The Eastwood Speech
It was an old man’s delivery, but overstatedly so for effect. It was a cutting delivery and for that reason delivered in low key. But for all of Clint Eastwood’s rhetorical cleverness at the Republican Convention, the speech derived its effectiveness precisely because it wasn’t one of those “I take this platform tonight with pen in hand, bearing in mind the immortal words of Clancy M. Duckworth” type orations. It wasn’t the speech of someone who was running for office.
Rather it might have come from Mr. Weller down at the corner office musing on simple things to not very important people. How it wasn’t good form to mess things up continuously. How one might lose faith in a man who made one broken promise too many. How at the end of the day everyone either did the job or quit out of decency. Even presidents.
There was no malice in it. Just a tone of regret. But it was redolent of memory too. Of simple things a world away from the Mountaintop, of sentiments a light-year from dramatic arcs, and of ordinary happiness in a universe apart from grand bargains and high-flown rhetorical visions. They were truths that everyone who has ever worked knows but has somehow forgotten because they were so ordinary.
Clint is a national treasure!
Maybe it’s just me but I got the impression he was chanelling Jimmy Stewart there for a while….
Whatever….he owned the crowd.
s @ 2: Maybe it’s just me but I got the impression he was chanelling Jimmy Stewart there for a while…
Yep. Elwood P. Dowd talking to Harvey.*
Also Bob Newhart doing his trademark telephone schtick.
*The invisible 6-3 magic rabbit/pooka, if you don’t know.
Wow, when did Clint Eastwood turn into Jimmy Stewart being a stooped and sort-of stammering Mr. Deeds, standing up to the DC politicians?
A small quibble, too, is that Clint is not a political neophyte, having served as Mayor of Carmel, California for several years. Without going back to look, I’m remembering that he did actual politicking, against an actual opponent, and won actual elections for the position. And then had to work with an actual Council. And seemed to be pretty damned good at it, too. Maybe Mitt can name him Czar of Hollywood.
Yes that was an old man speaking. It was a free old man telling the President without malice, without fear or favour, “Mr President, you did not do your job and it’s time for you to go.”
“(I)t might have come from Mr. Weller down at the corner office musing on simple things to not very important people. How it wasn’t good form to mess things up continuously.”
And it might have come from Walt Kowalski (Gran Torino).
Josh – love your comparison to Harvey, but Obama the Invisible Magic Rabbit is only 6-1. He falls short at everything he does…
It was an old man’s quiet rebuke. He’s got the right to give it. He also got the progressives (including Roger Ebert) wee wee’d up something fierce.
Clint was perfect. Like a sorbet between courses, he was refreshing, quirky, and bold. What a welcome change of pace from mostly predictable fare. The left hated it because it hit the target, was funny, and will be viewed by millions in the coming days.
Watching this I immediately recognized that Clint was paying homage to two comedy greats: Don Rickles and Bob Newhart. Clint is friends with both and loves comedy. His empty chair routine is pure Newhart and his comment about Biden a smart Rickles.
The lefty pundits have the vapors over this and the fauxrage is on 11. That means it hit the mark.
Mr. Eastwood was channeling Columbo and Will Rogers. It was a smooth, takedown and Mr. Eastwood placed the knife – as Columbo would – deftly, accurately, and without fuss.
At the end, he made (I’ll bet much repeated remark) that when someone fails at their job, it is time to fire them.
For emphasis, he drew his finger across his throat.
And grinned. Many viewers will not get what Mr. Eastwood did, or how well he did it.
My only regret is that he didn’t posess the vitality to expand upon the desire to get out of afghanistan, “tomorrow”.
Irony? the first celeb to stand up and say enough to the afghan war does so at the gop convention.
This war went from 25k troops @ 43.5 billion in 2008, to 95k @ 120 billion in 2011. Since the current stated plan is to bring us down to 68k in 2014, I’m just going to go with the assumption that we will spend another 120 billion in 2012 and 2013.
This is not the ‘war’ bush left obama, and there is definitely no need to defend its escalation.
code pink? move on? this level of escalation* is unnoticed, for the sole purpose of getting obama reelected. their acceptance exposes their willingness to surrender their stated morals, for a politcal victory.
(*the three highest years of spending for Iraq were 142.1 billion(08), 131.2 billion(07), and 101.6 billion(06).)
we’ve had 40 ‘green on blue’ deaths thru aug 19, for the year. more coming…
If we were under a gop president, ‘green on blue’ would be a household word.
01-08, 630 dead.
09-current…1477 dead.
it’s time the paleo-cons rise up. it was the prudence of the neo-cons to keep force strength at 25k, and the unmitgated disaster of the current president that has expanded a unwinnable and meaningless war.
There are ‘bigger and better’ wars brewing. We don’t have a ‘garrison’ of 95k troops to draw from, because they are bringing civilization to one of the poorest countries in the world?
please…”tomorrow”.
Wow. He really owned that crowd. My included.
I was on Huffpost and everywhere it was the same message – “Clint was a giant embarrassment.” I read that message as it was rotating across the home page and others similar to this, “Romney’s aids were cringing at Clints confused message”.
Since Richard posted his speech I decided to look for myself. No wonder the left is going crazy over Clint’s speech. He hit a freaking home run! They MUST tear him down so that none of the Democrats even bother to listen. Some may convert.
It his own way, Clint got to the heart of matter, by asserting :
‘ We own America- You are merely an employee” That is another way of asking:
“Who is the Boss” and Who is the Employee?
Obama and his minions believe Government and their Clerisy are the Boss in all matters and We the People are merely the servants, nay serfs – not even with the rights of an employee- but serfs to swindled and abused.
It’s high time to give this arrogant , criminal, would be King and his corrupt Clerisy their walking papers.
A short speech that for all the surface folksy awkwardness was as carefully constructed and professionally delivered as anything declaimed by Laurence Olivier. It was packed with advertising slogan ready phrases, “Let Him Go” “As Bad as Biden” “We Own This Country” “Politicians Are Employees of Ours” “You Are the Best In the World” and of course “Make My Day.”
He also opened up the terms of the debate in a way that could move large numbers of voters towards the GoP ticket. It is unlikely that most other known Hollywood Conservatives such as Mel Gibson or Tom Selleck could do that. Perhaps Kelsey Grammar could also serve in this role. The PC Left, like other aspiring totalitarian ideologies, runs on inertia. By making clear that it is OK to look away from the empty promises and demand results Eastwood tore a hole in the Obama gas bag that is hard to repair.
In an old rhetorical trick he debated an empty chair. He could have debated an empty suit.
Now having read a bit of the reaction to Mr. Eastwood’s presentation given by the political sucker fish to our incredible shrinking President Obama, I can tell the speech hit the mark and enraged them.
They, as usual for such laughingly transparent folk, vented their collective spleen with all the talent and sophistication of buzzards fighting over road kill.
But, then, the REAL dead carrion in the road after Mr. Eastwood’s presentation was the guy who was not in the empty chair beside Mr. E.
Walt Kowalski indeed. His zingers were delivered with a deftness that was awesome. People are used to soaring rhetoric or loud declarations at political conventions. His contrasting conversational tone was like a whisper after bombast — it drew you in and made you listen.
Key lines: “We own America” “The politicians work for us; they are our employees.” “When they don’t do the job it’s ok to let ‘em go.” He was speaking to every other Walt Kowalski listening. You are not a racist if you vote against Obama, you are simply letting an employee go who didn’t do a good job.
Bravo! Tour de force!!!
Clint said what hundreds of millions of us think of Obama.
I didn’t exactly know what Eastwood was talking about with his “It’s halftime in America” Superbowl commercial.
Now I do. He let Obama have it with both barrels. (Rhetorically. RHETORICALLY!!)
What I most like about his address is that the high profile – and, in a way, some sort of an “official legitimacy” for Eastwood to comment on the state of America – was given to him – lately – courtesy of the Obama admin’s “Halftime in America” ad.
Fascinating speech. An old man, once almost a god. This guy and the handlers are smart, they presented him as a funny doddering old guy, he played it very well. This happens to gods, don’t put your trust in earthling man who is here today, gone tomorrow.
The impression I’ve gotten so far from the convention is a deliberate move away from worship. Romney’s name came up regularly, but not at all the focus of the convention. The speeches seemed to deliberately show the depth of the field. States run by Republicans have faced the tough issues and are pulling through. Clint says, well, you own the place. Suggest the ones that don’t turn out to move on. They are all the same. Choose the ones who actually do the job they are hired to do.
The hero worship of 2008 was weird and frankly dangerous. Those movements never end well, and this one has faded away. Now it’s about what was done. Good.
Of course those who fell for Obama wouldn’t get it. They desire the shiver and tingling and will continue to look for it, even in their imagination.
There was more than a bit of a loose cannon quality to Clint Eastwood’s speech. He got all his shots off in the right direction, but it was a little unnerving in the process. It seemed like he could have said anything. His speech felt unscripted and unapproved. Plausible deniability perhaps?
I think Eastwood was deliberately trying to get under Obama’s skin with the empty-chair schtick and I suspect he succeeded. Nothing infuriates Barack Obama like being openly mocked and Eastwood twisted the knife again and again. I think he made liberal heads explode, and I wouldn’t be surprised if they spend the next week furiously attacking Clint Eastwood. He just created a huge distraction for Romney’s detractors, a big shiny object for them to flail at, and I’ll bet they swallow the bait whole.
Good job.
It reminded me of great moments in college small theater, thoughtful, edifying, over-the-top acting gimmick-wise, yet of all very earnest.
And yet here is a grand elder acting like a 20 year college kid playing a ancient and doddering wise man.
“when they don’t do the job we gotta let them go”
I know this was in reference to President Obama, but it is actually MORE important to apply that thinking to Congress. But I appreciate Clint’s speech all the same – he’s not big on giving speeches so this election must really mean something to him.
By the way, he’s got another film coming out – trailer looks good.
