Schwarzenegger fires Clint Eastwood and Bobby Shriver

As media reports suggested, it was a case of The Terminator taking on Dirty Harry, and The Terminator winning.

Though in this case, it wasn’t that The Terminator was tougher; he simply had executive privilege.

In other words, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger of California has chosen not to reappoint movie icon Clint Eastwood to the California State Park and Recreation Commission, a non-paid position.

And to show that he really means business, Schwarzenegger, a Republican, also chose not to reappoint his brother-in-law, Robert S. “Bobby” Shriver III to the commission.

“I guess he felt we were going to be guys who were going to be obstructionists for anything through state parks,” Eastwood told The Los Angeles Times.

The particular issue that may have ended Eastwood and Shriver’s service on the commission is a controversial plan to put a toll road through the San Onofre State Beach park in Orange County.

Schwarzenegger supports the six-lane road, saying it will reduce traffic congestion and global warming. Eastwood and Shriver have opposed the project.

The two men were first appointed to the commission in 2001 by then-Gov. Gray Davis. Schwarzenegger re-appointed them in 2004. Their terms had expired, but they had said they would like to be appointed again to the commission.

Shriver is a Democrat and a member of the Santa Monica City Council. With the singer Bono, he is the co-founder of both Debt AIDS Trade Africa and (Product) RED. His sister, Maria Shriver, is married to Schwarzenegger.

His mother, Eunice Kennedy Shriver, is the founder of the Special Olympics and the sister of President John F. Kennedy.

Eastwood, a Republican, is the former mayor of Carmel, Calif.

Eastwood told the Los Angeles Times that he and Schwarzenegger remain friends despite the governor’s decision not to reappoint him to the commission. He remains a member of the California Film Commission, appointed by Schwarzenegger in 2004.

“I’m a grown person. I’m not a kid,” said Eastwood, 77. “The parks is a voluntary job, and it’s just a job you do when they need you. It was fun. … They make changes, and that’s their prerogative. It’s not like I need a day job.”

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