Clint Eastwood at the RNC; WTF?!!

[NGNM85]

Last night I was, periodically, flipping back to the convention coverage (Must be the masochist in me.) when I caught this baffling speech by much-anticipated special guest Clint Eastwood;

http://crooksandliars.com/susie-madrak/star-big-night-was-clint-eastwood

Apparently originally intended to last about five minutes, Eastwood droned on for nearly three times that. (Most of which was spent debating an unoccupied stool.) Eastwood's rambling monologue, described by Roger Ebert as; 'sad', and 'pathetic', and Rachel Maddow, as; '..the most bizarre thing I've ever seen at a political convention.', will probably go down as his strangest performance, ever.

I think Dirty Harry has finally lost the plot. However; in retrospect, on a positive note, it was still more entertaining than Pink Cadillac.

[Gman]

You really couldn't help but feel bad for the guy when you were watching it. How old is Clint now anyway?

[radicalbaker]

My only thought was who let him out of the old folks home.

[Dennis the 'Bloody Peasant']

You have to ask yourself one question...have I helped Mitt's chances here?

Boo to him being there at all and a slightly condesending smile for what he said there :)

[Lenina Rosenweg]

Well Clint, as bizarre as his act was, called for the immediate withdrawal of the US from Afghanistan (at least that's what it sounded like) indirectly told Mitt to "go fuck yourself", not once but twice, and was far more interesting than the rest of the saccharine boilerplate of the convention.

I think he represents the last of the later Barry Goldwater country club life style libertarian faction of the GOP.Clint is a rightist but he is relatively progressive on women's rights and lgbt issues.

[Os Cangaceiros]

Yeah, I thought the remark about Afghanistan was funny.

He started criticizing Obama about giving a "timetable for withdrawal" and I was like, oh boy, here we go, but then he basically said that right thing to do is withdraw immediately, and I gave a healthy sigh of relief.

[NGNM85]

Well Clint, as bizarre as his act was, called for the immediate withdrawal of the US from Afghanistan (at least that's what it sounded like)

It sounded like that's what he was suggesting, but it's by no means clear.


indirectly told Mitt to "go fuck yourself", not once but twice,

Well; actually, supposedly, that's what the Imaginary President said. (Of course, again, this is just a guess.) He has, however, very clearly, endorsed Romney.


and was far more interesting than the rest of the saccharine boilerplate of the convention.

Well, almost anything would be more interesting than the lackluster performances by Mitch Mcconnell, Tim Pawlenty, and Mike Huckabee, that sets the bar pretty low. However; it was absolutely fascinating, in a morbid sort of way. I had been watching the pervious speakers, just for a few moments, then changing channels, then Clint came out, and it was like; 'Ok, now I know who the mystery guest is.', then he started to speak, and I was absolutely enthralled. It just kept going, and getting weirder, and weirder. So, yeah, it was a fascinating speech, but; 'fascinating' in the 'bad car accident' kind of way, y'know; it's a complete disaster, but you can't keep your eyes off it. However; I suspect when he walked off stage, in his head, he was like; 'Nailed it!' which only bolsters my thesis that, clearly, Dirty Harry has lost his marbles.


I think he represents the last of the later Barry Goldwater country club life style libertarian faction of the GOP.Clint is a rightist but he is relatively progressive on women's rights and lgbt issues.

Yeah. He's what you'd call a; 'California Republican.' Someone like Rick Santorum wouldn't survive, there. Mitt Romney was very similar, and faced very similar conditions, here, in Massachusetts, when he ran for the senate, and, later, when he was governor. Honestly; I think that's closer to who he really is. I mean; 'Who is the real Mitt Romney?' is kind of a philosophical question. I can't think of any other politician has reversed himself, several times, even, on core issues like; gay rights, abortion, etc. However; having observed him as governor, etc., I tend to think this is a lot closer to who he is. I think he represents the technocratic side of the Republican party, I think he's primarily concerned with taking care of Wall Street. However; today, in this incarnation of the Republican Party; a social moderate simply has no chance, whatsoever, of securing the nomination. I think the hard swing to the right that he's taken, in his presidential run, is purely tactical.

[Камо́ Зэд]

Clint Eastwood is a Republican? I thought . . . I don't know what I thought. I never think about Clint Eastwood.

[NGNM85]

Credit, where credit's due; the mans' made some excellent films. However; his performance at the convention was bizarre, and embarassing.

[Sasha]

Clint Eastwood is a Republican? I thought . . . I don't know what I thought. I never think about Clint Eastwood.

Libertarian actually, he is pro-choice, pro-marriage equality and shit. He was gop major of some town for a while though...
Cant believe the rnc ppl gave him full artistic freedom and no rehearsal, even when not under influenced/confused old man chances where he would go off script big time...

[maskerade]

that was so..awkward. poor guy, it seemed like he had no real idea of what he was doing there. damn. he makes good movies though.

[Sasha]

romney himself pushed for clint to speak; http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/01/us/politics/romney-aides-scratch-their-heads-over-eastwoods-speech.html?_r=1

[¿Que?]

Because of Clint Eastwood, I know now that Tuco means something completely different in Mexico than it does where I'm from. Still, never really liked the guy.






Ok, I though fist full of dollars was pretty cool, but all his movies have this creepy racist vibe, very typical of the types of values embodied in the US a long time ago.

[NGNM85]

Kal Penn razzes Eastwood at DNC; “So thank you invisible man in the chair, for that, and for giving my friends access to affordable health insurance and doubling funding for the Pell Grant." I personally dislike the Harold & Kumar films, but at least Penn was coherent, and managed to avoid getting into an argument with the furniture.

[Zannarchy]

cant you see, he tots owned the republicans. Clint is a boss. he just got up there and made the republicans look incompetent aswell as the democrats.

[ÑóẊîöʼn]

Found this titbit on the BBC News (http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/sep/18/romney-campaign-damage-control-video-leak) site:




Clint Eastwood implied Republicans were "dumb" for inviting him onstage at their national convention in a recent interview:

“People loved it or hated it, and that’s fine," Eastwood told "Extra" of his RNC performance (http://www.extratv.com/2012/09/17/clint-eastwood-talks-rnc-speech-trouble-with-the-curve-and-dirty-harry/). "I figure if somebody’s dumb enough to ask me to go to a political convention and say something, they’re gonna have to take what they get.”

[Interviewer Jerry] Penacoli asked if he would do it again, and Clint responded, “I never look backward. It’s done and it’s done. I probably would, I wouldn’t be afraid of it.” The 82-year-old added that he was inspired by acting and comedy legends with the chair act.

“Actually, I did a funeral speech for a friend of mine and I started talking to mythical people imitating him and I sorta stole that for myself," he said. "But it reminds me of the days of Shelly Berman… Bob Newhart, all those guys who used to do those phone conversations, all that sort of stuff.”



[emphasis mine]

Ha, so Eastwood punks the Republicans? I wonder if the Repubs paid for his appearance...