I’m with Clint, we gotta let them go – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a4nvhAZ0vr0
21 @jms
This proves that Clint’s gambit was utterly successful and devastating. President Thin Skin just revealed a tell. Clint masterfully deployed Alinsky Rule #5 (RULE 5: “Ridicule is man’s most potent weapon.” There is no defense. It’s irrational. It’s infuriating. It also works as a key pressure point to force the enemy into concessions.) The GOP must keep hammering at this chink in his armor relentlessly. Keep it funny and self-deprecating like Clint did, and you will also fulfill Rule 6 (RULE 6: “A good tactic is one your people enjoy.” They’ll keep doing it without urging and come back to do more. They’re doing their thing, and will even suggest better ones.). That’s why Breitbart was the ultimate happy warrior. He lived and breathed this stuff.
EDIT: It was bothering me because I felt like I had seen this style somewhere before, but I couldn’t put my finger on it. It just smacked me in the brain. This was Clint’s version of the drunken master from the old kung fu movies. No wonder I got such enjoyment out of it!
empty chair = empty suit
He didn’t mention the issues I care about, but it was good overall. Maybe after they fix jobs and terrorism then they can get to the other stuff.
Whoever staged tonight’s event, using Mike Eruzione and Clint Eastwood, was very, very clever. If you were an advertiser, you wouldn’t want any better endorser and voiceover artist.
Eastwood’s delivery was pitch perfect. Yes, he seemed like he was having senior moments, only to deliver the zinger, time after time.
What makes Eastwood a great actor is his credibility, and you’re most credible when you are speaking lines that you believe in. It was a brilliant performance and absolutely cutting to Obama.
I got the impression, too, that Eastwood wrote every line himself. The man’s a national treasure.
Did Clint just officially make the GOP the anti-war party in this election? Talk about making Leftist heads explode.
22. bvw – “And yet here is a grand elder acting like a 20 year college kid playing a ancient and doddering wise man.”
There! I think you nailed it. As others have said, it got uncomfortable at times as though he might run out of air or forget why he was there – and, then, suddenly, you’d catch a glimpse of a sly fox out of the corner of his eye.
really remarkable. Pols talk endlessly about almost anything. It take a real actor to pull off a riveting performance like that.
and, then, after various jabs and left hooks and lots of humor, Eastwood quieted the crowd, and said, dead serious… you…we…we own this country
straight up.
Wow they let him embarrass himself, he really is old and senile.
peterike: GOP are in the wars to win. Obama is making a winnable war into another Vietnam, so we should get the heck out.
Eastwood went all Lenny Bruce on Obama, and the establishment is reacting in an eerily similar way to how they reacted in the 1950′s to Bruce.
I watched the original performance during the convention and then, after commenting at #29, scrolled up and watched it again. Whew – Clint Eastwood sliced and diced Obama – not one wasted word or seeming stutter – just cut, cut, cut.
bizarre, stuttering, unable to speak coherently
joe Scarborough, the conservative host of MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” declared “…a great night for Mitt Romney just got sidetracked by Clint Eastwood. Wow. That was bad.”
Clint, my hero, is coming across as sad and pathetic,” tweeted Ebert. “He didn’t need to do this to himself. It’s unworthy of him
24. Dworkin Barimen
I had the same reaction as you to Obama’s tweet when I visited daily Kos and saw it linked there in the comments. Obama can’t stand being made fun of. Interesting set of comments at Daily Kos. Fussed up lefties are mussed up lefties. Someone in Tampa did something right.
Dang according to the Bob and Nick talking points, old Clint’s just a crazy uncle. It must really be getting to them that the cat is out of the bag that their messiah is just a cheap little incompetent hack.
Here’s a mind-blower, Nick: Different people in a free culture appreciate and enjoy different things. I know, this totally does not compute with your pre-fabricated world-view, and the threat of others not agreeing with you all but melts you down, but so it is and one must learn to accept that fact about the diversity of the world if one is to become a thinking and free adult. Given that it’s all somewhat difficult, though, there is always “the Left” and its orthodoxy of pre-stamped ‘superiority’for you to console yourself with. Have fun with that as you try to make your way through the world of adulthood. But realize that this is also a big part of the reason that you’re not doing anything of value, or making it with women. Give it some thought, Nicky.
joe Scarborough, the conservative host of MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,”
Anybody who thinks that Joe Scarborough is conservative needs their political radar re-calibrated.
“Clint, my hero, is coming across as sad and pathetic,” tweeted Ebert.
Noted right-winger Ebert, eh? Man, if the GOP has lost Ebert, they’ve lost America!
Blast From the Past @ 15 said:
“A short speech that for all the surface folksy awkwardness was as carefully constructed and professionally delivered as anything declaimed by Laurence Olivier.”
Correct! It was the anti-teleprompter speech. Deliberately impromptu. Eastwood was formerly mayor of Carmel and knew exactly what he was doing. The technique with the empty chair was inspired. A smoother Jimmy Stewart delivery style might have been better but Clint Eastwood is 82 years old and did the best he could.
Clint Eastwood was effective and demonstrated his patriotism.
Obama’s response to Mr. Eastwood: “This seat is taken”
Voters to 0bama: Not for much longer
Richard: Wake the hell up you sleepy head. Are you dull? What is said to the slow on the up take is: lead or get out of the way. Are you in the way? Sounds like it right now.
Maybe you are jealous of an 82 year actor. Come on admit it. You didn’t say all that but at least you can admire it. Is this really who you are? Hating the good and the truth? Confess or lose your place.
The beauty of Eastwood’s segment is that he turned Barack into nothing more than a man. He brought the Messiah out of the clouds, put him in a chair below him and then gave him the old man to young(er) man “you’ve screwed up” speech. Many people felt uncomfortable watching it because it WAS so very appropriate.
Damn, the quality of trolls tonight is pitiful. Things must be getting kind of bleak there at the OFA Concern Troll Squad. They don’t pay you guys enough to really give a damn, do they? You’re barely even trying (one sentence snark) or just plain incoherent. I’m imagining the conditions to be somewhat like the galley slave scene in Ben Hur.
talking points ? i just refer to scarborough comments, a GOP congressman conservative as GOv Romney.
82 yeas old and senile. with incorrect grammar.
teleprompter? oh you mean that thing that everyone except Rice used?
Nobody will forget Clint’s speech. He got the point across deftly and simply: it’s time to fire Obama. And, it made for great television. Politically speaking, despite the concerns of all the prissy political professionals, it was a grand-slam home run.
Ten Ring…
With the full mag…
The Wan = vaporware…
I’ll make my comments short. I agree with Clint Eastwood on several points. Here are two:
1. The legal citizens who vote are the true owners of this country. The politicians are employees of the citizens.
2. When the “political employees” do a horribly poor job they should be “Let go.”
In short, 0bama has done a hideously bad corrupt job. He should be let go.
Ahem…nick, when your head exploded earlier this evening a chunk of it landed on my lawn. Tried to save it for you but the neighbor’s cat beat me to it. Sorry about that.
I’m just glad Clint is on our side and had the guts to say so.
Eastwood combined Bob Newhart, Groucho Marx and Mark Twain, with a bit of Jimmy Stewart and a bit of Forrest Gump thrown in. It was a delicious performance and cut Obama to ribbons, just with a stiletto rather than an axe.
It was real. Had the feel of an unscripted moment in a highly scripted (necessarily) program. Dems can lament doddering old Clint’s performance from now until November, but the message he delivered to his legion of fans is, time for a change. Coming from this icon, that means something.
OH, that was scary for the first minute or so. Then I realized that Mr. Eastwood may not have had the smoothest moves, but his rifle’s aim never wavered: Pow! Pow! Pow! he potted that varmint time after time.
In fact, he reminded me of our granddad: he was a crack billiards player (scorned eight-ball as an easy game), and when he was an old dude, he was a little shaky too. But when he played billiards with Cousin Clay, he’d amble up to the table, trembling a bit, then get that cue in his hands, and damn if he didn’t steady right down and turn rock-solid, and POW! get the shot.
Cousin Clay said it was the darnedest thing he’d ever seen.
“82 yeas old and senile. with incorrect grammar.”
Two sentence fragments, misuse of full stops, incorrect capitalization and a spelling mistake, all within 8 words?
Look, big guy, we’re all pulling for you here, but you really gotta do a little better than this, yes?
Try, Nicky, try. I know the other kids all make fun of you for being “doughy”, “a gross loser” and “a mama’s boy” – and these are just the girls, mind you – but we’re not like that here. We want to see you grow up into something better than this. You can do it, Nick, you really can! But you have to start by being a little less afraid and by putting childish things away. Really, Nick. Just promise yourself to make a little start on this day by day, and before you know it, you’ll look back on how you were now and be mortified by it, just like we are.
We’re pulling for you, Nick!
Signed,
Your friends at the Belmont Club
If I can still “dodder” at 82 like Eastwood did last night, it’ll be worth having to wear Depends.
I’m sorry, this little read made no sense to me. And at the end…… I like Frodo and Sam. But what were you trying to say?
That video may end up being used in drama classes — at least, at those few institutions where the faculty are more interested in acting than politics.
Was Mr. Eastwood’s speech carefully scripted & rehearsed? Or was it off the cuff? Was the audience member’s audible shout near the end of “Go ahead, make my day” just someone who happened to be close enough to a microphone? Or was it planned? When one cannot tell for sure either way, that is high art!
Clint Eastwood’s name may not resonate with today’s youth the way it does with those of us who witnessed him in his prime. But the last election’s enthusiastic 18-year old Obumble supporter is today’s unemployed 22 year-old; and probably appreciates Mr. Eastwood’s tears on his behalf.
That’s a good quote from LOTR, but I think a better one is Sam’s soliloquy near the end of The Two Towers…”How could the world go back to the way it was, when so much bad had happened…I know now…they kept going…and it’s worth fighting…”
This viral video is also further evidence of the declining value of the Left’s domination of the Alphabet media. Technology has moved on, and Lefties find themselves with the finest cavalry in the world — facing tanks, machine guns, and fighter planes.
The Republican convention also featured a speech by the first elected female Hispanic Governor in the history of the United States — who happens to be a Republican. Even in her home state of New Mexico, the Alphabets managed not to cover it. Had it not been for the internet, the Lefties would have made sure that Clint Eastwood’s speech was a tree falling unheard in the forest.
