Clint's Commanding Performance Against the Commander-in-the-Empty-Chair

Not since Charlton Heston parted the red sea of delegates had Hollywood created such a stir at a national Republican convention.  When Clint Eastwood sauntered to the podium in Tampa last night, one sensed unbridled excitement in the arena, even from a television in Louisville.  It was like a few Derbys ago, when Jack Nicholson dropped by the paddock at Churchill Downs.  An A-list celebrity spotting in a most unexpected place.  Like Jack, Clint is a guy who wins over a crowd just by showing up.  The kind who exudes a coolness that stirs up a red hot frenzy.

Today's word for Clint's speech from the liberal media is "crazy".  That's reason enough to watch the speech on YouTube if, by chance, you missed it last night -- or to watch it again, as I did this morning.  True, Clint was mumbling and bumbling at times.  But that just added to the brilliance of the performance.  For Clint was, in a way, a metaphor for America, waking up in a stupor, asking what happened to us?  How in the world could we have voted for that man?  An America who finally got a chance to interview "the One" who has been its "employee", to use Clint's better chosen word, these past three and a half years.  The President answered as you would expect from an empty chair on the stage.  

Clint gave the speech with no teleprompter -- an absent prop that was as much a dig at Mr. Obama as the empty chair -- and with creativity and wit that, even with Oprah's coaching, the President will never have.  Clint did have to think creatively to come up with the name of another actor with enough guts to show up at the Convention (Jon Voight), and Clint's claim that there are many conservatives and libertarians in Hollywood seemed more hopeful than true.


But other seemingly ad libbed  lines played to the crowd with more authenticity:


"I remember three and a half years ago, when Mr. Obama won the election. And though I was not a big supporter, I was watching that night when he was having that thing and they were talking about hope and change and they were talking about, yes we can, and it was dark outdoors, and it was nice, and people were lighting candles.  They were saying, I just thought, this was great. Everybody is crying, Oprah was crying.I was even crying. And then finally -- and I haven’t cried that hard since I found out that there is 23 million unemployed people in this country."

Ouch.

"Well, I know even people in your own party were very disappointed when you didn’t close Gitmo. And I thought, well closing Gitmo -- why close that, we spent so much money on it. But, I thought maybe as an excuse -- what do you mean shut up?  OK, I thought maybe it was just because somebody had the stupid idea of trying terrorists in downtown New York City."

Thanks for reminding us of that early bone-headed idea from the Obama Administration.

"I know you were against the war in Iraq, and that’s okay. But you thought the war in Afghanistan was OK. You know, I mean -- you thought that was something worth doing. We didn’t check with the Russians to see how did it -- they did there for 10 years. But we did it, and it is something to be thought about, and I think that, when we get to maybe -- I think you’ve mentioned something about having a target date for bringing everybody home. You gave that target date, and I think Mr. Romney asked the only sensible question, you know, he says, 'Why are you giving the date out now? Why don’t you just bring them home tomorrow morning?'”

And the Ron Paul delegates went wild.




"See, I never thought it was a good idea for attorneys to the president, anyway.  I think attorneys are so busy -- you know they’re always taught to argue everything, and always weight everything -- weigh both sides...  They are always devil’s advocating this and bifurcating this and bifurcating that. You know all that stuff. But, I think it is maybe time -- what do you think -- for maybe a businessman. How about that? A stellar businessman. Quote, unquote, 'a stellar businessman.'"

Not since Ronald Reagan had an actor flipped an argument on a lawyer so well.


"And I think it’s that time. And I think if you just step aside and Mr. Romney can kind of take over. You can maybe still use a plane.  Though maybe a smaller one. Not that big gas guzzler you are going around to colleges and talking about student loans and stuff like that. You are an -- an ecological man. Why would you want to drive that around?"

More flipping of -- and off -- the Left's arguments.


"You’re crazy, you’re absolutely crazy."

Clint's chastisement of the empty chair.

"You’re getting as bad as Biden.  Of course we all now Biden is the intellect of the Democratic party."

 Another ouch.



"Something that I think is very important. It is that, you, we -- we own this country.  We -- we own it. It is not you owning it, and not politicians owning it. 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 got to let them go.

Who needs Donald Trump as a speaker when you've got Clint Eastwood to deliver the message, "You're fired"?

And by this point, if the empty chair had not gotten the message, it was confirmed by the speaker's most famous line:


Clint:  "But OK. You want to make my day?"

(APPLAUSE)

Clint:  "All right. I started, you finish it. Go ahead."

Audience:  "Make my day!"


The Great Communicator couldn't have communicated it better.

Please note: The postings of "G. Morris", written by John K. Bush and which end in 2016, stated his views as of the dates of posting and should not be understood as current assertions of his views. The postings, which have not been altered since they came to an end, remain on this blog to preserve the historical record. In 2017, Mr. Bush took a position that precludes further public political comments or endorsements. He will no longer be contributing to this blog.