But by all means let's replace those examples with others where it's less surprising for the actions in question to be optimal. A politician voting in ways that they know aren't best for the country, because they know it will help them walk into a nice job after they leave office: optimal for the goal of getting a comfortable life. This makes no difference to the point, which is that "It was effective for his goals" is no defence against a complaint that's about values rather than effectiveness. hellofunk was not accusing Schwarzenegger of acting ineffectively, but of acting immorally and unpleasantly, and "it was the most effective way to get power" is simply not responsive to that criticism.