“bizarre, stuttering, unable to speak coherently” – #35 bob c
“Wow they let him embarrass himself, he really is old and senile.” – #31 Nick
You guys WERE talking about Joe Biden, correct? Nice! You two nailed “ol’ Joe” – spot on. Or, where you talking about the Obumbler sans teleprompter?
As for Clint, he communicated more effectively in 10 minutes than ol’ Joe has in 40 years, or Obama in 4 years.
Still, old age has it’s ravages. Seems to me Clint is aging with grace, and the same glint of humor Reagan had at the same age.
Yes, Clint’s little speech was effective.
#20 – Derek:
The hero worship of 2008 was weird and frankly dangerous. Those movements never end well, and this one has faded away. Now it’s about what was done. Good.
I really agree with you on 2008! Obama’s speeches before huge adoring crowds reminded me of Nazi rallies in the 1930′s and I didn’t know which was worse, the guy making the speeches or the adoring crowds lapping it up. It was scary to see that in the USA. And I do hope you are right about it fading away. We have seen Obama’s hubris. I am waiting for his nemesis.
“bizarre, stuttering, unable to speak coherently” – #35 bob c
“Wow they let him embarrass himself, he really is old and senile.” – #31 Nick
THEREFORE, we should re-elect Obama.
Who’s bizarre and senile?
Bizarre, stuttering? Have you heard Obama without a teleprompter or when the script isn’t set for him? Ask him a question he isn’t expecting and he turns into an “Uh” generator.
Good job by Clint. He even threw a “Libertarian” in there for good measure.
I love Clint Eastwood so much. I was just watching Pale Rider and Absolute Power – and it’s as if he is a real hero! But he is my hero anyway – because his films are full of dignity and integrity; always about fighting for justice and truths against evil. And right now, in real life, Clint is fighting against the (Saudi/Qatar royals- sponsored Muslim Brotherhood Trojan horses) evil that has taken over the great White house and American Presidency! These most greedy Arab royals thought their dirty oil money based on Genocide, rape, sexual slavery and mass murder of the Jews (later on, on Christians and Hindus – that’s what led to the Crusades) since the Arabic Pedophile rapist created Islam, and now that these royals’ oil and fertile land are diminishing, they are again committing Genocide, whilst robbing, torturing, destroying and sexually enslaving women/girls in evil Saudi/Arabic veil on non-Arab Muslim/non-Muslim communities/heritage across Africa in OIL/LAND/MINERAL-RICH Tunisia, Mali, Morocco, Algeria, Libya, Nigeria,Kenya etc, and mid-East in Egypt, Iraq and now, Syria (next will be Lebanon), through their Muslim Brotherhood barbarian footsoldiers! And marching on into Europe through Bosnia, Macedonia, Germany and Albania.
Clint’s words were necessary, and red meat for the faithful. I hope they also turn a few undecideds our way…they likely will. The good guys needed something like this.
If there is any downside, it is that bit about the firing. That will strengthen the resolve of Obama’s core. The idea that the government checks – either direct or regulation mandated – might disappear matters more than literally anything to these types. More than their families. More than the country. You can see it in the trolls here. You can see it at the leftist sites. Obama’s core consists of those snivelling excuses for human beings whose religion and totality of being is the notion that the government will always guarantee their income stream, regardless of how hard they work or the true value of their “labor”. Clint just told them that that scenario will disappear if Romney is elected. Cue the exploding heads. Cue the first bout of anxiety in years, maybe decades.
Knowing these wastes of oxygen as we do, I think it’s safe to say that there is nothing in this universe that causes them more anxiety and fear than thinking about having the checks stop and facing employment in the dreaded private sector (if they can attain that, which many cannot), and that as a result they will be fighting with all they’ve got (with all that implies) for the next ten weeks to keep their easy jobs with good pay. Teachers, public works people, bureuacrats, regulators, welfare recipients, SSI recipients, and rent seekers have just been told that their easy thing will either become difficult or disappear, and worse, they may actually have to experience anxiety about performance parameters. How do you all think they will react?
We can also predict that these types will, being frenzied by their inability to deal with anxiety about government checkus interruptus, riot violently if Romney is elected. Not saying we shouldn’t forge forward, just that we should be prepared.
None of this is to take anything away from Clint and his wonderful contribution to our cause. This was a great night. Everyone needed to hear this. Just be prepared to hear the word “guarantee” from the mouths of Democrats and their toad boys in the MSM for the next few weeks – so often that your ears will bleed.
Dear Mr. Ebert: After “Beyond the Valley of the Dolls”, you have absolutely no right to criticize anyone else’s work for being tasteless and bizarre.
Thank you Mr. Eastwood, Mr. Rubio and Mr. Romney for not saying “folks” one time!
Sorry, I like Clint. And funny talking points are… well just that. But what this country needs is more Cris Cristies. Men and women who are not afraid to get down into the trenches and fight the entitlement crowd for the needed concessions that will bring about fiscal stability. I believe, over the years, people will look back at Christie’s speech and hear the roadmap to recovery. Forget about not mentioning Romney until the 20th minute. Christie is all about working hard as an elected official to solve the problems. Just my 2 cents
We all hear what we can hear. The critics here of Clint Eastwood seem to think that a message with moments of faltering delivery, intentional or not, somehow missed the mark. Those critics are saying they can only support the perfect. Alas, they will forever sit on the sidelines of life. This election requires everyone who cares to stand up and be counted. Carping doesn’t cut it.
Just finished reading 100+ comments posted to a Yahoo report on Clint Eastwood’s performance. At least 98% got it. This is not a conservative leaning site. Underscores just how effective it was. Killing Obama with wit and scorn. Will leave a mark.
To Bob C and Nick – Let me quote a line from Laurence Olivier: “It’s called acting, dear boy.”
And what a virtuoso performance it was! Absolute zingers delivered with deadly understatement, with tributes to Newhart, Rickles, some of his own characters, and a touch of Foster Brooks.
“They were truths that everyone who has ever worked knows but has somehow forgotten because they were so ordinary.”
The people on Scarborough’s show must be real upset because they consider Clint speech and the timing to be “…political malpractice…” for not including the Romney video in the 10 pm hour. “…instead we have Clint Eastwood telling off color jokes…” “absolutely disgusting”
Here we are in 2012, The Philistines have stole the ark of the covenaut ,God has allowed Saul to rule as King for 38 years and Samuel is looking ahead to 2016
in deep prayer to God
1 Samuel 16
over and out
…there were as many challenges in the Eastwood speech as the stones we stand on
Yes indeed, and just look how the punditry struggles!
Eastwood is old but fully in charge of himself; the speech was a performance, brilliantly executed, of old-but-wise, though not marred by sentimentality (unlike many, many others, say, On Golden Pond).
Most amazing of all is just how clueless the poohbahs of the MSM now are. Sure, knowing it and seeing it are always different, but the comments of the left media make you want to gnaw your own wrist. For entertainment, hunt down the opinions of today’s floating fat man, Michael Moore. Or, God help us, Roger Ebert; or about a zillion extraterrestrial pundits. Tone deaf and dumb as a plank, one and all, blown by yesterday’s wind as Ryan memorably said.
Clint just cemented a claim as the greatest living American director. He’s a pretty good actor, too.
I’m as anti-Obama as they come, but I have to say, it was a crappy speech.
This was as superb and as well delivered an application of Saul Alinsky’s Rule #5 as I have ever seen applied by any man. What the Left did to Bush over eight relentless years, Clint did in one night. To wit:
5. “Ridicule is man’s most potent weapon. It is almost impossible to counteract ridicule. Also it infuriates the opposition, which then reacts to your advantage.”
The Propaganda Ministry is in full meltdown against a national icon. And Eastwood doesn’t give a f**k. This was a speech by a Man in Full.
You don’t see the Foster Brooks touch until you go to the old “Man of the Hour” Roasts that were televised in the early Seventies. On YouTube. If you haven’t seen them, you need to. Especially Brooks, who usually comes on right before, or right after, Rickles.
Eastwood is perhaps the greatest icon of the boomer generation. We all know him and think of him fondly all the way back to Rowdy Yates. His emasculation of Obama was deft and effective. You can affirm this by perusing any left media today. They are universally panning Eastwood’s performance. So we know it was a direct hit.
Apart from the complaining about Eastwood’s speech, I do not see the vilification normally associated with MSM and Democrat response to someone who attacks Obama.
Maybe the Romney campaign did do something right – Eastwood attacks and gets the main points out and the MSM sleeps.
PS. Scarborough just said he knows a lot more about Romney than he did before. Maybe, but what does this say about his show’s research department.
There was some Good, some Bad, and some Ugly. In all I’d say in A Perfect World it was worth A Fistful of Dollars and his Obama jokes A Few Dollars More, though in Democratic circles he will be Unforgiven and they would love to Hang’em High.
Eastwood’s speech was just fringe on the icing on a three day bake. Once I landed and stayed on CSPAN, the convention was exactly what I wanted, ‘This is who we are’. Romney’s speech was exactly what it needed to be for me. In all, a three day success.
Now… back to work.
Silly rabbit, don’t watch the speaker, watch the crowd.
Can’t help but celebrate the presence of two powerful analytical minds nearby:
@77. waxwing01…. Rapture Rocket Bridge to Earth: We’re headed for your front lawn so move the plastic gnomes right now. Meanwhile, do share your thoughts about the abortion plank in Romney’s platform…Out.
@79. Keith: You ‘have to say’, eh? C’mon Demosthenes, no need to hold back — give us the fully deconstructed text, man, max. power. For the ages. We can take it. You know you can do it!
Clint’s speech was an example of a real “dog whistle” as his audience (conservatives) heard what he said and liberals just heard a stuttering old man.
Liberals are like that in that they only hear what they want to hear and only see what they want to see. They have trained themselves to live “double-speak”. They cry for more taxes on the rich while they do all that they can to shelter their money (see giveback.blog.com for details). We need to do all we can to expose this as the media will not.
