Battleangel

Schwarzenegger unbending on Swedish convict

Californian governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has said that a Swedish woman who has served 24 years in jail for murder is not yet ready to be returned to Sweden.

Annika Östberg Deasy has asked to be allowed to come back to Sweden, where she lived until she was 11. But in an interview to be screened by Swedish Television (SVT) on Wednesday, Schwarzenegger makes it clear that he does not intend to help Östberg.

“She’s not ready yet”

SVT: Not after 24 years?

“That’s right. She’s an vicious murderer,” replies Schwarzenegger.

The same interview that Schwarzenegger walked out of after having to answer spontaneous questions .. such as the one above. My commentary on the Local as well as previous dwellings on Annika Östberg pretty much sums it up. Aftonbladet’s Åsa Mattsson perhaps says it best … “Den amerikanska mardrömmen / The American Nightmare.” Though Mattsson ironically forgot to mention Schwarzenegger’s less than gallant history with the opposite gender on his way to the top. I would have to agree that this is an exceptional example of what feminists would call patriarchal dominance. I approached the subject the last time around but for various reasons it got lost in a flood of foreign policy and other dribbling maneuvers.

Schwarzenegger’s rather simplistic and arrogant statement regarding Östberg is imo typical of the American view of things, particularly in this case. I guess “vicious” is in for the moment as a template for understanding the world around them.

After having seen the interview I think Schwarzenegger should look over his current “experts” on all matters legal. Also, I corrected the essentially incorrect transcript provided by the local. “Vicious” is more eloquent, but it is still expressing a mindset that one can really know very little about. Notably, during the questions regarding Östberg, Schwarzenegger constantly tried to make every option out to be much worse than it actually is. So for instance, the Foreign Prisoner Transfer Treaty according to Schwarzenegger was “letting people go” or something to that effect. And I don’t believe that he misunderstood the treaty or just made a mistake. I think it’s a conscious talking point that you constantly try to slip whenever such things are brought up. So that the treaty in question looks like something really lax that equates to a pardon even though it is not. Schwarzenegger also kept repeating the mantra of “she’s not ready.” Given his limited experience in anything outside of his “core areas”, it’s unlikely that he would somehow overrule the unnamed experts whom he has such reverence for and obviously need.