From F-Bombs to Thank Yous: the Maturing of the Governator

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has never been a girly man. But the Republican governor has had his share of political mishaps over the years.

Take for example his acrostic exchange with San Francisco Assemblyman Tom Ammiano last year. The longtime Bay Area politician introduced a measure dealing with complex “infrastructure financing districts” that the bodybuilder turned actor turned politician apparently didn't like.

Flexing his political and literary muscle, the governator terminated the bill but not before hiding a message for Ammiano in the words.

The first letter of every line in a letter from the governor explaining his veto, spelled out a message to Ammiano: F*** You.

“My goodness, what a coincidence that it would say something along the left-hand margin,” said the governor’s spokesman, Aaron McLear said at the time. “But I suppose when you do so many vetoes, something like this is bound to happen.”

Coincidence? We think not. The vulgar message came just four days after Ammiano mouthed the same thing at Schwarzenegger when he made a surprise appearance at a Democratic fundraiser.

Now a year later, Schwarzenegger has had a change of heart and has signed a nearly similar bill from Ammiano. This time the governor had another message for the liberal pol in a letter explaining his shifty way: You are welcome.

Read the full letter below:

Yearly, I have reflected upon the various pieces of legislation that have been sent to my office by the Legislature. On numerous occasions these bills have been vague, unnecessary, or just downright offensive. The trend continues this year.

Arguably, whether by circumstance or by design, this year has brought several pieces of redundant and uninspired bills. With such a large budget deficit and a lack of expediency by the Legislature to solve this problem, this shouldn’t be the case.

While I vetoed this bill last year citing the Legislature’s failure to focus on efforts that are a priority for Californians, I believe this measure will result in one of my long standing priorities: job creation. By modifying the existing procedures that the City and County of San Francisco can use to adopt an infrastructure financing plan, local officials will be better situated to finance various restoration and improvement projects, maximizing development and job creation along the San Francisco waterfront. This will effectuate my job creation priority and lead to much needed improvements in this area.

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