Did Clint Eastwood Lose The Plot At Romney's Convention?

[Steely Dan]

OK back on topic. Can anyone of the posters of this thread who have trashed Clint and his speech tell us anything he said that was not true? If so please elaborate for discussion sake. Sure it was a little rambling at times but what was wrong with the core message?

I'm still waiting patiently guys and girls. Surely you can justify your opinion with facts right?

With an appropriate accompanying soundtrack.

[softgeorge]

Clint Eastwood is a hollywood Icon but who exactly is this Romney fella? I had never heard of him before this story.

[rakman]

He's an old man. I think Clint Eastwood is beloved by all political persuasions in the USA for his show business career. I don't think he swayed many swing voters with his convention speech though. Which was the point. Of course his speech and most of the other speakers during the three day love/hate fest for the irrational, climate change denialist, anti health care for poor people, anti-science, pro creationist poppycock, anti-civil rights party were mostly more substantial than their actual nominee -- Romney.

So how do you really feel??

[cdnvic]

Cleaned up many off topic posts. Further ones will be deleted without comment.

[rubl]

I hope this link is allowed to be posted here

http://politicalhumo...outine.htm?nl=1

Edited August 31, 2012 by rubl

[bhatmasterson]

All talking about President Obama. What did Romney do as Governor of Mass and at Bain?

As governor, Romney presided over a series of spending cuts and increases in fees that eliminated an up to $1.5 billion deficit.The state unemployment rate was at 5.6 percent when Romney took office in January 2003.and ended at 4.6 percent for January 2007 during Romney's last month in office.

Bain capital was highly profitable and one of the largest such firms in the nation. He was a successful Govenor and a very successful businessman and has given millions to charity. He has plenty to brag about, but that is not his style.

Helloooo chair.

I asked my chair what he thought of Clint's speech, but the chair refused to answer. I think he was embarrassed.

The 1% run the government and the government owns everything the 1% doesn't, so Clint's message is accurate, depending on your definition of "we". If "we" means "we the people" then he's wrong, but if you're like Romney "people" means corporations, and since corporations run elections, then yes, he is accurate.

Mitt likes getting bailouts to help Mitt line his pocket and save Bain but to help out 1.5 million workers, not so much.

Mitt Romney received a $10 million bailout from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. in 1991, an event that runs contrary to the multimillionaire’s current anti-bailout position.

Documents obtained by the Boston Globe show that the FDIC negotiated $10 million forgiveness with Bain & Co. while Romney was chairman and CEO in 1993. The negotiations were part of a deal designed to reduce the debt load at the company, which was near bankruptcy. The FDIC had been forced to seize Bank of New England, who was a creditor of Bain’s.

Furthermore when Bain ran a company called the old Mill into the ground. As a parting gesture they consolidated the workers pension fund into their profit and then had the federal government bail the fund out, it was a touch and go gambit as if the government didn’t bail it out, hundreds of people would have lost their pension savings.

In 2008, in a New York Times op-ed titled “Let Detroit Go Bankrupt,” Romney argued that “Detroit needs a turnaround, not a check.” In May of 2011, Chrysler successfully paid the U.S. Treasury back $5.1 billion from its federal bailout and is just about paid up now, while a study found that 1.14 million jobs were saved by the bailout of the auto industry this doesn’t include related industries and stores that rely on autoworkers pay packets to stay open so in total the number is closer to 3 million workers.

Mitt wanted a free market bankruptcy solution, with private investors picking up the pieces but no investors could be found to invest as credit had been frozen and no private capital was available. Yet Mitt’s party have tried to claim getting Osama and accused the president of spiking the ball. So far as the auto industry bailout was concerned, Mitt was sitting on the opposition bench, cheering on a loss for America and then tried to spike the ball.

All of Mitt’s record is fair game and will be exposed, including his failed period as governor that saw job creation plummet to 47th lowest in the nation and taking in mind, this included Louisiana post hurricane Katrina.

Another startling statistic from Massachusetts is the record number of people who left the state looking for jobs.

All information is in the archives of the Boston Globe. Mitt’s history is a loosely woven fabric of lies, just ripe for the unpicking and the King of Bain will be left exposed and naked by next November.

Just the fact that more people are talking about Clint rather than talking about Mitt's speech is evidence that Mitt made another mistake allowing a mystery guest to up stage him on the biggest night of his life

People will remember what Clint did, however national polls show they still don't know Mitt or like him.

[chiangmaikelly]

http://www.breitbart...ood-Mocks-Obama

Newsflash: Obama can't take a joke. But we already knew that.

Since Obama won the presidency, comedy has pretty much gone straight to hell as our Entertainment Overlords morphed into pathetic lapdogs to The State; begging for scraps of attention and affection from Obama, and in the process becoming stale, lazy, dull, predictable, painfully unfunny, and like a needy poodle -- more than a little annoying.

