Expletive in Arnold’s Veto an 'Odd Coincidence'

California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger may have built his reputation on being a tough guy, but some odd looks were exchanged around the Internet this morning when a letter the governor wrote to the state’s legislature was thought to have been decoded. In the five-sentence note, Arnold politely explained why he wouldn’t sign into law a fairly routine spending bill to finance the Port of San Francisco. But some astute folks noticed a far less courteous message lined up vertically along the left margin: "f--k you."

We checked with the governor’s staff, who denies the expletive was deliberate. “It was just a weird coincidence,” says a senior staffer. To deflect attention, he pointed us toward other, what he calls “veto messages,” from this year, like “ear” and “poet” and “soap,” that are equally as random, albeit a bit more G-rated.

If the message was indeed written by an angry staffer (or an angry Arnold) on purpose, it would have been an impressive feat of semantics. But if someone like Arnold needed to vent his frustration, would he really have to resort to hidden messages? No doubt the state's government is having some disagreements over budget issues, to put it mildly. If he wanted to really berate the legislature, though, couldn’t he hold a searing press conference, or continue to veto time-wasting bills? He’s the governor, not some schoolyard bully. Conspiracy debunked.