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Honor Clint Eastwood
The last of the stars, a veritable ancient at 90!, is also the most patriotic artist of our times. Yet he doesn’t have a Presidential Medal of Freedom. Bush didn’t want to do it. Trump’s not done it. We don’t even talk about it. Japan did it–France did it–even Obama awarded him a medal (along with Bob Dylan–they both chose to avoid attendance). I say it’s time we talked about it, spread word, got things going. We might find out that honor counts for something after all. Read my essay at Law & Liberty, and if you’re persuaded we should honor Clint, see whether there’s anyone you can tell about it. Read, share, and let’s talk Clint in the comments!
Published in Culture
Writes a theme now & then, too:
I also heard the story about the Cubans who tried to surrender to an AC-130.
See Paint Your Wagon.
I find Josey Wales to be very quotable in my daily life.
But I prefer his live performance art:
I remember at the time people didn’t think well of his joke, but I liked it, & still do!
Empty chair’s about the nicest things conservatives would say about Obama, then or now, so he somehow managed to mock him & yet be the gentleman…
Hey @titustechera, sorry if this is on a podcast or one of your writings, but how about giving us your top five or seven Eastwood movies?
How do you feel about Absolute Power–not as a great film, but as a fun “guilty pleasure”? Full disclosure, I love Judy Davis
And, most importantly, do you agree the Preacher in Pale Rider is not of this earth (see title, obviously)?
I always assumed Preacher was the same soul as The Stranger (High Plains Drifter).
So his name was Jim Duncan.
I also thought they were the same, or at least interchangeable.
I think Eastwood made many wonderful movies people should watch again. I already recommended Heartbreak Ridge, wonderful story about educating men.
Unforgiven is really his most dignified & sober movie.
But I like & recommend his knuckleboxing comedies with the orangutan, too, & they were very big hits 40 years ago, Any which way you can & Every which way but loose.
Gran Torino–great movie, presaged the Trump-era, & tried to show conservatives how to deal with the new situation… American Sniper, too. Most movies he made in the last twelve years!
A perfect world, his movie with Kevin Costner, is also quite good.
White Hunter, Black Heart, his movie about John Huston in Africa making African Queen.
Where Eagles Dare, the WWII spy thriller with Richard Burton.
Changeling, the Angelina Jolie child-abduction drama–true story from L.A. in the 20s.
I loved Where Eagles Dare.
And his name was…?
Clyde.
Philo Beddoe. That’s from memory, so who knows on the spelling.
I saw Pale Rider as a remake of High Plains Drifter with a nicer protagonist. Remember the first thing the drifter did in town was rape a woman.
There are actually two different such awards in the U.S., one awarded by the president, called the Medal of Freedom and the other awarded by Congress, called the Congressional Gold Medal. Congress rarely awards one, compared to the president, and therefore it has more prestige.
I think the Presidential Medal of Freedom has turned into a kind of knighthood, equivalent to the Order of the British Empire, awarded by Queen Elizabeth annually. Each member of the Beatles received one, and Paul McCarthy is often referred to as Sir Paul McCarthy occasionally because of it.
Frankly, given that the president can award it by whim, often for political reasons, it has kind of devalued the award.
I say it’s equivalent to the British OBE, well awarding that is also determined by a politician, the Prime Minister. So when I say the Presidential Medal of Freedom is equivalent, I mean that in both the good and bad ways.
Frankly, I don’t care if Clint Eastwood gets the medal, any more than I care that Rush Limbaugh got it. Their work stands on its own, and a Medal of Freedom neither adds to or detracts from their legacy, any more than the OBE did for the Beatles.
Very sweet little-known comedy Bronco Billy. Eastwood plays a ‘fake’ cowboy.
Tsk tsk. Even the dummy hip hop culture, which conservatives don’t give the time of day, know how recognize.
Oh and also:
True. But most prestigious awards have been degraded this way. I’m not sure it’s a good idea to abandon honors to the ones who clap like monkeys for popular people who say popular nonsense.
Conservatives should not abandon honors. Or if they do, they can well expect no more honorable ambitions among their own-