Amazing column, Mr. Fernandez. Thank you very much.
By all the venomous spittle generated amongst the junior-college educated Hollywood Chattering Classes, the speech succeeded. Even Emir B. Hussein snarkily tweeted, after declaring he wasn’t watching the convention. Go figure, must have been too dark for the last few holes of golf.
I sort of cringed at the pace at the beginning…but it sort of grew on me. Then I heard it replayed and realized how on point most of it was.
It wasn’t a negative…it was permission and a little shove from the older generation to one of the younger generation to say–”Move on. You had your chance and it didn’t work. Time to give another guy the chance to correct this.”
The Eastwood performance was superb.
Just to set the trolls straight:
he knew exactly what he was doing;
exactly what he was saying;
exactly how it would appear to the viewers.
This is an extraordinary director and actor after all. He was in a role and I agree with those about Alinsky #5. Clint’s performance was as devastating as any of the pols speeches, more so.
Obama has governed on a scorched earth/spoils system. Eastwood (I confessed I missed the speeches) will inspire some and infuriate others… but anything he said that may come off as a policy shift from the dependency class as number one to wealth generation first cannot be held against Romney. Eastwood has had a way of filling men with Bravado and Pride as they walk out of movie theaters for two generations. This nation needs to man up and Clint is just the kind of guy to get the point across. Welcome to the real world the rest of us have been living.
Katharina Sri – Yeah, what you said!
68 @no mo uro
To confirm your hypothesis, one of the trending topics on Twitter last night was #ThingsRomneyWillTakeAway. Kinda says it all, doesn’t it.
What struck me most by Eastwood’s appearance was simply this: There was NO profanity, NO shrill screeching epithets, No rage contorted face with flying spittle, NO stupid little rhymes, NO charges of racism. There was only Clint Eastwood having fun. He quietly, like the gentleman I believe he is, demolished Obama and his disastrous regime. Best Line: “If someone doesn’t do their job, we let them go”. Or words to that effect, but note what was missing, as I’ve already mentioned. Thank you, Dirty Harry. YOU made MY day.
Maybe the Dems could take a cue and get an old liberal icon to speak. I wonder what Castro is doing or Piggie Chavez. Maybe they could use a hologram and have Lenin rise up out of the mausoleum in Red Square and give a shout out to Obama.
If they want to go cultural instead they could get Keith Richards or maybe Bernadine Dohrn could arrange a furlough from Pelican Bay for her old idol Charlie Manson. He would be a hoot with his impish laugh mouthing “Hope and Change”
Here’s a song to highlight Obama’s nomination speech.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_drEFOaPaK8
I thought his speech was like a Monk composition…atonal, dissonant, with clashing notes, silence and empty space, simple melodies. The flapping gums class mostly don’t get it.
@87 some…
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ichabod
Who does Clint Eastwood think he is? Having an empty chair next to him on stage while he pretended to talk to a non-existent Barack Obama supposedly sitting in that chair was racism. It was intended to make our President seem small, inconsequential, like a black man who doesn’t count — or counts at most as 3/5 of a person.
Hint-sarcasm
Read more of my article: http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2012/08/that_chair_was_racist_comments.html#disqus_thread#ixzz258L8Xa8d
Wretchard this is off topic but have you heard any first hand news or details about the great earthquake off the Philippines?
The trope of the empty chair standing for Obama was brilliant: a reminder that this president is AWOL from his job,too busy playing golf,and lickspittling funds from the marxoid hollywood trash,to meet with his jobs council, and help the 23 million Americans who remain unemployed .
The AP version of it had the headline “rambling and off-color” in the San Diego Union-Tribune. I suppose the writer of the article wasn’t listening.
Underneath the humor, Eastwood made three excellent points…
1. Americans own America. The people are the boss.
2. Politicians are their employees.
3. When employees doesn’t do their job, it’s best to let them go.
This is precisely the way to look at things. It cuts through mountains of bullshit.
After watching this speech a few times, I came to the conclusion that the “doddering old man” act was exactly that, an act. Clint didn’t use the teleprompter, he didn’t use note cards, he just went out there and spoke. When he went to make the points that he wanted to make, he spoke them loud and clear (we need to let them go). It was when he was “conversing” with that empty chair that he did stutter a little, perhaps not finishing a sentence or two before saying what he had to say; similar to an interviewer who’s improvising while talking to their guest, or when you’re just talking to a family or friend, or when you take TOTUS away from POTUS.
My youngest brother-in-law (with whom I get along famously despite his opposing political views) is a chef who’s had the privilege of cooking for Mr. Eastwood a time or two in California. His mind is still as sharp as a tack, and he didn’t come across as a “doddering old fool” then, either. Let the MSM attempt to throw Clint Eastwood under the senility bus, because it’s not going to work. Words can’t be unspoken, and they know it.
Love Clint Eastwood and what he has come to stand for. But I must say, listening to this on the radio, it did not come over well. You probably had to see it.
100. Morton:
Maybe he shouldnt care. Or limit his caring to the 2nd collection at Sunday Mass.
We were truly privileged to witness Eastwood’s performance. It was truly a tour de force.
– derivative of Ionesco.
86
“silly rabbit , don’t watch the speaker watch the crowds”
The Dark side of Gratitude
“The Father gives himself “with heaven and earth” at creation. Because of sin, this gift is “hidden in darkness and useless,” so the Son must give himself to reconcile us to the Father. Christ’s gift would be fruitless, however, unless the Spirit also gives himself to enable us to receive and retain it. Since all is gift, Luther taught, we are bound to be grateful, to “thank and praise, serve and obey.”
Today at First things by Peter J. Leithat
on the corruption of gifts
After watching Mr. Eastwood’s performance I was a little perturbed by all the stuttering and stammering. But in reflecting on it I find that he made his points quite clearly and without long pauses or stammers. I then thought back to interviews I had seen, some rather recent, wherein Mr. Eastwood spoke fluidly and with the same clarity displayed when he delivered each punch line in last night’s speech. The “doddering” old man routine was just that: a routine. He is not “senile” or bumbling.
In the blogs today I read that the “pundits” of the left are mostly upset and highly critical of this speech. But the response from actual people has been overwhelmingly positive. Mr. Eastwood knows his audience and he knows how to reach them. This is a skill he has been practicing for about 50 years now and he has the resume to proove that he is most skilled at it.
Harry Callahan was critized as a “Fascist” cop and I doubt that a lot of leftists bought tickets to see “The Good, The Bad and the Ugly”. But millions of actual people did buy tickets. Mr. Eastwood spoke to the millions and ignored the others and the millions heard him. Well done, sir.
Damn good speech, Mr. Eastwood! Nice delivery. Not mean-spirited. Honest.
Well done.
MOST importantly. We are all TALKING about it. All of us, left (aka wrong), correct (aka right) and mushy minded (aka independents). By the end of the day the entire sentient population will know about, and likely have seen or heard. The mere fact that Clint has everyone talking is the real tour de force.
Kinuachdrach @ 60 asked:
“Was Mr. Eastwood’s speech carefully scripted & rehearsed? Or was it off the cuff? Was the audience member’s audible shout near the end of “Go ahead, make my day” just someone who happened to be close enough to a microphone? Or was it planned? When one cannot tell for sure either way, that is high art!”
Those were the same questions that I was asking myself. Someone or some group of people in the RNC made the decision that Clint Eastwood should make this speech. Matt Damon or Tim Robbins would never have been considered or promptly refused had they offered to make the speech. Standard procedure would have required that Clint Eastwood provide a written copy of the text prior to making the speech. This means that either the speech was carefully scripted and rehearsed –or– Eastwood indicated that the speech would be impromptu –and– the RNC had guts enough to accept his conditions.
I do not believe the speech was carefully scripted and rehearsed. Eastwood is good but he is not that good. Someone in the RNC showed incredible daring by allowing an 82 year old actor to make an impromptu speech. It also occurs to me that someone also did the follow through analysis. They knew the moonbats heads would explode after this speech. They connected the dots and realized that the moonbats would slander Eastwood as a senile old fool. Since Eastwood is an American icon, any slander directed against Eastwood would fall back upon the slanderer. Obama’s handlers have no obvious response to Eastwood’s speech, e.g. are they going to have a liberal comedian make a parody of Eastwood’s speech? The politics behind this was extremely subtle. I am not a Romney fan but I was very impressed!! Defeating a devious and unethical demagogue like Obama will require subtle politics. This was a good start.
This was a mistake. Don’t fool yourselves. The delivery was poor and Clint looked tired and old.
After watching this speech a few times, I came to the conclusion that the “doddering old man” act was exactly that, an act.
It’s possible… sometimes people do that.
They have also baited the democrats into a “war on the elderly” with their predictable comments. This is why psychology should be outlawed — it’s a bigger weapon than guns.
American’s love an underdog… Are things so bad that 0bama may become an underdog? Thus drawing out those downtrodden Demoncrats enough to get 0bama his second turn? This election has turned into “Mitt’s to lose”, things maybe going a little “to well” for Mitt/Ryan and you know one thing Establishment Republicans do best is … “Screw up a good thing”! I think 0bama still has away to go before he becomes a real “underdog” or at least an “Underdog” that enough Americans will feel bad enough for to vote for him again, I do think a radical event is going to happen that may solidify 0bama’s Demoncrats but judging from 0bama’s inner circle and their/his past handling of those types of events they will most likely screw it up in a major way… I see Biden leaving the ticket and even possible BH0 do’n an LBJ leaving it wide open for a Hildabeast triumphant return from where ever she is…
I don’t think a veteran actor like Eastwood would get up on stage without having a script and having rehearsed it fifty times.
My guess is he meant to stutter a little, but maybe got a little more of that from himself than he really wanted. Take two. It also broke up the iron rule of the convention, a man talking to the masses – he was talking one on one with Harvey there. That was what I think shocks many observers, the break in protocol.
It drew some attention, so I think it nets out a positive anyway. He’s pulling a real life Gran Torino here, and it worked, and you’ve got to salute that.
s @ 110: I doubt that a lot of leftists bought tickets to see “The Good, The Bad and the Ugly”.
