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Cruiser's avatar

Did Clint Eastwood's speech at the RNC last night make your day?

Asked by Cruiser (40449points) August 31st, 2012

Not quite the speech I expected and IMO pretty bizarre to say the least. Did Clint’s speech add or subtract to Mitt’s cause or was it simply entertainment to you?

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50 Answers

bkcunningham's avatar

What did you find bizarre about the speech, @Cruiser? EDIT: I know what was bizarre. The empty stool.

It was good entertainment with lots of impact. Very unique.

tedd's avatar

I mean, in all fairness he is 82 years old. lol

filmfann's avatar

It was like watching your favorite Uncle at the Thanksgiving table, and realizing he has lost his mind. You just feel awful to see someone you love acting so oddly.

Cruiser's avatar

@bkcunningham Most people do not know that Clint is actually a very whimsical guy and that came out in spades last night and yes during his empty chair discussion that was….whimsical!

What was bizarre to me is that Mitt’s handlers did not vet this speech or “manage” Clint’s direction of the speech. I truly expected the tough guy kind of speech reminiscent of the Chrysler speech/ad he made not long ago and not the story telling skit he delivered last night.

elbanditoroso's avatar

I couldn’t tell if it was real or a 13 minute segment on the Daily Show.

Aster's avatar

It made my day. I found it very unique, funny and he didn’t seem one bit senile to me. I don’t think anyone losing his mind could have thought of such an offbeat presentation. His voice , though, is aging so much that some could have gotten the impression he’s losing his mind but I think he’s quite with it.

ucme's avatar

I just watched this on youtube, thanks for the link @Cruiser…..not!! ;¬}
Old flat foot seems perfectly fine to me, funny/lucid & as cool as he ever was.
Why the fuck would anyone view that with any negativity, save for the reason he’s endorsing Romney, anyone would have to be fucking nuts to bat for that camp.
Live long & keep kickin arse Clint, real heroes never die.

Blackberry's avatar

I can’t watch it at the moment. Can someone summarize it?

ucme's avatar

@Cruiser Yeah got there ahead of ya, snooze you lose :¬)

Cruiser's avatar

@ucme I meant to put @Blackberry there! ;)

ninja_man's avatar

I like Clint Eastwood, and respect him as an artist. That said, I found it a little tedious. And it didn’t help that youtube locked up every few minutes either.

Blackberry's avatar

I didn’t see anything wrong with the speech. He was talking to the chair to be funny.

I don’t agree with a lot he said, but there’s nothing wrong with the actual speech.

That being said, I don’t watch speeches because they’re essentially worthless slogans spewed over and over again.

Someone says something, then people respond like they’re eating it up and falling for it.

This goes for democrat speeches as well. Obama did an AMA on Reddit, and I couldn’t finish reading it because he sounded like a broken record.

I’m just wary of the whole campaigning process.

zenvelo's avatar

I’ll have to watch it. I wasn’t going to because my kids said he just rambled. But I keep seeing statements like this:

Clint really was like a painful, embarrassing, awkward toast from a drunk & clueless best man

and

CA delegates enjoyed Clint, don’t see what all the fuss is about. Guess they didn’t turn & see the ashen, stunned faces in the Romney box.

gailcalled's avatar

I was embarrassed for him and surprised at his being on the docket. I turned the TV off. My college list-serv, to a woman (125 smart members of the aging population) were distressed and vocal about the inappropriateness of the segment.

If that is the GOP’s way of reaching out to intelligent, older women, it needs to recheck its marketing research.

tom_g's avatar

@Blackberry: “I can’t watch it at the moment. Can someone summarize it?”

this image seems to summarize it well

Dutchess_III's avatar

Fox News is the go-to on this question!

El_Cadejo's avatar

What a crazy old man he’s become…

wundayatta's avatar

Ok, so who is going to fact check that speech?

Oh wait. You can’t fact check nothing, can you?

The ultimate red herring speech. So, so typical of Republicans. In fact, it is symbolic of Republican logic for the whole campaign. I think that Republicans definitely march to their own drummer and that drummer is a drummer only they can hear. Just like only Clint could hear that “Obama” he was listening to.

Really, he should do more listening and less talking. It would have made for a more informative speech.

Cruiser's avatar

To serve as a counterpoint to @Dutchess_III Fox News link I can’t help but post Breitbarts rant! Ain’t politics fun? lol!

“All I can say in response is: Go to hell you Obama-shilling crybabies. Eastwood showed more grit and honestly in those few minutes than you water carriers have during your entire propaganda-for-the-collective careers.”

“What Eastwood did tonight was funnier, fresher, edgier, and braver than anything those comedy cowards Chris Rock, Jon Stewart or Stephen Colbert have done in 15 years.”

“82 years-old, and Dirty Harry is still pissing all the right people off.”

“My hero.”

El_Cadejo's avatar

“What Eastwood did tonight was funnier, fresher, edgier, and braver than anything those comedy cowards Chris Rock, Jon Stewart or Stephen Colbert have done in 15 years.”

lol thats great.I think someone needs to learn the definition of comedy. To me comedy is something that makes me laugh, Clint just made me feel sad for him.

Pandora's avatar

I think it was a waste of time. Just one more person pleading Romneys case and I can understand him wanting a business man in place. He is a huge hollywood business man himself and I’m sure he was behind the republican party in the SOPA debate.
I wish I was there to remind him that 23 million people unemployed isn’t the fault of the president but rather the fault of greedy businessmen who lay off workers ready to retire before their time so they do not have to pay, and who close factories here so they can do less abroad for less pay, who don’t want to provide insurance to workers, who, hire one worker to do the job of 3 people and don’t want to pay over time, and who want to sell out their business even if they are making a profit because their cut isn’t large enough, who give ridiculous bonuses to their CO’s even when they are heading to the red, and who fire older more experience workers and higher younger and lower skill workers to take their place because they can pay them half or less than half to do the job.

zenvelo's avatar

I imagine Romney’s people are regretting the Eastwood appearance. Today is supposed to be the morning after “bump” in the polls and heavy media coverage of Romney’s speech; instead, the press from far right to far left is discussing Clint and whether it is Eastwood’s wit or being witless.