The media, naturally, is furious. They don’t like to see Their Precious One mocked and they also understand the power of mockery -- which is why they keep Stewart and Colbert on such a tight leash. This is why the media has

already

written

25 stories (5 from Politico)

mocking Eastwood.

[bhatmasterson]

I like Clint Eastwood. I like his movies.That being said, I dont' take my political advise from movie stars or Faux News. I form my political views based on what the candidates do and say.

No. Mitt is all about keeping him and his rich friends in power and making money while the rest of the nation faces foreclosures and unpaid bills.

Mitt is a man who is out of touch with the rest of the country! He has no concept of what it is like to work every day to pay bills and raise a family on the hopes of beinge able to make a better life. He's never had that situation and never will. He's never had to decide whether or not to pay for medications or put oil in the tanks to keep the house warm this winter! But hey, Mitt knows people who own oil companies so he's just like us right?

So why the hel-l can't he show his tax records for the last five years? His father released 10 years worth of records when he ran for president. It's embarrassing really and pathetic.

[Ulysses G.]

IMitt is a man who is out of touch with the rest of the country! He has no concept of what it is like to work every day to pay bills and raise a family on the hopes of beinge able to make a better life.

Nonsense. He gave his whole inheritance to charity, built a very successful business from scratch and raised a whole household full of kids. He has worked hard for most of his life to give his family a good life and he has succeeded with honor.

Edited August 31, 2012 by Ulysses G.

[bhatmasterson]

http://www.breitbart...ood-Mocks-Obama

Newsflash: Obama can't take a joke. But we already knew that.

Since Obama won the presidency, comedy has pretty much gone straight to hell as our Entertainment Overlords morphed into pathetic lapdogs to The State; begging for scraps of attention and affection from Obama, and in the process becoming stale, lazy, dull, predictable, painfully unfunny, and like a needy poodle -- more than a little annoying.

The media, naturally, is furious. They don’t like to see Their Precious One mocked and they also understand the power of mockery -- which is why they keep Stewart and Colbert on such a tight leash. This is why the media has

already

written

25 stories (5 from Politico)

mocking Eastwood.

Wasn't it funny when the New Yorker Magazine cover was published depicting The Obamas dressed as terrorist doing a fist bump? Or how about the other magazine cover that had the front yard of the White House pictured as a watermelon patch? I bet that was just side splitting to a lot of people.

I so want "Saturday Night Live" to bring Christopher Walken on to re enact this. Poor guy debated a chair, and the chair won.

[Jingthing]

IMitt is a man who is out of touch with the rest of the country! He has no concept of what it is like to work every day to pay bills and raise a family on the hopes of beinge able to make a better life.

Nonsense. He gave his whole inheritance to charity, built a very successful business from scratch and raised a whole household full of kids. He has worked hard for most of his life to give his family a good life and he has succeeded with honor.

So we won't worry about his money thing after he LOSES.

[bhatmasterson]

IMitt is a man who is out of touch with the rest of the country! He has no concept of what it is like to work every day to pay bills and raise a family on the hopes of beinge able to make a better life.

Nonsense. He gave his whole inheritance to charity, built a very successful business from scratch and raised a whole household full of kids. He has worked hard for most of his life to give his family a good life and he has succeeded with honor.

Well Ulysses G, I guess you have your sources for the Romney back story, feel good, campaign info. However, other sources are not reporting the same fluff, which is to be expected and I'll admit that. But I trust my sources more.

Mitt Romney initially launched his presidential campaign on a simple premise: During tough economic times, America needed someone who understood the economy, someone with business experience who could turn it around. Early on, Romney frequently referred to his time at Bain Capital, where he said he helped start and revive an array of companies, creating 100,000 net new jobs.

But Bain has faded fast. The company's name was barely mentioned throughout the convention, referred to obliquely as "a company" or "a great success story." Bain's relegation to anonymity was the result of attacks on the firm not just by Democrats, but by Romney's GOP primary opponents. Its reputation was further eroded by independent media reports of the private equity firm taking over companies, saddling them with debt, laying off workers, harvesting profits, and then putting them through bankruptcy, employing a business practice perhaps best explainedby Tony Soprano.

The company's use of offshore tax havens has also caused the campaign trouble, as Romney admitted to The National Review that the Cayman Islands entities were set up to allow foreign investors to avoid U.S. taxes.

According to advance excerpts of his speech on Thursday, Romney planned to tell the story of the rise of his firm. "When I was 37, I helped start a small company," he said. "My partners and I had been working for a company that was in the business of helping other businesses. So some of us had this idea that if we really believed our advice was helping companies, we should invest in companies. We should bet on ourselves and on our advice. That business we started with 10 people has now grown into a great American success story."