Hollywood product was not politicized in those days, a leftist might go to root for the ugly.
I’d say Hollywood is much more politicized today than even during the McCarthy hearings – and now it’s all voluntary!
“Off color jokes.” There was another undertext to the speech, which this reaction just underscores.
Liberals are now the stuck-up prudes, the blue-nosed scolds, the terminally un-hip. Their last two presidents have been caricatures of “cool” from two different extremes, the sax-and-shades wearing Slick Willie overgrown child act of Bill Clinton, and the aloof, Other-ly enigma of Barack Obama. Those two men represent liberal aspirations to cool, but the reality is they are from the party of un-cool these days. It’s liberals who have given us cumbersome rules for college make-out sessions and who scold us for what we eat and drink. It’s liberals who can’t take a joke and who propagate speech codes and blow their gaskets at dissent.
I used to tell a joke, that swing voters in America vote based on fear. They vote for Republicans when they’re afraid the Democrats are going to raise taxes to 113% and surrender to the French. And they vote Democrat when they’re afraid Republicans are going to outlaw sex and good music.
But that joke is half a generation out of date now, and Clint Eastwood just hammered it home. It’s Republicans who will laugh at jokes and Democrats who will tut-tut. And the jokes were delivered by a Hollywood icon who said Hollywood isn’t as liberal as people think. Eastwood was poking holes in the liberal facade of “cool”, adding a few well-places stones to the coming preference cascade.
My impression was that it was an act – calculated to make the attacks not feel bullying or bad hearted. I also think it was an innovative tactic – I’ve never seen anything.like it at a convention. I have to say it is one more sign to me that Romney is willing to innovate and take risks – just what we want in a President. Personally, he comes across as a risk averse establishment character. But he is not acting like one and that could get him elected.
On the subject of subtle politics: If the stock market does not crash then the probability of Obama getting reelected is about 50/50. If the stock market crashes then Romney is assured victory.
Bernanke just reminded us that the economy is a mess and will probably do QE-3 (heaven help us). After making this announcement, Bernanke had his minions in the PPT goose the DJIA by 124 points with funny money. This is reminiscent of the Soviet Union’s Chairman of the Presidium telling the Supreme Soviet that the last Five Year Plan didn’t work and then precisely on-queue receiving thunderous applause.
We have become a caricature of the Soviet Union. Can Bernanke continue to prop up the markets through money printing until his patron Obama is reelected? The nightmare scenario of Obama being reelected followed by full scale economic collapse seems a very real possibility.
Different topic: It’s interesting that the Obama campaign workers have ramped up the trolling at Belmont Club. Was their contract written such that they begin after the Republican convention?
Obama Trolls: The use of sock puppets is annoying. Please show some professionalism.
I was watching on C-SPAN. It was difficult to hear clearly. If all you got was the visual impression, I can understand some of the immediate negative commentary. The sound is much better on YOUTUBE and there you can see that this act is one for the ages. Thank you Mr Eastwood. God Bless.
If you’ve seen and heard Clint speak recently, you’ll know that last night was indeed acting. This year at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro Am, he joined the commentators at length on live TV (as he does each year). He was funny, interesting, clearly well-spoken, and very obviously coherent. He’s no doddering fool. Last night was funny, but with deadly serious points made. Most that didn’t like it were stung because Clint hit all the marks. Be prepared to hear about how angry, white, old, etc Clint is, and how he was never a good actor or director anyway.
Shorter deal, keep it simple.
To the nerd heard in D.C..
“Mr. Pres. have your wife, family and staff” ready at first light.”
To the wranglers,
“Get’m up, move’m out.”
Some people heard ‘stuttering’. I heard humble, not pushy, and ‘you’ll have to listen more carefully’. Great technique! Like whispering or talking softly, he deftly required his audience to Listen. The best line for me was about owning America. And while I heard the greatness in those words, I also heard the responsibility. The President did not do his job, so it is our job to fire him, after all he does work for us. And he’s not working. Deftly done. Intelligently done – which explains why there are so many on the left that just don’t get it.
You can tell how devastatingly affective it was by all the Raw-hides in the corrupt media.
Clint said exactly what he wanted to say..the way he wanted to say it. He was illustrating that plain talk about simple concepts can be done with less than serious demeanor and still make genuine sense. He disassembled Barack Obama and held up each piece like a golfer examining a golf ball to see if it’s cut or scuffed….and pointed out marks on each one.
Clint’s feigned senility was also a demonstration….that no amount of sophistry or media bias can hide the fact that inside Barack Obama’s suit is an empty place…and that he, for one, knew it.
I think Clint was making a point to his friends in Hollywood as well. That point is that he cannot be blackballed and intimidated….and he let us know that others agree with him. Hopefully, they will follow his lead…Too bad the only other name he was free to share was Jon Voigt..whom he identifies with. But obviously he was respecting the privacy of others.
I haven’t laughed that hard in a very long time. Clint Eastwood is the first and possibly the only celebrity who has lampooned Barack Obama in public…and he did it by telling the simple truth about the man…nothing more. How fitting.
This performance is a masterwork of irony.
The fact that the leftists do not understand it is very sad: their souls live under a shadow, a cast-iron spiritual lid.
I always laugh when someone on the local radios makes a good joke about the conservatives, and I laughed when Obama described… me… “clinging to guns and Bible”: it is correct …and it is funny when you say it like that.
The totalitarians do not laugh, they live already in the hellish “soviet union” of their dreams, where the only jokes allowed are those told by the bosses.
A masterwork always acts as a mirror…
Uncle Jefe @ 122 said:
“If you’ve seen and heard Clint speak recently, you’ll know that last night was indeed acting. This year at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro Am, he joined the commentators at length on live TV (as he does each year). He was funny, interesting, clearly well-spoken, and very obviously coherent.”
Giving a sensitive political speech before a huge audience that was nationally televised would be incredibly frightening. Clint Eastwood is a brilliant actor but he looked nervous. It’s possible that the speech was prepared and rehearsed but Eastwood stumbled because he was nervous.
I’ve always been impressed by stand-up comedians who performed before live audiences. It only takes one little blunder and the comedian is “dying” on the stage. Years ago, I had the chance to watch Red Skelton perform live on the stage. He was amazing. Oddly enough, most of his charm did not come through the television screen (he had animal magnetism). Red Skelton was first and foremost a vaudeville actor who performed best before a live audience.
YO, BARACK!
You’ve got to ask yourself one question. Do I feel lucky?
Well do you punk?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A732Cuuo2tI
My gal and I knew immediately something was up or something was wrong. For three days each and every person appeared with perfect hair- perfect stage management. Clint Eastwood ambled in with his doofus hair sticking up from the back of his head like a terrible accident happened in the ready-room. Just before he hit the lights, did Clint reach up there and grab his hair? Totally mess it up? Doesn’t he know better than that? Hey, is he o-l-d all of a sudden?
He had us going. Did he cross up the RNC by tossing an approved script and thinking he can ad-lib? Screen actors are terrible public speakers, right? He’s over his head. He’s a loose cannon.
Hey wait a minute. That was brilliant! So many layers. Clint Eastwood directed that. He Built It. Clint showed us A Free Man. He is dangerous! Free speech, more free than any from the RNC. Clint spoke for us. Thanks, man.
Well what’s it gonna be, punk? Go ahead, make my day.
120. Eggplant
Trolls are interesting. Normally trolls dwell in isolated rocks, mountains, or caves, live together in small family units, and are rarely helpful to human beings. Periodically they visit the internet where, as we all know, they post inflammatory, extraneous, or off-topic messages as a way of fishing for emotional responses.
They also have a cute song:
I’m a troll, fol de rol
I’m a troll, fol de rol
I’m a troll, fol de rol
and I’ll eat you for my supper!
It’s fun to reply to a troll so that the emotional response is squirted out from them instead of their intended target. Irritating a troll a day keeps the doctor away.
When he said “We own this country” he could as well have added:
“And that house you’re living in… That’s not yours. So get your feet off the furniture.”
@#72 Anglo Saxon- The libs are all about style, not substance. They’re smarter than everyone else so anyone who doesn’t deliver complete eloquence is clearly not smarter than them.
Except for Joe Biden, of course.
Personally, I didn’t find the speech all that effective but I’m perfectly prepared to admit I’m not the average spectator. Technically, I thought the “Make My Day” line wasn’t really the best from Clint’s work in this situation. I thought “A man’s got to know his limitations” from Magnum Force actually fit better.
Can’t stop smiling.
I admit I came into the speech late and was a bit concerned that Eastwood was really losing it. You guys saw the whole thing and came away with something different. I’ll make sure to find the whole speech and give it a watch.
I can see where the libs ignored the real lines Clint nailed them on, Obozo failed, they also ignore reality. What they can’t stand and have no defense for, and what also has gotten way under there skin, was the ulimate insult to Bozo. It was when Clint had Obozo cussing at him. That puts the high and mighty Obozo right where everyone knows he belongs. Just an incompetent fool who can only resort to tell you to go #@*& yourself. Obozo has no response for his utter incompetence. All he can tell those of us who own American is go @#*& yourself. The libs have no reponse for that. It was the home run that had me cracking up. The great god reduce to cussing at us, just like the idiot trolls on this site, reduced to idiot reponses.
From the camera angle I was getting, for a long time it was not clear to me that Clint was talking to the empty chair. At first, I thought he was responding to actual people offstage, who were getting embarrassed at his halting, rambling stuff. Eventually, he got around (I think) to making his points, but it was also damned close to gibberish at times. Helped make my night, though.
Well I guess thats the Alzheimers vote nailed.
The speech hit the mark perfectly. Thank you, Mr. Eastwood. It’s sad how all the left can do is resort to personal attacks about his age although they have no choice….. everything Mr. Eastwood said is 100% correct.
…. support the Islamists at every opportunity! Like Christie does.
You need to learn a bit more about your hero, bud.
