After last week’s execution of Tookie Williams, the Greens in Graz started a movement to strip California Governator Arnold Schwarzenegger of:

• his Austrian citizenship
• the honor of having a local sports stadium bear his name
• the “ring of honor” given to him in 1999 for having put Graz “on the map

This was a movement probably doomed to fail. Some 77% of Grazers support the governor, so efforts to hang this over his head shouldn’t be considered likely to succeed. The story first made the evening news in Austria, and now thanks to the Internet, has spread across the globe.

But, that didn’t stop the Governator from pre-empting the move. Yesterday, he sent a pretty pointed letter to the Mayor of Graz which:

• rescinds his permission to use his name on the sport stadium
• rescinds his permission to use his name to promote tourism
• announces that he is returning the ring of honor since it no longer holds any honor

Copies of the letter are available in the original German. But, since you may not read German, there is an English translation.

[tags]schwarzenegger,graz greens,tookie williams,capital punishment[/tags]