Eastwood And The Divide Between Americans And The Ruling Class
I'm in Colorado right now, which means I got to watch and experience the Republican convention with people who are not political or media professionals or otherwise D.C. insiders. Being here is almost like being in a different country.
When Clint Eastwood mocked President Obama last night, the Colorado folks were on the edge of their seat. They were cheering and clapping and laughing -- laughing really hard. And on my Twitter feed, the political class was angry and immediately derided the speech as something that didn't conform to their expectations of a tightly scripted political event.
Both people saw the same speech, heard the same lines.
On Hollywood's reputation: "There are a lot of conservative people, a lot of moderate people, Republicans, Democrats, in Hollywood. It is just that the conservative people by the nature of the word itself play closer to the vest. They do not go around hot dogging it."
On Obama's victory: "Everybody was crying. Oprah was crying."
On our economic situation: "Twenty-three million unemployed people in this country. Now that is something to cry for because that is a disgrace, a national disgrace, and we haven't done enough, obviously -- this administration hasn't done enough to cure that."
He showed that the Republican Party contains people who are not huge fans of interventionist wars, with his surprisingly popular discussions of Afghanistan and Iraq. He also poked fun at the idea of trying terrorists in the middle of New York City. During his discussion with the Empty Chair Obama, he got a little salty: "And then, I just wondered, all these promises -- I wondered about when the -- what do you want me to tell Romney? I can't tell him to do that. I can't tell him to do that to himself. You're crazy, you're absolutely crazy. You're getting as bad as Biden. Of course we all know Biden is the intellect of the Democratic Party. Kind of a grin with a body behind it."
He mocked Obama as a hypocrite for claiming to be green while flying a gas guzzling plane around to all the college campuses.
And then he said to the crowd that "we own this country .. not politicians. Politicians are employees of ours. And -- so -- they are just going to come around and beg for votes every few years. It is the same old deal. But I just think it is important that you realize, that you're the best in the world. Whether you are a Democrat or Republican or whether you're libertarian or whatever, you are the best. And we should not ever forget that. And when somebody does not do the job, we gotta let them go."
OK, so I'm not going to say that this wasn't a weird speech. It was delightfully weird. But it was also effective among non-D.C. types. He mocked Obama and accused him of things -- hypocrisy, incompetence, mismanagement of wars and terrorism. He also went after the entire political charade -- right there in the middle of the GOP convention! The way politicians just say things to get elected. He told us all - whether we're Democrats or Republicans or libertarians, that we all can come together to get rid of Team Obama.
Now, the political elites freaked out. Absolutely freaked out. The more partisans tried to claim that Clint Eastwood was a vile racist who was evoking Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man. All the media shows kept going on and one about how they didn't get it or thought it was awful.
This morning on the local radio, the journalists kept talking about how awful the Clint Eastwood thing was, but what was hilarious was when they talked to normal people -- the folks who called in or whom they were otherwise interviewing -- the people all responded that they thought Eastwood was awesome. One even said he thought Eastwood had made a convincing argument (imagine the pain speechwriters experience when hearing a man on the street say stuff like that). Some were actually confused by the media question built on the premise that Eastwood had done something wrong.
My theory on this is that we have a bunch of Tracy Flick wannabes in our media and political elite. They sit there fantasizing about delivering a stemwinder that transforms the nation. They practice it over and over in their minds and think of themselves as rhetorical geniuses. They watch whatever that Eastwood performance was and they can not compute it. It's racist. It's awful. It's a debacle. It can't be allowed to exist!
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Comments:
Sep '10
Re: Eastwood And The Divide Between Americans And The Ruling Class
Something else worth raising:
If Clint had delivered his speech as a conventional oration, everyone would have been talking about him instead of Romney and asking why we can't have President Eastwood. Clint's a director and a jazz fan: he knows the value of improvisation and who the star is and when he's playing support or in the director's chair.
I'm with Rob Long: If Rob says its genius; its genius.
May '11
Re: Eastwood And The Divide Between Americans And The Ruling Class
Molly,
I hope to heavens you're right. I've been critical of Eastwood, but I must say: my 13-year-old son was howling with delight the whole time.