You know Eggplant, that is always a possibility…however, from the regular public speaking (and performing) that I do, I know how potentially frightening it can be. So I go in believing that the audience is with me, that they want me to succeed. Clint, with his lifetime of acting, public speaking (both scripted and non-scripted, as in live tv golf appearances), daily interactions with fans, etc, has proven to be eminently comfortable in the spotlight, and he damned well knows that the audience is with him, especially last night. Sure, we’re all wanting to believe that Clint pulled off something pretty crafty, but having heard and seen him unscripted in front of millions quite recently, I’m comfortable that he accomplished exactly what he set out to do.
To those of you who didn’t get the act….
Do you really that Clint Eastwood, or the handlers at the event, would let him go out on stage with his hair fuzzed up like that accidentally?
Think about it.
It’s called acting, complete with costume.
It is going to be interesting to see how Hollywood reacts to this. He has them stuck between a rock and a hard place – if they criticize him, they are validating the theme that they are ultra-liberal, and out-of-touch with a lot of America, and they will be “picking” on the elderly. If they don’t criticize him, they are not responding to his very surgical disemboweling of Pres Obama’s administration.
exhelodrvr @ 142:
“It is going to be interesting to see how Hollywood reacts to this. He has them stuck between a rock and a hard place – if they criticize him, they are validating the theme that they are ultra-liberal, and out-of-touch with a lot of America, and they will be “picking” on the elderly”
The Hollywood crowd are a bunch of scorpions (think Matt Damon, Tim Robbins, Ed Asner, George Clooney, James Cameron, etc.). They’ll get into a nice little self-reinforcing rhythm about how Eastwood is a senile old Nazi. This will not adversely impact Eastwood because he’s retired and lives in Carmel. Also, having them rant against Eastwood might actually be a “good thing” because it will show how decoupled they are from main stream American public opinion.
Another possible good outcome maybe the few conservatives who are part of the Hollywood community will come out of the closet. That’s actually a stretch, because the system there punishes anyone who does not bow down to the various Leftist idols. Only the most successful Hollywood actors have sufficient economic/employment security that they could speak out against the Left.
Uncle Jeff @ 140,
I’ve done a little bit of public speaking myself and have a hard time not peeing my pants. It amazes me, how entertainers like Clint Eastwood can do what they do. I suspect the secret behind Obama’s success at public speaking is that he’s a narcissist and simply doesn’t see his audience as human beings.
This is funny
I sure hope Mitt has his policy ready from day one! Mitt ain’t gonna get no “honeymoon” because I am sure 0bama and his sorry a$$ loser’s will do their utmost to leave as much a shambles as they can… Does anyone think 0bama may do something between Nov 7th 2012 and January 19th 2013 to get revenge on America for kick’n his A$$ out?
An Instalanche really does bring them out.
Was this a sucker punch designed to make the Donks attack old people? Possibly but don’t assume they’ll face blowback. Last time they heaped abuse on John McCain, even ridiculing his disabled arm, and the elderly bought it. This time the RNC should have a follow up ready to respond to the attacks.
Yes, Eggplant, the narcissist obammy…
That’s why guys like Clint can pull the spotlight lifestyle off so (seemingly) easily. At the end of the day, he realizes he’s really just another Joe, one who’s worked hard and sacrificed, and also understands he’s been blessed. And he comes across as just that, because he’s comfortable within himself. He doesn’t care what the naysayers think, unlike the empty chair. What he did last night took a lot of courage, not for getting up in front of a huge audience, but for taking a stand for his country, consequences be damned. And the consequences in his business are potentially very damaging, even for a guy who’s potentially at the end of his career. Clint stood up and spoke for every American who’s spent the last decade being browbeaten by hollywood, the lamestream media, college professors, hell ALL of those libs who feel they have the right to speak at the top of their lungs in public about how stupid anyone is that doesn’t believe exactly what they believe.
He removed the scarlet letter.
The dam is cracking.
You’re right. It wasn’t the speech of someone who was running for office. It was a guy barely holing his own against an empty chair.
Only the lefty loonies in our country will criticize Clint’s speech and the crotchety Eberts of the media world will unsuccessfully try to throw him under Obama’s made-in-Canada bus. The empty chair bit was great, especially the parts where he told the chair that he couldn’t repeat what the chair told him to do. Ridicule and satire at its finest. Hope Romney and Ryan were watching and paying close attention to how they can treat the Democrap ticket in public. Alinsky’s rule #5, indeed!
The speech was dramatic because of who it was, his stature in Hollywood, and the build-up it got throughout the day. But although his message was credible, and the concept of an imaginary conversation was original, it was in some respects disappointing because of his halting delivery. Actors reciting lines are not the same as impromptu repartee from a fast-on-his-feet comedian. Imagine the difference if this had been Dennis Miller instead of Clint Eastwood…
Clint Eastwood was great. Besides, liberals really can do that to themselves.
Notice how the concern here is about the delivery, but not the content?
I guess you could dis B.B. King too because he plays sitting in a chair rather than in a way to fullfill the expectations of non playing teeny boppers.
And all those new posters…
To Gensert the Scorn – “Who does Clint Eastwood think he is?”
He’s an actor, you may have heard of him before. You are on the rotted edge of a fascist ideology that is based on the worst of racist hatred. The same people who used to call me out for voting republican are now calling me a racist for the same voting pattern. I explained to my close black friends that I was not voting against him because he was a black man but because, not only was he the most liberal senator in Washington, but one of the least experienced one and I didn’t think it was his time. I hated McCain and may well have voted for Hillary. But as I warned my friends, Barrack was going to set their brand back for decades. Got it, without the GOP, it will be decades. Now I vote the party line and I am a racist. yeah, FU!
The next DNC candidate will be a disabled, lesbian, Muslim, Mexican. You can be sure that I got two out of four on that.
Ever since Andrew Jackson and the loss of their slaves, the Democratic party has been the party of “we call everyone else racists so we can’t be racists”. Black people who side with their former owners do not deserve liberty but if they try to steal it from everyone else they are on the side of satanic evil. Spit in God’s eye and get a free piece of candy. Serve your master well, you are not on the side of good anymore and your past hurt will no longer serve to excuse inexcusable hatred and and loathing.
The people badmouthing Eastwood’s “speech” remind me of movie critics, those denizens of an alternate universe that heap scorn on movies only to see those films become very popular.
Best acting Eastwood has ever done. The only thing missing was;
Head ‘em up
Round ‘em up
Move ‘em out
RAWHIDE!
Those of you that think he was senile didn’t get it.
Watch again;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qiHNVYRTKP8
You are watching one of the world’s most famous actors proving he is also one of the worlds best actors.
87. some of my best friends
Can’t help but celebrate the presence of two powerful analytical minds nearby:
@77. waxwing01…. Rapture Rocket Bridge to Earth: We’re headed for your front lawn so move the plastic gnomes right now. Meanwhile, do share your thoughts about the abortion plank in Romney’s platform…Out.
@79. Keith: You ‘have to say’, eh? C’mon Demosthenes, no need to hold back — give us the fully deconstructed text, man, max. power. For the ages. We can take it. You know you can do it!
From the year 2000 to 2006 , I was making it clear on the internet people were free to worship Satan The Devil. Satan and I were aware this could lead to the opening of the book of Revelation or a glimise inside the book . Before everyone here I was for Mitt Romney becoming your King way back in 2008 election before wackos began to lust for power and throw rings of power in the air and they would leap off cliff falling into volcano fighting for ring of power around their fingers
So we see Jesus was right broad and spacious is the road leading to hell and many are on this road. This is their FREEDOM to be on the road of destruction
The stealing of the Ark of the Covenant is out of the road leading to destruction as we see in Raiders of the lost ark movie when Nazi lust for this
What to do besides close your eyes , True saint wipe the dust off your feet and walk away and Let the True God take care of the future
And arrogance blather from movie actors not do anything for ye
so no need for me to post here anymore
Rawhide
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mMfMXCyr9z0
Rawhide Lyrics
Rollin’ Rollin’ Rollin’
Keep movin’, movin’, movin’,
Though they’re disapprovin’,
Keep them doggies movin’ Rawhide!
Don’t try to understand ‘em,
Just rope and throw and grab ‘em,
Soon we’ll be living high and wide.
Boy my heart’s calculatin’
My true love will be waitin’, be waiting at the end of my ride.
Move ‘em on, head ‘em up,
Head ‘em up, move ‘em out,
Move ‘em on, head ‘em out Rawhide!
Set ‘em out, ride ‘em in
Ride ‘em in, let ‘em out,
Cut ‘em out, ride ‘em in Rawhide.
Rollin’, rollin’, rollin’
Rollin’, rollin’, rollin’
Rollin’, rollin’, rollin’
Rollin’, rollin’, rollin’
Rawhide!
Rollin’, rollin’, rollin’
Though the streams are swollen
Keep them dogies rollin’
Rawhide!
Rain and wind and weather
Hell-bent for leather
Wishin’ my gal was by my side.
All the things I’m missin’,
Good vittles, love, and kissin’,
Are waiting at the end of my ride
CHORUS
Move ‘em on, head ‘em up
Head ‘em up, move ‘em on
Move ‘em on, head ‘em up
Rawhide
Count ‘em out, ride ‘em in,
Ride ‘em in, count ‘em out,
Count ‘em out, ride ‘em in
Rawhide!
Keep movin’, movin’, movin’
Though they’re disapprovin’
Keep them dogies movin’
Rawhide!
Don’t try to understand ‘em
Just rope, throw, and brand ‘em
Soon we’ll be living high and wide.
My hearts calculatin’
My true love will be waitin’,
Be waitin’ at the end of my ride.
Rawhide!
Rawhide!
source: http://www.lyricsondemand.com/tvthemes/rawhidelyrics.html
Hey #148 -Too dumb to breath- “a guy barely holing his own…” Was that a Freudian slip where you reveal the latest deviant practice of one of your constituency groups? Now that you’ve tried to use teabagging as a slur of the right instead of a “normal” practice of the lavender mafia; maybe holing is the next big thing on the coasts.
Been several (or more) entertainment suicides in the past week or two. The thought occurs to wonder if the conservative refusal to spend money on progressive / hip hop “entertainment” projects is producing bankruptcy and despair among the Hollywood left. If so, it’s about time.
