Arnie’s letter to rival sparks F-word debate

HIS movies have rarely been described as holding cryptic messages, but it would appear Arnold Schwarzenegger has still managed to learn the art of subtlety from the double-meaning world of politics.

In a letter sent to a rival politician in the southern US state of California, Schwarzenegger explained why he was not in a position to sign a bill endorsing the further development of San Francisco port into law.

The bill, which passed unanimously in the Assembly and Senate, would have granted the Port of San Francisco expanded financing power to redevelop a former shipyard into a new neighbourhood known as Pier 70.

However, while the correspondence appeared cordial at first glance, it has since been claimed the high-profile Republican also placed a hidden obscenity in the message — a claim that has received a lukewarm denial by his representatives.

In the letter Schwarzenegger stated that he has been inundated with “unnecessary bills [which] come to me for consideration”, blocking vital new laws for water reform, prison reform and healthcare.

However, when the correspondence is read as an acrostic poem — where the first letter of every line is put together to form a word or sentence — the Republican California governor appeared to abuse his Democrat rival with an F-word remark.

“My goodness. What a coincidence,” Schwarzenegger’s spokesperson, Aaron McLear, said in response to the news.

“I suppose when you do so many vetoes, something like this is bound to happen.”

The letter was sent to San Francisco assembly member Tom Ammiano and posted on the state’s website.

Ammiano had sponsored the legislation about a local port that prompted the response from Schwarzenegger.

It is not the first time the pair have clashed, as earlier this month Ammiano heckled the Republican governor when he spoke at a Democrats event and accused him of being a liar.

“Kudos to the governor for his creative use of coincidence,” Quintin Mecke, Ammiano’s spokesman, responded after hearing the California governor’s office’s explanation of events.

“You certainly have to have a sense of humour in politics.

“Unfortunately, this humour came at the cost of the port of San Francisco.”

While former movie star Schwarzenegger has brought the Californian economy under control, he has been heavily criticised in the past for his colourful language and behaviour.

In July, he brandished a knife in a web video about budget cuts.