in bad
shape. He'd lost a leg had a hole in his stomach ... his shoulder had been
shot through.

I could tell there was no way he could ever return to combat. But when I
asked him, "When do you think you'll get out of the hospital?" He said,
"Sir, in three weeks." And do you know what he said to me then? He said he
was going to get a new leg ... and get some therapy ... and then he was
going back to Iraq to serve alongside his buddies! He grinned at me and
said, "Arnold ... I'll be back!"

Ladies and gentlemen, America is back! Back from the attack on our
homeland - back from the attack on our economy, back from the attack on our
way of life. We're back because of the perseverance, character and
leadership of the 43rd President of the United States, George W. Bush.

My fellow Americans ...I want you to know that I believe with all my heart
that America remains "the great idea" that inspires the world. It's a
privilege to be born here. It's an honor to become a citizen here. It's a
gift to raise your family here to vote here and to live here.

Our president, George W. Bush, has worked hard to protect and preserve the
American dream for all of us. That's why I say ... send him back to
Washington for four more years!

Thank you, America - and God bless you all!

Posted by at September 8, 2004 12:28 AM