In her speech Tuesday, Ann Romney also played up the company's small-time roots. "I was there when he and a small group of friends talked about starting a new company. I was there when they struggled and wondered if the whole idea just wasn't going to work. Mitt's reaction was to work harder and press on," she said.

But there was little to worry about. For their book "The Real Romney," Boston Globereporters Michael Kranish and Scott Helman interviewed Bill Bain, the founder of Bain & Co., who asked Romney to head Bain Capital. The story he tells couldn't be more different than Mitt and Ann Romney's.

From "The Real Romney:"

He saw the opportunity, of course, but he also saw risks. First, he felt comfortable in his life. He already had a great job and had five young sons at home. Second, he and the partners in the new firm would be expected to contribute significantly to the investment fund, and thus, if deals went south, they could lose their own money. Romney explained to Bain that he didn't want to risk his position, earnings, and reputation on an experiment. He found the offer appealing but didn't want to make the decision in a "light or flippant manner." So Bain sweetened the pot. He guaranteed that if the experiment failed, Romney would get his old job and salary back, plus any raises he would have earned during his absence. Still, Romney worried about the impact on his reputation if he proved unable to do the job. Again the pot was sweetened. Bain promised that, if necessary, he would craft a cover story saying that Romney's return to Bain & Company was needed because of his value as a consultant. "So," Bain explained, "there was no professional or financial risk." This time Romney said yes.

Succeeded yes. With honer? That's debatable

[rubl]

Rumour (humour?) has it that

"In a development that the Republican campaign is sure to find troubling, a new poll of likely voters showed nominee Mitt Romney trailing badly behind the empty chair Clint Eastwood talked to onstage at the Republican National Convention in Tampa."

http://www.newyorker...mpty-chair.html

[moe666]

The problem with Clint is that he is the focus today and not Mitt. Say what you like not a good idea to let the guy wing it. Yes america is the land of the free I am free to live in Thailand without too much hassel.

[britmaveric]

My hat is off to Clint!!!! Great speech (improvised I might add) and I think imaginary obama in the chair might be more effective candidate than the actual one.

[DrTuner]

Isn't it awfully politically incorrect for Dirty Harry to go on ranting about the black population these days ?

US politics and Thailand. Ok, I guess they correlate. Or at least generate ad impressions.

[sunkist]

Lose the plot?

1) No self-respecting American would even talk like that. Which leads us to:

2) Who in the US cares what a newspaper in Australia says about anything having to do the the US presidential election? Let me help you out: NO ONE.

Why is it that non-Americans get diarrhea of the mouth (pen) when talking about US politics?

Perhaps if Americans had cared a bit more about their impact upon others they would not have fallen into such a foreign relations predicament. The USA went from its heyday JFK era from being admired, loved and respected to loathed and hated during the last Bush administration.

US politics have an impact upon Australians because it seems that US foreign policy can result in Australian military personnel dying in dumps like Afghanistan. The next time the USA sounds the alarm, it may find that even its staunchest allies say, not this time Bubba. In today's world, the USA cannot go it alone. It's economy is dependent upon Canada and Mexico. The day either of those countries turn off the energy supply, the USA collapses. The day Australia says, sorry chum, you can't use our facilities or assets to spy on China anymore, the US pacific defence strategy falls apart. Bet you didn't know that the largest export market for the USA is Canada, and that the more the USA attempts to impose trade barriers, the greater the likelihood that the US exposrt market will suffer in return causing tens of thousands of high paying jobs to be lost. This isn't 1950 and the world has changed.

None of the Australians I fought alongside in two wars would speak this way about America. Very negative and fails to talk about the wonderful things US has given to the world. Seems the australians would be speaking Japanese about now if it was not for the sacrifice of my father and two uncles during WWII

[Ulysses G.]

Rumour (humour?) has it that

"In a development that the Republican campaign is sure to find troubling, a new poll of likely voters showed nominee Mitt Romney trailing badly behind the empty chair Clint Eastwood talked to onstage at the Republican National Convention in Tampa."

The President must be trailing badly behind the empty chair as well. Romney and Obama are dead even in the polls.

[KKvampire]

Rumour (humour?) has it that

"In a development that the Republican campaign is sure to find troubling, a new poll of likely voters showed nominee Mitt Romney trailing badly behind the empty chair Clint Eastwood talked to onstage at the Republican National Convention in Tampa."

The President must be trailing badly behind the empty chair as well. Romney and Obama are dead even in the polls.

Wrong again , What polls? are you really American? Maybe you dont know winning the popular vote isnt what counts(unfortunately). In Battleground State Polls President Obama is ahead It's no surprise that republican state legislators in many swing states do all they can to restrict voters ability to vote.

[Ulysses G.]

Isn't it awfully politically incorrect for Dirty Harry to go on ranting about the black population these days ?

It would be if he were, but he hasn't.