Besides the predictable “doddering old man” lame arrows, here’s the thing that surprised me. Surveying the leftist blogs and cesspools of knowledge commentary on Clint Eastwood’s classic and so-on-target lampoon (It must have given even Chris Matthews an extra tingle, if he would just admit it)– I found that a lot of them thought the speech was CONFUSING!
I mean, they really seem sincerely, genuinely confused.
Now, I know that there are a lot of dim bulbs in their crowd, but what could they possibly have been confused by?
When you are taken to the woodshed and “let go”, even its by a doddering old man (he’s not, by the way — I’m nearly as old as he is and we’ll let you know when we’re feeling all doddery), that seems pretty clear to me.
Anyway, since when is it the left’s job to critique the method of delivery of any speaker at the RNC convention? They should feel lucky that they even get to listen — otherwise they would be voting in a complete vacuum this November — without benefit of intelligent life whatsoever.
It was an improvisational jazz riff. Beautiful!
SCENE: An old man talking to a empty chair.
TAKE AWAY: “This is our country”!
RESULT: A devastating RIGHT CROSS.
John Ross
GO AHEAD, OBAMA; MAKE HIS DAY.
@Tharkun….you are absolutely right. Sure he didn’t always deliver his lines like a Million Dollar Baby but a Gran Torino in need of some repair but when his lines hit the mark they landed with Sudden Impact and ripped into Obama with Magnum Force. He left the Democrats Every Which Way But Loose.
I quibble over only one item in the commentary under the youtube player. The guy who sits in the corner office is usually one of the “big shots” and usually a corporate elitist. They seldom share folksy advice with the “worker bees”
164. Mr. G;
And I’m lookin’ for Obama to leave the White House looking for “A Few Dollars More”.
This just occurred to me earlier today.
Clint Eastwood just did to Barack Obama exactly what Sarah Palin did to him four years ago. He came on stage, just like she did, and absolutely lit into him. Insulted him, mocked him, cut him down with withering sarcasm, and walked off with a smile.
And now liberals are reacting to Eastwood exactly the same way that they reacted to Palin four years ago. They stayed up all night tearing into him like a pack of hyenas. Obama played right into Eastwood’s hands with that Tweet, sending the go-ahead signal to his followers to launch a hate rampage against Eastwood, which is exactly what they are doing.
So they are doing that, but more important is what they are not doing. 24 hours ago, liberals all expected to be tearing down and attacking Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan. But instead they are attacking Clint Eastwood and completely ignoring Romney and Ryan! Romney and Ryan are getting a honeymoon that no one expected they would get because the liberal attack dogs are focused on Eastwood!
But Clint Eastwood is not part of the ticket! The endless liberal assault on Sarah Palin clearly hurt the McCain/Palin ticket, because she was the VP candidate, but no amount of Eastwood-hatred will hurt the Romney/Ryan ticket. It’s all wasted effort!
Clint Eastwood has done the real-life equivalent of riding into town, firing some shots in the air, and getting all the outlaws to chase him out into the desert, where they search for him in the sand and rocks with blood on their mind. Meanwhile, things are nice and quiet back in town …
Genius.
#InsertChair – Obama Now Identified as “Empty Seat” through Eastwood Magic
167 @jms
That’s exactly what I thought as well. Clint knew exactly what he was doing. Or to put it in another (RAYCISSSSSS!) turn of phrase, “Please don’t throw me into the briar patch, Br’er Buraq!”
I am surprised that not one of these left wing geniuses was able to draw the comparison between the empty chair on the stage and the empty suit in the white house. Sometimes subtlety is lost on the brilliant people we have trying to do our thinking for us in the media.
Despite the content of his speech, Eastwood came across as senile. For Romney’s people to have allowed him to speak was either cruel or incompetent.
@Annoy Mouse
I believe that you may mean Andrew Johnson, since Black men were only permitted to vote in a VERY few northern states in Andrew Jackson’s presidency. Andrew Johnson supported a VERY generous system of pardons for ex-Confederated and opposed Negro sufferage so he is not a good fit. A better president is Lyndon Johnson who passed the Voting Right Bill over a Southern fillibuster with GOP votes. If the Civil Rights leadership was serious about helping their people they would give the Democrats a choice: reign in the teacher unions or lose the Afro-American vote. The most import thing for the Afro-Americans is education and they are NOT getting it in the public schools. Without a monolithic Afro-American vote the Democrats are dead as a national party. It strongly appears that the Civil Rights leadership have sold out their people.
I am surprised that no “liberals” have commented on this; maybe only right wing people normally read this blog. As for the method of Clint Eastwood’s delivery, perhaps he is losing it, perhaps he is acting; I rather suspect he is acting, and doing it very well. What I have a problem with is that he is “assuming” the President’s responses in the empty seat falsely, and does not bother to use the ACTUAL positions of the President. Of course, that is what the entire GOP campaign this year is doing anyway, so Clint is doing it more humorously. I feel that the empty chair routine is appropriate when the interviewee REFUSES to show up. Did anyone INVITE the President to be interviewed by Clint? He would have been DELIGHTED to show up for real, except the Secret Service would not have allowed it: unlike most venues for Presidential appearances, this convention explicitly ALLOWED delegates and visitors on the floor to carry guns! I hope and pray that no one involved seriously in politics would try anything violent, and obviously no one tried to attack THEIR candidate (big risk, if Obama supporters were as inclined to use “Second Amendment” remedies as the right wing has portrayed themselves), but the Secret Service would not have allowed the risk. Still the President would have been happy to debate via video link, for example. So the whole purpose of the empty chair routine is to FABRICATE the other person’s responses to his questions. Implying that our President would stoop to telling his election opponent to (blank) himself is both false and disrespectful. And, accusing the President of not doing enough to stimulate the recovery, with the opposition from DAY ONE (secret meeting during his inaugural ball, and the Speaker saying his top priority was not to help Americans but to make sure this President would not be re-elected, by SABOTAGING the recovery on purpose), this is like the Menendez brothers begging for mercy because they were orphans (for those who do not remember, they were the wealthy twin brothers who killed their parents in the 1980′s)! I noted that most of the posters could not show any concrete FACTUAL evidence that the President has not accomplished anything, they just made up silly nicknames. If you want nicknames, assuming you have read Catch-22, the GOP candidates are Milo and Yossarian in my opinion (I am not sure which is which yet). They want working Americans to think they are on their side, but they only want to outsource all our jobs and leave us without even the support system that we will need all the more after they take over. They are like the CEO that grabbed 11 of the 12 cookies on the plate, then told one of his friends to watch out, the third guy wants to get yours!
Mr. Richardson, for such an erudite gentleman, I’m surprised you’ve never heard of the concept of a “paragraph”.
Choom Gang Alumnus Rolled by Jazz Master
It has to be said over and over again: Clint Eastwood is a genius. In fact that should be the new mantra for all the conservative (!!!) “pundits” (???) on the tube and in print who were at the same time so obtuse and dim, while also so skittish and prissy that they just didn’t get how great he was in Tampa. George Willism must be contagious. I won’t even mention the leftie Obamabots both in and out of the MSM — they’ve all gone over the hill to psychosisville.
Mr. Eastwood was at once so cool, so witty, and so relentlessly devastating I readily and happily admit I was dazzled. Then I went back and watched again, and then once more, and what he did strikes me more and more like a jazz improvisation, the elegance and inventiveness of Dexter Gordon, and the edgy drive of Sonny Rollins. Running through it was the “conversation” with the “invisible president” (what the hell has he been doing for four years?! so ineffective it’s as though he’s not even there, he’s invisible, the empty suit, the empty chair), and then intertwined with it the meditations/observations and riffs on the invisible one’s failed policies, the plight in which we find ourselves in America, and what to do about it. Witty, charming, laid back, droll, smart, mocking (you can still use the plane….just a smaller one….not such a gas guzzler….you are, after all, an ecological man…” Ouch!), needling, tough, pragmatic, real, edgy, courageous. He made it seem so easy, effortless, yet his speech really packed a punch — and demolished the Punahou Kid.
The mastery of Mr. Eastwood’s creation in Tampa put me in mind of Laurence Olivier’s Oscar acceptance speech all those years ago that so stunned a young Jon Voigt in the audience. The great difference to Olivier’s turn at the Oscar’s is, of course, the great importance of the content of Mr. Eastwood’s speech. He did America a great, bold, and brave service in Tampa. Mr. Romney should put the video on a loop and play it constantly for everyone in his campaign as inspiration from a master. And then go forth and conquer!
Ah, the empty chair. Remember when Doonesbury used to use a motif for Republican presidents? A white feather, or a waffle? When it came to Obama he couldn’t even bring himself to portray the Sacred Countenance, so he just went with silhouettes or voice bubbles emerging from office windows, but maybe the Empty Chair will help him carry on the tradition.
I first saw this speech live with my 19 year old son being dragged to the television from his sports video to “watch” the convention and a great old American hero talk to us about the Republican Presidential candidate. No sooner had I finally dragged my kid into the room to watch Marco Rubio and Mr Eastwood introduce Mitt Romney, then this presentation begins. I was embarassed. Now after watching it alone on the U-Tube video at the beginning of this article and reading the wonderful comments, I get it. It is actually a masterpiece, which is not surprising considering the source.
Seems futile to comment this late, and after our host has moved on, so to speak. Probably five will read this. I live in Madison WI, so you may imagine what I have been hearing about doatering Clint and his speech. They will never know what hit them. Didn’t they notice how the money lines were stated in a clearer unhesitating voice?
The Romney campaign should make a series of adds depicting the “successes” of Obama, and conclude each with a voice over, “When someone does not do the job, we got to let them go.”
I came back here one day later to read the latest comments and I find that the leftists still don’t get the size of the masterwork of acting by Eastwood.
This tells us how dangerous they are.
They are genuinely stupid.
It is scary.
#173: “Implying that our President would stoop to telling his election opponent to (blank) himself is both false and disrespectful.”
You must have missed the two occasions that Obama, while campaigning in 2008, not so subtly displayed the middle finger not once but twice (at Hillary & Dubya) during his stump speeches.