May '10
Re: Eastwood And The Divide Between Americans And The Ruling Class
Ryan M
There are so many people, and they're almost all liberals, telling you what to think and how your actual observations and impressions are somehow wrong. But the simple thing to do is tune them out. The talking heads at CNN don't mean much when they're talking to one another; they only mean something if we let them. · 3 hours ag
o
They remind me of the Greg Kinnear character in "You Got Mail." Terribly impressed with their own eloquence yet desperate for constant validation from other.
Eastwood's "performance" will remain legendary...and I'll bet it got a lot of people to keep watching so that they saw Marco and Mitt.
Mission accomplished, Clint.
Jun '12
Re: Eastwood And The Divide Between Americans And The Ruling Class
From the incomparable Jonah (Goldberg, of course -- how dare you ask which Jonah!)
Aug '10
Re: Eastwood And The Divide Between Americans And The Ruling Class
Old people are so cute - you never know what is going to come out of their mouths!
Jul '12
Re: Eastwood And The Divide Between Americans And The Ruling Class
Clint's performance was outstanding. My wife and I paused it a couple of times to discuss the "speech" because it was delivered in such a casual and off-hand way -- whoever said it was like a bar conversation* was spot-on -- but it drew us in and kept us riveted.
Add to that Marco Rubio asking with a sly smile, "Do you think he [Obama] is watching right now?" and you just KNOW the whole night worked because people were watching and it got under The One's skin. Mission accomplished. Very smart. Very UNanticipated by the Other Party.
* I would click back to reread it and maybe pull a quote, but really, the need to click and wait is one bug of this site that discourages participation when the comments start getting past the 3rd page.
Aug '10
Re: Eastwood And The Divide Between Americans And The Ruling Class
On target, Mollie. Eastwood spoke for the folks who populate the downtown diners and uptown dives across the nation. Nothing wrong with having that voice shared on the big stage. Sometimes we get a tad too wrapped up with the dynamics of the smartest kids in the room talking to each other and no one else. Give me a pair of Eastwoods over a hundred barking pundits any day of the week.
Sep '10
Re: Eastwood And The Divide Between Americans And The Ruling Class
Its almost like you could base one or two winning tv sitcoms on that premise.
Aug '12
Re: Eastwood And The Divide Between Americans And The Ruling Class
Keith Preston
Eastwood's "performance" will remain legendary...and I'll bet it got a lot of people to keep watching so that they saw Marco and Mitt.
Mission accomplished, Clint. · 28 minutes ago
Over the past 50 years or so, betting against Clint Eastwood would have lost you a lot of money.
Oct '10
Re: Eastwood And The Divide Between Americans And The Ruling Class
Just got this in an email and were it not for a tight budget, I would definitely purchase. "A Chair We Can Believe In"
Edited on August 31, 2012 at 8:54pmApr '12
Re: Eastwood And The Divide Between Americans And The Ruling Class
Watching from my ringside seat, in front of my TV, in Canada, I thought the whole GOP Conference was fabulous. Romney is so much my Man for the White House. It was a stroke of genius to invite Clint Eastwood to take part, especially just before Rubio introduced Romney.
Clint put on a wonderful show, which also showed his genius as an entertainer. He was James Stewart playing Elwood P. Dowd, talking to his invisible White Rabbit, Harvey. Remember? Stewart played Dowd as the amiable eccentric he was, as did Clint last night. Brilliant! He also got the message out, loud and clear. No one could NOT have understood what he was saying. Of course, that is why the Progressives are having such a hissy fit. Simple: Obama is not up to the job, let him go!
Not everyone is a political junkie as I am; Clint got the message to those others too, including Canada's Bay Street. And with such humour, and directness. He is so REAL!
This was the speech the National Post had on the front page, and Clint certainly was not being mocked. The headline is, "Time for somebody else to ... solve the problem".
Jun '12
Re: Eastwood And The Divide Between Americans And The Ruling Class
Casey Way: Just got this in an email and were it not for a tight budget, I would definitely purchase. "A Chair We Can Believe In" · 7 minutes ago
Edited 6 minutes ago
Patrick Richardson passes along this one.
Aug '10
Re: Eastwood And The Divide Between Americans And The Ruling Class
Red Feline: Clint put on a wonderful show, which also showed his genius as an entertainer. He was James Stewart playing Elwood P. Dowd, talking to his invisible White Rabbit, Harvey. Remember? Stewart played Dowd as the amiable eccentric he was, as did Clint last night. Brilliant! He also got the message out, loud and clear. No one could NOT have understood what he was saying. Of course, that is why the Progressives are having such a hissy fit. Simple: Obama is not up to the job, let him go!
