I didn’t watch the Republican National Convention. It’s okay I guess because I won’t watch the Democratic National Convention either. I just don’t care that much for politics. But, my cousin texted me this morning to see what I thought of Clint Eastwood’s speech last night. I told him I hadn’t heard it and he said I needed to check it out on CNN.
So, I did. I wasn’t sure what I thought. Well, yes I was. It seemed like a Bob Newhart skit. Little did I know how accurate that was. Later I learned that Bob Newhart tweeted “I heard that Clint Eastwood was channeling me at the RNC. My lawyers and I are drafting our lawsuit.”
If you haven’t seen the speech, Eastwood talks to an empty chair, as if it is occupied by President Obama. He asked “the president” how he handles promised he had made then went on to talk about ending the war in Afghanistan, saying “Why don’t you just bring them home tomorrow morning?”
Eastwood went on to talk about Obama’s gas guzzler (Air Force One) and saying “When somebody doesn’t do the job, you gotta let them go.”
The crowd cheered and someone hollered out “make my day!”, making reference to Eastwood’s famous line from Sudden Impact. Eastwood played coy, saying “I don’t say that word anymore,” but then said, “Go ahead…” to which the crowd replied “Make my day.”
Some outside the RNC crowd didn’t cheer the speech however. Piers Morgan said, “He came off like the slightly crazy uncle at the Christmas party who’s had one too many sherries and doesn’t quite get it.” English filmmaker Simon Pegg (Shaun of the Dead) tweeted, “Woken up to excited chatter in the US. Apparently Clint Eastwood had an argument with an empty chair regarding its political standpoint.” “Saturday Night Live” star Seth Meyers tweeted, “’Ramble’ #What’sOnClint’sTeleprompter.” Film critic Rogert Ebert said, “Clint, my hero, is coming across as sad and pathetic. He didn’t need to do this to himself. It’s unworthy of him.”
Even the Obama campaign got on the Eastwood bashing, twitting a photo of the President sitting in a chair, saying “This seat’s taken.”