He's gone senile. No, he's just trying to be funny and failed miserably. It wasn't that bad. It was actually pretty funny. Biting. True. Such are some of the opinions of Clint Eastwood's empty chair speech last month at the Republican Convention. Some people have vowed to avoid the actor/director's work from now on because of what he said on stage. Others applaud him for his hard hitting, albeit unique, delivery of what they think is the truth. But what does the man himself think of it all?
In an interview with Jerry Penacoli from 'Extra,' Eastwood didn't mince words:
"People loved it or hated it, and that's fine. I figure if somebody's dumb enough to ask me to go to a political convention and say something, they're gonna have to take what they get."
That's some strong stuff coming from Mitt Romney's most famous supporter. He further noted that he wants to see "more real people working" and less time in front of teleprompters. What Eastwood seems to have forgotten (or is conveniently ignoring) is the fact that the current president has dealt with a hostile Congress almost since Day 1.
From South Carolina's Joe Wilson, who shouted, "You lie!" during a speech to Congress in September of 2009, a coordinated effort to block the jobs bill, to doing their best to kill the Affordable Care Act, Republicans have done nothing but ram their heads against the president's wall since the day he took office.
But, Eastwood doesn't care. He's a rich 82-year-old man who has almost nothing to lose. He says he doesn't care about either side, but he's taking the side that seems more willing to protect his ability to be taxed less than the side that is more willing to protect those who need it most: the poor and disenfranchised. It's ironic how many of his later films depict people who are poor and struggling as heroes, and yet he's going to vote for a man who disdains anyone who wasn't born with a silver spoon in their mouth.
It just goes to show that Clint Eastwood really doesn't care about the poor or for those struggling against discrimination, and that is reason enough for anyone who values equality to not take him seriously anymore.
©2012 Reno Berkeley for Gather News. Berkeley can be found on Tumblr, Google+, and Facebook.
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Comments: 8
When compared to The DNC's convention and their guest speakers, the RNC's convention was far less energizing and lacked in Delegate participation, enthusiasm and spontaneous applause. That is, with the exception of those times when a speaker would say something which was disparaging to the POTUS, then a large persentage of the audience would cheer and applaud.
Mr. Eastwood is a self made man who has achieved the penicle of success and is known worldwide for both his acting and directing ability. However, as being the conventions' secret weapon, he was pitted against the strongest political speaker in modern times, President Bill Clinton. Who when he got his turn at the microphone, blew both Mr. Eastwood and the RNC's convention sky high.
There undoubtedly will be millions of Mitt Romney and Clint Eastwood supporters who disagree with my above assessment. But, if they were to be truthful, they would be forced to admit that they were disagreeing only to protect the dignity of the RNC as well as attempting to save themselves from the total embarrasing fiasco of Mr. Eastwoods' monologue.
There is good reason for opposition to this president's policies overall and in this instance in particular you have to know that even though Joe probably should not have shouted it out when he did, what he shouted out was a truth -- The president had just uttered an obvious lie.
82 years old and almost as powerful as the prez in someways.
He can say what he wants to say and yes ... nothing to lose.
It's a good time of life especially if you are in the position Mr. Eastwood is in. More money than he'll ever be able to spend, smarts enough to keep all of it from ever being stolen, and old enough/mature enough to not give a flying fig what any of us think of his personal opinions.
As much as it's possible to 'love' a movie star, public figure, stranger ... I loved Mr. Eastwood before his unscripted and excellent performance piece at the RNC, and I love him still.
"...hostile congress almost since day 1" For two years he had free reign. No getting around that.