I was streaming the convention on c span and had left the room just prior to Mr Eastwood’s presentation. When I came back, he was talking to the chair and I have to admit I was embarrassed for him and had to leave the room. After watching and reading that pundits said he had to be suffering from dementia and how embarrassing it must have been for the candidates, I really wanted to see the whole speech. Thanks for posting the video. After seeing the whole thing in context I can understand why they are so intent on marginalizing him and making him out to be a doddering fool. Voters who are on the fence for Obama might see it and say, “you know, Clint’s right. If you haven’t done the job, maybe it is time to give someone else a chance.”
jms @167:
…Giving the sheriff and good townsfolk time to man up, arm up, and set up crossfire ambushes from atop their homes…For the parched and bloody few outlaws who managed to escape Clint’s desert pitfalls.
;^)
This is by far the best analysis of Eastwood’s wonderful speech I’ve read. Libertarians, I think, will have enjoyed the speech far more than conservatives. But therein lies part of the beauty and power of it. All over the country, disaffected youth who chafe at the swarming indignities of govnannies – from both major parties – will delight (secretly, perhaps, in these dark PC days) in the validation of an old iconoclast with the gumption to irreverently scold their haughty overlord.
The analysis of the Eastwood performance is the second time in less than a week that bloggers have provided more accurate, less biased analysis of political news than the MSM commentariat.
I feel now about MSM pundits the way I did about my 8-track tape collection when cassettes became popular. I’ll still use them while they last, but I won’t miss them when they’re gone.
http://senatorjohnblutarsky.blogspot.com/2012/09/instapunditalthouse-2-msm-0.html
The Left are so evil – not just plain stupid! The way they’re abusing Clint Eastwood here because of his age, including that young “who-is-this-fraud” actress who hinted that Clint is ‘senile’ and should take medication, shows their dark evil side! Who is she anyway – never heard of her! As if older people including someone so distinguished and intelligent, besides being a great actor and Director like Clint, a real American national/global treasure (even in Germany here, they can’t get enough of Clint by repeating his old and new movies over and over again!), are supposed to disappear in care homes! That’s how morally bankrupt the Left is – they want unwanted babies to simply be aborted; they want older people to stop talking and just take medication, but they want porn to be taught at school…what psychopaths; actually, as a matter of truth, most criminals especially serial killers worship Satan by the way. I would suggest that in order to fill up their brains a little bit, the Left can start re-educating themselves by watching one of Clint’s greatest treasure, Pale Rider, which he directed himself. And see the example of how much sacrifice Americans especially Christians (and later the Jews), through so much blood and tears, WORKED SO HARD to build the modern and free America – but don’t expect the Left to understand such complex history – since they can’t even understand the fundamental points of Clint’s great performance and speech at the RNC!
I’m sure no one is left to read this but I still have to post. I was prepared to squirm watching Clint looking like an old unkempt guy who just got out of bed, but determined to sit through it.
After his first couple of stumbles I’m thinking, “Oh no. Are they going to give him the hook?” As he went on I began to get into it and began to enjoy his “act”. Then I thought, “Dingbat, he’s an actor as well as a great director and he has this stagemanaged perfectly.”
Lenny Bruce? Give me a break. Have you ever heard Lenny Bruce live? Eastwood never even got within shouting distance of him. Just enough edginess to be fun without being dirty.
Right now the Democrat Party is in full boil to smear him and hard on the trail of Paul Ryan and Mitt Romney. Check out the “5 LIES TOLD BY PAUL RYAN IN HIS ACCEPTANCE SPEECH!!” About 5 minutes of checking newspaper archives shows that Paul told the exact truth. Problem: Will those middle voters check it out.
Sorry, I got off topic, but I’ve been getting e-mails asking me about the “Big 5″ until I’m sick of seeing them.
Re: the (empty) chair. It struck me as the type of prop (method) actors use to get into the proper frame of mind. In this case, a certain Mr. O, a poorly performing, arrogant and sullen employee is about to get a dressing down from his boss, Mr. E in the role of we-the-people. Which (after disrespecting his employer with language and an attitude Mr. O is known to use) is going to end with “your measure has been taken and you’ve been found wanting, you’re fired, now get out of my sight.”
Mr. E even asks him to step aside to let Mr. R begin cleaning up the mess he’s created. Hmm.. Remember the clamor in the MSM in 2008 asking that Mr. B remove himself in November so Mr. O could begin to save the earth and earn his Nobel immediately? Certainly seems more deserved in this case.
Well done. I hope I am half as able when I’m 80. I suspect the leftists have yet to appreciate how Mr. E’s skit has exposed their emperor, and is inexorably destroying the facades of their entire Potemkin village.
#115 Baobo & war on elderly.
Good catch. Every time a leftist makes fun of an old Mr. E., they are telling the senior citizens what they really think of them – and how they intend to continue treating them – be it the 50% reduction in quality of life because of Mr. O’s zero interest rates – for those living on savings plus SSI – or taking a trillion dollars out of their medical care infrastructure to pay for insurance-for-all, with its British-NHS-length-queues-for-the-elderly – to say nothing of the end-of-medical-research-as-we-knew-it (once the nanny state gets to tell us what we can have, assuming we live in the manner that they know best).
So we now have the Left’s (1) war-on-the-elderly, to accompany their (2) war-on-women – Mr. O disrespecting his grandmother and worse, including never missing an opportunity to neglect to tell those of the Moslem persuasion they must not only emancipate women but make women first-class citizens in all regards – a double and damning failure given his frequent appeal to racial history, and their forever (3) war on the family – Mr. O’s most recent statements about “who do you want to depend on?” – to say nothing of the way he treats his personal family, esp. those remaining in Africa.
Way to go, Mr. E.
(anyone have the numbers comparing rounds-of-golf between Mr. B’s first term and Mr. O’s??)
Don’t get me wrong Ari, youth is still the best hop of our nation. Old people vote in great numbers though. Let’s not leave them behind.
116. CharlesWhite
This election has turned into “Mitt’s to lose”, things maybe going a little “to well” for Mitt/Ryan and you know one thing Establishment Republicans do best is … “Screw up a good thing”!
“The “mainstream” Republicans (and almost all of their conservative ‘talk show’ types) gave the Demoncrat operatives all they needed to know when they all turned enmass against Akin and his ‘rape’ gaff. They got great intel about us and how to ensure RINOs and fake Christians react to pull the rug out from under our chances this November. And bless her pea pickin’ heart, Sarah was one of the cheeerleaders because of her knee-jerk support of Steeleman.
I think 0bama still has away to go before he becomes a real “underdog” or at least an “Underdog” that enough Americans will feel bad enough for to vote for him again, I do think a radical event is going to happen that may solidify 0bama’s Demoncrats but judging from 0bama’s inner circle and their/his past handling of those types of events they will most likely screw it up in a major way…
Yeah, like another Democrat Tonkin Gulf Incident…
That said, Clint was spectacular!
Best part of his speech was “We own this country.” I stood up in my living room immediately and with a tear in my eye, saluted him.
Barack Obama doesn’t have a clue how deep our love for America runs in the blood, yes; but in the DNA, of those of us who have served and had to hold our noses during 8 years of Clinton. Tinpot dictators are supposed to show up in other countries – not in my beloved America.
173. Allan Richardson
“… except the Secret Service would not have allowed it: unlike most venues for Presidential appearances, this convention explicitly ALLOWED delegates and visitors on the floor to carry guns!”
Heh. I loved this. “Dude…REALLY? And no one was shot the whole three days? A MIRACLE, eh?”
“An armed society is a polite society.”
Unless only one of you is armed, that is:
http://blogs.laweekly.com/informer/2012/08/lapd_video_beating_pacoima.php
My policy is to not argue – wisdom prevails. Not to mention that I believe Cops are my brothers and sisters. But go to the internet and you will find this kind of over-reaction is happening all over the country. You got two cops? And the 22 year veteran is the one that acts out of temper?
My policy is to call cops by their first names: “Sir, or Ma’am.” But I’m old school. And yet, I thought professionals were suppossed to be able to deal with the ‘rowdies’ professionally.
Just think what would happen to you if an officer threw you to the ground and you got up and kicked his a$$ – his partner could lawfully shoot you. Bad idea – bad ju ju.
This is a change in our culture – and a scary one. To me it means some cops have lost any sense of restraint, or they are operating out of the same tension that any one of us now feels with Obama as President and the fear of where he is taking us in our race for the ecomonic cliff.
With the way that the Dems and their minions in the unions have ‘promised’ a lottery retirement, lots of folks are getting very worried. It may be showing up in short fuses and unnecessarily rough ‘take-downs.’
I know this is O/T, but I’d love to hear Subotai address it because I’m sure he is in touch with a lot of his brothers around the country who may be feeling the same sense of dred or concern.
So many great points, totally missed by the libs. A Yahoo! quote:
“…largely incoherent, but entirely unforgettable?” In your dreams, media biased Yahoo!
My personal favorite points, that will NOT be forgotten:
“1. We OWN this country! Politicians are employees of ours.”
“2. When somebody doesn’t do the job, you gotta let them go.”
…and to make the whole point…..
3. Obama’s an empty chair [suit].
(BTW, it was so perfectly coherent, Obama was compelled to tweet a picture of his precious chair in our White House. No, Sir …..that chair’s NOT taken!)
Thank you, Mr. Eastwood. You rock!
Our side had real heros- from Romneys private charitable acts,Christie’s respect over love for politicial decisions , Mia Love and Artur Davis criticism that the koolade drinking left made a mistake, to Clint’s funny and patriotic genius . Who will the left present as their heros? Birth control popping loose women, cross dressers, welfare recipients, crazy Uncle Joke Biden and an empty chair excuse of a president. I watcheed from gavel to gavel and clapped and cheered in my living room.
#84,tharkun
“There was some Good, some Bad, and some Ugly. In all I’d say in A Perfect World it was worth A Fistful of Dollars and his Obama jokes A Few Dollars More, though in Democratic circles he will be Unforgiven and they would love to Hang’em High.”
Well done!!