[KeyserSoze01]

I watched Clint do his piece during the RNC convention yesterday. I've listened to the rhetoric from the left. I've seen the political pundits bat the topic around like a badminton bird. I watched the live crowd's response during his piece and I have to say he was great. It's called humor people, perhaps old school, but so is Clint Eastwood. So instead of attacking an American icon for telling the truth, perhaps you should find a theater playing 2016, Obama's America, to find out who he really is.

He made several poignant comments. Here are my favorites:

"Biden is the intellect of the Democratic Party. Kind of a grin with a body behind it."

"I never thought it was a good idea for attorneys to be President. What do you think? Is it time for a businessman to be President?"

"You, we, we own this country. Politicians are employees of ours."

"When somebody doesn't do the job, we gotta let them go."

-Clint Eastwood

[bhatmasterson]

My hat is off to Clint!!!! Great speech (improvised I might add) and I think imaginary obama in the chair might be more effective candidate than the actual one.

Either Clint is fading fast, or he gave the best acting performance of his career, and was purposely trying to ruin the convention. The whole thing was just sad.

His performance was a key glimpse into the decision making ability or lack thereof of what a Romney administration will bring. The time slot was key. Millions of people tuning in and instead of a touching video they got a once great American movie icon who wasn't even able to tow the Romney party line. Pulling out of Afghanistan?? Romney emphatically stated he does not want that and criticized Obama for doing so.

Romney himself approved all the speeches. Unprofessional, unthinking and sloppy is what America can expect with Romney at the helm.

[KKvampire]

I watched Clint do his piece during the RNC convention yesterday. I've listened to the rhetoric from the left. I've seen the political pundits bat the topic around like a badminton bird. I watched the live crowd's response during his piece and I have to say he was great. It's called humor people, perhaps old school, but so is Clint Eastwood. So instead of attacking an American icon for telling the truth, perhaps you should find a theater playing 2016, Obama's America, to find out who he really is.

He made several poignant comments. Here are my favorites:

"Biden is the intellect of the Democratic Party. Kind of a grin with a body behind it."

"I never thought it was a good idea for attorneys to be President. What do you think? Is it time for a businessman to be President?"

"You, we, we own this country. Politicians are employees of ours."

"When somebody doesn't do the job, we gotta let them go."

-Clint Eastwood

Great Speech ,Poignant.? You have low standards and well maybe you would say that. It looked embarassing. An Old man rambling, and chair prop was his idea just before he went on stage. Looked like some senile guy at a nursing home in the day room , talking to someone in an empty chair he believed to be there

Edited September 1, 2012 by KKvampire

[yasorab]

Anyone wo supports Mitt Romney in my view has lost the plot!! You do not have to be an 82 year old former Hollywood super star to prove that point. !!!

[Ulysses G.]

Most Republicans liked what he had to say and most Democrats did not. It was the Republican convention. Get over it.

"When somebody doesn't do the job, we gotta let them go."

-Clint Eastwood

[pitrevie]

The problem when you debate with an empty chair is that often the chair is seen to have won the debate, see William Lane Craig at Oxford when he debated an empty chair. This was not Eastwood's finest moment.

[kamahele]

I'm glad that this topic is back on topic! I didn't quite get the America vs. the world pissing match that was going on. Without being political, I think that Clint Eastwood's act last night was a diversion to the message that the Republican party was trying to put out as today, no one is talking about Romney. Whether one believes what he was talking about was just or not, the way in which he did it was just too bizarre for the Republican National Convention. I hope the Democrats learn the lesson and don't try the same stunt. I also hope the political speakers at the Democratic convention be more truthful than the Republican convention. I found truth to be lacking which isn't much of a surprise.

[Ulysses G.]

I also hope the political speakers at the Democratic convention be more truthful than the Republican convention.

That is not very likely. They would have nothing at all to run on.

[chiangmaikelly]

Most Republicans liked what he had to say and most Democrats did not. It was the Republican convention. Get over it.

"When somebody doesn't do the job, we gotta let them go."

-Clint Eastwood

I understand that. What I don't understand is what the folks who have no knowledge or vested interest in US politics get out of slagging Clint Eastwood. Why would they care? Now if it was Bersusconi or the French guy with all the mistresses now that I could see generating some international interest at least for the photo ops. Everyone knows that Romney's biggest asset is Obama. Unless somehow there is a change from President to Speaker of the House Romney is going to win.

Edited September 1, 2012 by chiangmaikelly

[Ulysses G.]

I understand that. What I don't understand is what the folks who have no knowledge or vested interest in US politics get out of slagging Clint Eastwood. Why would they care?

They are usually liberals who are quite happy to buy the lies and misrepresentations of the White House as that is the only possibility for Obama to keep power for another 4 years. I have never seen such a dirty presidential campaign in my lifetime and such blantant bias from the mainstream press - typical Chicago politics.

Edited September 1, 2012 by Ulysses G.