The San Francisco Chronicle (02/24/04) in an editorial also criticized Schwarzenegger for using inflammatory rhetoric which cold incite some of the more unstable anti-gay militants to reckless action:
GOV. ARNOLD Schwarzenegger needs to calm his rhetoric about same-sex marriage. To suggest there will be riots in the streets if same-sex wedding ceremonies continue at San Francisco City Hall is not only reckless and out of touch with reality -- it can even be dangerous. ...
But his overheated comments on NBC's "Meet the Press" Sunday were simply out of line for a governor of the nation's largest state. ...
Schwarzenegger should recognize a leader's role in setting the tone for public reaction to events with the potential to elicit strong emotions by tapping into deeply held convictions on both sides. To promote calm and reason, a governor should exude calm and reason.
The criticism is appropriate. It was in the same City Hall where the weddings are taking place that the anti-gay fanatic Dan White in 1978 gunned down gay supervisor Harvey Milk and Mayor George Moscone. Schwarzenegger isn't just a movie star promoting himself any longer. The Governor of California - and the top Republican Party official in the state - needs to think before he ad-libs about violence.
The Chronicle editorial also pointed up Schwarzenegger's arraogance - and authoritiarian streak? - which was also on display on Meet the Press:
On Friday, Schwarzenegger fired off a letter to California Attorney General Bill Lockyer, ordering the state's top lawyer "to take immediate steps" to halt San Francisco's sanctioning of same-sex marriage. The governor's move was not only absurd from a constitutional standpoint -- as an elected statewide officer, Lockyer does not work at the whim of a governor -- it had an unnecessary air of panic. Schwarzenegger warned Lockyer of an "imminent risk to civil order."
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