Roeper's Right...this time

I don't always agree with Richard Roeper. Sometimes it's a movie review. Sometimes it's a political comment. This time, he gets it right. You can read the whole article on his website.

"Meanwhile, some members of the Democratic Party are offended by comments made by California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. Speaking at a food court in a shopping mall in Ontario, Calif. -- further evidence that being a governor is far more glamorous than being an internationally beloved movie star -- Schwarzenegger said Democrats were responsible for delaying the state budget.

"If they don't have the guts to come up here in front of you and say, 'I don't want to represent you, I want to represent those special interests, the unions, the trial lawyers . . . if they don't have the guts, I call them girlie men!' said Arnold, who urged voters to "terminate" Democrats in November.

If you're a California Democrat, you pounce on the governor's remarks. Maybe something like:

"Given that Mr. Schwarzenegger once portrayed the first male to deliver a child in 'Junior,' we're sure he knows all about being a girlie man. But while the governor is quoting an old 'Saturday Night Live' skit, we're working hard to come up with a budget that will serve the people of California."

Instead, they acted like a bunch of girlie men. State Sen. Sheila Kuehl said it was "very troubling that [Schwarzenegger] would use such a homophobic way of trying to put down legislative leadership." Assemblyman Mark Leno said the comment was "misogynist" and "anti-gay." Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez said his 13-year-old daughter was offended.

Oh, come on. The old "SNL" skit wasn't homophobic -- it was a lampoon of two boneheads who overcompensated for their insecurities by mocking everyone in the world as "girlie men." Besides, a lot of Democrats have been taking personal shots at the Bush administration. You can't make jokes about Bush's intelligence level and Cheney's macho posturing -- and then whimper when Arnold makes a couple of "girlie man" jokes."