A Gubernatorial Transcript That Wasn't 'Ballsy' Or Correct

Joe Mathews — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 14:27:00 -0400

Josh Gerstein -- the California-based national correspondent for the New York Sun and, for my money, the best reporter alive -- last night mentioned to me a discrepancy between what Gov. Schwarzenegger said Wednesday during a press briefing in Big Sur on the fires there and what the gubernatorial transcript said he said.

One word was different, but oh, what a word! That word is "ballsy."

Schwarzenegger, in response to a question, was describing the mindset of people who remain in their homes and defy evacuation orders.

According to Gerstein and what I hear on the recording distributed by the governor, Schwarzenegger said: "I am going to stay in my house and I am ballsy and all those things."

The transcript says: "I'm going to stay in my house and I'm boss and all those things."

As someone who has transcribed literally hundreds of hours of Arnold Schwarzenegger talking, I have sympathy for the transcription service. His syntax and accent is all his own, and not always easy to understand. But this sounds very clear to me. You be the judge: The video is available here.