The Terminator Speaks to All of Us

Thank you, Gray Davis.

It's odd for me to write those words, but the incompetent former Governor of the state of California will forever be a person to whom I owe a great debt. If he hadn't become the most despised man in California, there never would have been a recall effort in the Golden State. And without the recall, we wouldn't have had Arnold Schwarzeneggar's speech last night at the RNC.

Aronld's speech was dead-on perfect in its humor and its delivery, but it was more than that. Arnold is a moderate Republican who disagrees with some of the stances the party has on social issues -- but he didn't act as if this meant he was right and they were wrong, or that he needed to attack or defend the party's stance on these issues. In a way no one else has done, he made it clear that it's okay to disagree on some issues, because the folks in that room agree on far more issues, and on far more important values.

On top of that, he made it clear that we don't have to apologize for sharing those values. When's the last time someone referenced Richard Milhaus Nixon at a GOP Convention? Arnold did it perfectly, by noting that Nixon talked about free enterprise and smaller government -- in contrast to the big government, tax-and-spend values embodied by liberal icon Hubert Humphrey. Democrats love to lampoon Republicans as uncaring fatcats. We know it's not true, but we get defensive nonetheless. Arnold didn't get defensive -- he spoke forcefully and clearly about our values, and said he was proud to be a Republican, and others should feel proud to be Republicans as well. He told people that there are Republican values, and if you believe in them , you're a Republican. Yeah, that's a challenge, Democratic girliemen.

And the jokes were great. Humor goes a long way toward making a convention speech acceptable, but it's got to be self-deprecating humor or a gentle needle to the other side. Harsh cynicism never works, and neither does false modesty. Arnold poked fun at himself, and did so without lessening the impact of his story.

And his story was where he got to me. Here's the parts of the text that really stood out then and still resonate in my mind:

My fellow Americans, this is an amazing moment for me. To think that a once scrawny boy from Austria could grow up to become governor of California and stand in Madison Square Garden to speak on behalf of the president of the United States. That is an immigrant's dream. It is the American dream.

I was born in Europe ...and I've traveled all over the world. I can tell you that there is no place, no country, more compassionate, more generous, more accepting and more welcoming than the United States of America.

As long as I live, I will never forget that day 21 years ago when I raised my hand and took the oath of citizenship.

Do you know how proud I was? I was so proud that I walked around with an American flag around my shoulders all day long.

Tonight, I want to talk about why I'm even more proud to be an American -- why I'm proud to be a Republican and why I believe this country is in good hands.

...As a kid I saw the socialist country that Austria became after the Soviets left. I love Austria and I love the Austrian people -- but I always knew America was the place for me.

In school, when the teacher would talk about America, I would daydream about coming here. I would sit for hours watching American movies transfixed by my heroes like John Wayne. Everything about America seemed so big to me so open, so possible.

...To my fellow immigrants listening tonight, I want you to know how welcome you are in this party. We Republicans admire your ambition. We encourage your dreams. We believe in your future. One thing I learned about America is that if you work hard and play by the rules, this country is truly open to you. You can achieve anything.

Everything I have -- my career, my success, my family -- I owe to America. In this country, it doesn't make any difference where you were born. It doesn't make any difference who your parents were. It doesn't make any difference if, like me, you couldn't even speak English until you were in your twenties.

America gave me opportunities and my immigrant dreams came true. I want other people to get the same chances I did, the same opportunities. And I believe they can. That's why I believe in this country, that's why I believe in this party and that's why I believe in this President.

Excuse me if this gets a little emotional.

It's funny, because I'm not an immigrant myself. But I'm the son of immigrants, and those words spoke to me. They stirred a deep pride in myself, my family and in my country.

Those words -- they remind of being a kid, being the son of immigrants, being unable to speak English fluently until I was about six years old. I remember being told about the wondrous land in which I was privileged to grow up, because my parents wanted to come here, because they saw a better life for their family here.

Those words -- they sound a little like the things my dad could say and has said to me in the past. My dad had nothing when he arrived here, save an opportunity to further his education and a work ethic and drive that I can only strive to reach. He built a wonderful life for himself and his family -- things that would not be possible, or nearly as easy to do, in other places. He was proud of being from India, but he passed on chances to return, because he wanted his kids to grow up here.

Those words -- they refute the idea that people in other countries look at us and universally hate us. Most of them want to be one of us, to have that same feeling of freedom we have, to have the ability to fulfill their dreams. When I was a little kid, I'd visit India, and some of my cousins would tease me for being unabashedly pro-American (yes, even then, I was a right-wing zealot). Guess what? Those cousins live here now, and are raising their kids here as well.

Those words -- they say something amazing to me. Here we have an Austrian-born actor, who didn't speak English until his twenties, who became a multi-millionaire, lives in California and married a member of the most famous liberal Democratic family in America... and yet his words and life experience strike a chord with the son of an Indian couple who was raised outside of Philly, went to law school in Boston and lives in Washington, D.C. Stop and think about how wonderfully strange that is -- in other nations, the differences between us would serve as a dividing line. In America, we find common ground and see how we're alike, because both of us can achieve the same goal if we want.

In the end, those words remind us of the wondrous things that take place in our country. Look, I'm as much a cynic as anyone (I'm a lawyer who grew up in the 1980's and 1990's; how could I not be?). But Arnold's speech reminded me of the way the Gipper always left you feeling good. It reminds us of the fact that amazing, miraculous things happen to people regularly in this country, more so than in any other nation. We sometimes lose sight of the fact that people from all over the world yearn to come to this country, to study, to work and to find their dreams. And invariably, these people, or their children, or their grandchildren, or their great-grandchildren accomplish amazing things.

And that's because of the culture of this country, more so than anything else. We cultivate freedom and inspire the world with our example. We are a great country, and a great people. And Arnold reminded us of that last night. Let's not forget it.