Arnie's Army

Who's behind Arnold S.? The American Prospect reports that

the movie star's high-priced uber-consultants George Gorton and Don Sipple have grabbed the baton in the recall race, eager to take it the last mile to the state capitol.

And who is Don Sipple? Well, according to a published opinion of a California appellate court, one of Mr. Sipple's ex-wives had this to say:

Regina testified that appellant beat her numerous times during the last two years of her four-year marriage. For instance, once when she came home late from work, as soon as the friend she drove home with left, appellant grabbed her by the back of the neck and ground her face into the carpet. Another time, appellant hit her for no reason when she woke up in the morning; and on another occasion, he knocked her down, then kicked her. Once, he grabbed her by the hair, yanked her head back and slapped her. On a vacation to Lake Tahoe with their young son Evan, appellant became angry because Evan�s diaper was dirty. He then beat Regina. Throughout their marriage, appellant was suspicious and jealous without reason. When she danced with Missouri Governor Christopher �Kit� Bond at one of the governor�s mansion parties, appellant became jealous and hit her afterward. Regina was so fearful of appellant�s violence and temper that she finally fled the house without his knowledge, leaving a note behind.

And, according to a second ex-wife:

Deborah testified that she argued with appellant several times about his making Regina�s situation so difficult by failing to send Regina her child support payments in a timely manner. Deborah stated that during her marriage to appellant, he struck Deborah, physically abused her on more than one occasion, hit her in public and accused her of things that were not true. She testified that she was afraid of appellant, and that �[n]o matter what he said about me later, no matter what he�ll say about me after this, [I left] because I was hit.� She said that she was accused of infidelity throughout her relationship with appellant, but that she had never had an affair during the time she was married to him. She testified that she did not raise the allegations of abuse during her divorce proceedings because she wanted the most expeditious way out, she was embarrassed and afraid, and did not want to admit to herself what had happened.

Sipple denies the allegations.

The 1999 appellate court opinion also lists "Governor George W. Bush of Texas" as one of Sipple's clients. (In fairness to Bush, the Prospect reports that Sipple worked for Bush during his 1994 re-election, apparently before the abuse allegations became well-known in 1997.)