Not everyone is a political junkie as I am; Clint got the message to those others too, including Canada's Bay Street. And with such humour, and directness. He is so REAL!
This was the speech the National Post had on the front page, and Clint certainly was not being mocked. The headline is, "Time for somebody else to ... solve the problem". · 9 minutes ago
That's exactly what I though, Red. Clint was channeling Jimmy Stewart. Brilliant!
Sep '10
Re: Eastwood And The Divide Between Americans And The Ruling Class
Frozen Chosen
Red Feline: Clint put on a wonderful show, which also showed his genius as an entertainer.He was James Stewart playing Elwood P. Dowd, talking to his invisible White Rabbit, Harvey. Remember? Stewart played Dowd as the amiable eccentric he was, as did Clint last night. Brilliant! He also got the message out, loud and clear. No one could NOT have understood what he was saying. Of course, that is why the Progressives are having such a hissy fit. Simple: Obama is not up to the job, let him go!
Not everyone is a political junkie as I am; Clint got the message to those others too, including Canada's Bay Street. And with such humour, and directness. He is so REAL!
This was the speech the National Post had on the front page, and Clint certainly was not being mocked. The headline is, "Time for somebody else to ... solve the problem". · 9 minutes ago
That's exactly what I though, Red. Clint was channeling Jimmy Stewart. Brilliant! · 11 minutes ago
Main Feed! Oh wait, we're already on Main Feed.
Jul '12
Re: Eastwood And The Divide Between Americans And The Ruling Class
It's their religion and high priest that Clint was mocking. All they could think was
Blasphemer!!!
Blasphemer!!!
Sep '10
Re: Eastwood And The Divide Between Americans And The Ruling Class
RickB: It's their religion and high priest that Clint was mocking. All they could think was
Blasphemer!!!
Blasphemer!!! · 0 minutes ago
Rolling Stone him!
Sep '10
Re: Eastwood And The Divide Between Americans And The Ruling Class
I tuned in right in the middle of Clint's bit and was disoriented at first, couldn't quite decide if it was a total meltdown or a put-on. After a while I caught on. I think it's all the more effective for being so off-kilter.
Many effective ads work this way: they infuriate you or annoy you or puzzle you, and you become engaged, even if you're not sure you like it. Then, having gotten through your defenses, the message sinks in.
I'm certain Clint Eastwood did Mitt Romney no harm with anyone not in the tank for Obama. Also that Eastwood got through to a lot of persuadables who would otherwise not be reached by a convention speech.
Jun '12
Re: Eastwood And The Divide Between Americans And The Ruling Class
And the lefties' outraged spreading of the video no doubt reached a lot of those who would never tune in to an eeeeeeeeeeeevil Wepubwican convention.
Jul '11
Re: Eastwood And The Divide Between Americans And The Ruling Class
I read the transcript of the Eastwood speech and immediately though that he was off his meds. Since this did not track with what I know of Eastwood I viewed the video. Within seconds I knew what happened. What you saw was a master of media, an industry icon with decades of accumulated skill and experience plying his craft with breathtaking daring. At its most basic level Eastwood performed a vaudeville comedy skit aimed at his contemporaries that skewer the current administration. It was done in the styling’s of Abbott and Costello, Buddy Hackett, Newhart, etc and was very powerful because it was done in the comedy of this target audience’s youth. Given Eastwood’s respect with this demographic and the timing and location of the speech I suspect that Romney Ryan ticket will see inroads into the older generations vote. This was a masterful stroke.
I am not surprised that the younger view did not “get” this skit. Today’s comedy is much more vulgar and crude, very much bathroom humor, but this is not what Eastwood’s generation thinks is funny or will even pay attention to. They will definitely pay attention to what he did.
Sep '10
Re: Eastwood And The Divide Between Americans And The Ruling Class
Fake John Galt: This was a masterful stroke.
I am not surprised that the younger view did not “get” this skit. Today’s comedy is much more vulgar and crude, very much bathroom humor, but this is not what Eastwood’s generation thinks is funny or will even pay attention to. They will definitely pay attention to what he did. · 0 minutes ago
Clint went Meta and taught the youngin's that he was doin' Meta before Meta was cool.
"A man's got to know his limitations and Mr. President: you have many."