Blackberry's avatar

@tom g Lol!

tedd's avatar

@zenvelo He’ll get his bump. The real question is whether or not he’ll get a bump that lasts through the election. It doesn’t look too solid for him right now, you’ve got 8 or so swing states and he has to pretty much sweep them to come out ahead.

flutherother's avatar

They showed it on the news over here and he came across as a bit rambling and a bit eccentric. I still have respect for the guy though. Even at his age I would rather have Clint on my side in a gunfight than Mitt.

glacial's avatar

I have a lot of respect for Eastwood as an actor, so I was very disappointed in the speech. There’s no honour in putting foul words in your opponent’s mouth to make him appear mean or foolish. It was a cheap stunt, and I would have thought beneath him.

augustlan's avatar

There were a few commentaries that talked about some of the positions he seemed to espouse that are contradictory to Romney’s (he called for an immediate withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan, apparently, for instance.) You’d think they’d have vetted his speech beforehand for stuff like that.

Dutchess_III's avatar

Have you seen the one? Eastwood said, “We don’t need lawyers in the White House!” .... Romney has a law degree from Harvard.

augustlan's avatar

Yes, that too ^^. Weird.

Dutchess_III's avatar

What did one pundit say, about two years ago….“The republicans have over played their hand,” (referring to all of the insane rumors about Obama.) I mean…they had no hand to play. They had to virtually make things up to bitch about. Everybody would trip over that!

mazingerz88's avatar

Listen folks, the chair was put there by a concerned convention aide worried about Eastwood tipping over because of his age and also because his right nutsack is much bigger than the other one.

The actor in Clint decided to do an improv, to distract people from the chair’s real purpose. Did it make my day? Oh yeah. Can’t wait for all the forthcoming funny jokes.

woodcutter's avatar

It struck me as odd that conservatives would even think to utilize humor in the first place. Because I thought the best comedian they have is Limbaugh.

Conservatives: they just aren’t funny.

rooeytoo's avatar

It reminded me of the opening ceremony at the olympics, seems as if these events are losing their true focus and instead distracting observers with theatrics instead of substance.

Clint’s still a good looking man though, but he should have combed his hair!

tinyfaery's avatar

It sure is head-shaker. Is dementia setting in? Seriously. I’m not trying to be funny. Is he sane?

Dutchess_III's avatar

@tinyfaery I didn’t see it, but I could answer, “Maybe.” And that is a sad, sad thing.

Cruiser's avatar

The more I watch it the more I can see the brilliance in Clints mind. Though he is hesitant in speech most likely due to his age, he never loses his clarity and train of thought. All off the cuff and to the point no teleprompter needed.

gailcalled's avatar

If generating an immediate and enormous amount of parody, lampoon and satire…some of it pie-in-your-face silly and some very clever, is brilliant rather than humiliating, then Clint wins the Oscar.

Bellatrix's avatar

Thankfully I don’t have to vote for your president but really, I would prefer to just see sensible, honest debate about policy without all the balloons, celebrities, wives and hoo ha. Politicians the world over are capable of applying a good layer of bullshit to their campaigning without having to dig through an extra layer of showbiz and circus crap to try to figure out what they’re really saying.

rooeytoo's avatar

@Bellatrix – I think the same thing. But look at Julia, Tony and their mobs, they put on a pretty good show at question time too! I also wonder when you see the two in the USA and the two here, if they are the best the respective countries have to offer. If they are, it’s pretty scary!

rooeytoo's avatar

Did you see the democrats’ response. It’s pretty funny!

Bellatrix's avatar

Question time with its Dorothy Dixers and childishness does not show our politicians in their best light but at least they are arguing and bickering about policy and it is four hours a week when parliament is sitting. Our elections are also fairly staid affairs. There are no balloons dropping from the ceilings, marching bands or celebrities… yet. You also don’t have to be wealthy to be the Prime Minister. Gillard owns a very modest 3 bedroom house in Melbourne I believe. Is it possible in contemporary US politics for a poor or only moderately wealthy person to be elected President in the US? Serious question. It would seem highly unlikely to me but I don’t know that much about US politics.

rooeytoo's avatar

Obama is not from a particularly wealthy background, nor was Clinton. They are the first 2 that spring to mind.

And no celebrities in parliament here, Peter Garret would be insulted! Course his IQ is so addled from drug use, he has probably forgotten his past. I betcha one of the wiggles will show up in politics soon too!

I loved it the day Tony sprinted, putting his triathlon training into good use, out of the room in order to avoid voting.

glacial's avatar

@rooeytoo Hah. Betty White would be good at that – she’s already done a lot of anti-Republican stunts on various late night shows.

I still think this is not the best use of convention time, though. It’s just spectacle… we should be expecting them to provide substance.

bkcunningham's avatar

@rooeytoo, that really made my day!

Dutchess_III's avatar

Reagan was a movie actor when he was younger. I don’t think he was raised in privelege (I have no spell checker on this damn iPad!!)

Roby's avatar

Sure made mine. Any anti-Oboma speech makes my day. and .Betty White and all Liberals sucks.

gailcalled's avatar

^^^By that reasoning, I could say that all bad spellers “suck” and make just as much sense.

woodcutter's avatar

that all conservatives give bad head?

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