Symmetry required it: 2012 american general election thread #2

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/assets_c/2012/08/eastwood-rnc-cropped-proto-custom_2.jpg

I thought they weren't letting Ron Paul speak at this thing.

did clint at one point say "we own this country" ??

guess i should read that transcript

yup he did! haha well that's sure to strike a bright note for some people...

...

I would just like to say something, ladies and gentlemen. Something that I think is very important. It is that, you, we -- we own this country.

(APPLAUSE)

We -- we own it. It is not you owning it, and not politicians owning it. Politicians are employees of ours.

(APPLAUSE)

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.

(APPLAUSE)

Okay, just remember that. And I’m speaking out for everybody out there. It doesn’t hurt, we don’t have to be

(AUDIENCE MEMBER): (inaudible)

(LAUGHTER)

I do not say that word anymore. Well, maybe one last time.

(LAUGHTER)

We don’t have to be -- what I’m saying, we do not have to be metal (ph) masochists and vote for somebody that we don’t really even want in office just because they seem to be nice guys or maybe not so nice guys, if you look at some of the recent ads going out there, I don’t know.

(APPLAUSE)

But OK. You want to make my day?

(APPLAUSE)

All right. I started, you finish it. Go ahead.

AUDIENCE: Make my day!

EASTWOOD: Thank you. Thank you very much.

play Freebird!

Clint Eastwood IS...Neil Hamburger.

i dunno, eastwood's thing seemed ok to me. it was obviously written out ahead of time and his 'meandering' was mostly only a bit of weakness from age; otherwise, it was a celebrity-comedy-relief / crowd-warmer kind of thing.

Why, I made the comparison to America's Funnyman for a reason!

https://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash4/315079_426668737369703_1879877859_n.jpg

http://twitter.com/BarackObama/status/241392153148915712

zing.

Hahah.

According to a friend on FB, "He then turned around to reveal

http://i0.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/original/000/096/044/trollface.jpg?1296494117

awesome tweet O

weird imo

tho clearly a grab for the 'internet vote'

(not kidding btw, esp after the reddit thing)

I still don't understand the reddit thing, even though I have at least three people I know on the OfA internet team. I think it was his direct group that did that, though.

finally saw the eastwood thing, wish i hadn't heard the peanut gallery on it beforehand, undoubtedly weirder without warning

Clint Eastwood, manchurian paulite candidate

Did anybody ever find out what happened to Gabbneb?

Have we explored the possibility that Clint might have actually thought that Obama was in that chair and infuriatingly and invisibly refusing to answer his questions?

Also, once upon a time long, long ago in a galaxy far, far away, Clint Eastwood made _High Plains Drifter_

Great Tweet among a bunch of them posted by Sullivan: "This is a perfect representation of the campaign: an old white man arguing with an imaginary Barack Obama."

ok this is maybe left-field speculation but before the convention Trump was tweeting about a big surprise alongside a pic of him mugging with an Obama impersonator. is it possible that the empty chair in Clint's speech was originally going to be a fake Obama before wiser judgement prevailed? because that would be mind blowing

in any case, good job RNC for using an 82 year old actor in your bold appeal to the youth vote

has anyone mentioned here yet that the number of jobs romney pledges to create - 12 million - is the CBO projection w/ no further policy shifts

I still don't understand the reddit thing

― your native bacon (mh), Friday, August 31, 2012 1:08 AM (7 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

just a way to get some press during the gop convention

ok this is maybe left-field speculation but before the convention Trump was tweeting about a big surprise alongside a pic of him mugging with an Obama impersonator. is it possible that the empty chair in Clint's speech was originally going to be a fake Obama before wiser judgement prevailed? because that would be mind blowing

― real men have been preparing manly dishes for centuries (elmo argonaut), Friday, August 31, 2012 8:38 AM (20 minutes ago) Bookmark

woah yeah

would pay

Great Tweet among a bunch of them posted by Sullivan: "This is a perfect representation of the campaign: an old white man arguing with an imaginary Barack Obama."

― clemenza, Friday, August 31, 2012 6:44 AM (2 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

ha yes

http://i.imgur.com/Pe4t3.png

https://twitter.com/#!/search/realtime/%23Eastwooding

Mona Charen will have none of it, you liberal heathens:

Also, Romney, as stage manager of the Tampa convention, (and as the man who chose Ryan) deserves credit for highlighting the incredible talent of the Republican bench. I cannot recall, in my lifetime, any time when Republicans were blessed with such a crop of highly articulate, intelligent, philosophically-grounded governors, members of Congress, Senators, and candidates for other offices.

Finally, a word about Ryan. There’s a reason the so-called “fact-checkers” and other liberals have gone beserk about him. It’s quite simply this: He is the most impressive Republican politician since Reagan. Not just smart and well-informed, but also disarming, comfortable, and persuasive. Like a triathlete, he’s great at many things at once. As such, he delights us and scares the Hell out of them.

lol sure sure lady

ok this is maybe left-field speculation but before the convention Trump was tweeting about a big surprise alongside a pic of him mugging with an Obama impersonator. is it possible that the empty chair in Clint's speech was originally going to be a fake Obama before wiser judgement prevailed? because that would be mind blowing

some pundit needs to get on this this morning because it seems obviously true!!

as much as i like this theory trump's big surprise was supposed to be on monday

Ann Romney: Mitt showed the 'deepest part of his soul'

o man

haha, aww

i mean clint's speech was terrific anyway, that should be enough

the jokes in eastwood's routine would make even less sense if there was an actor dressed like obama telling him to fuck himself

the routine was pretty clearly some bob newhart phone conversation gag

romney's acceptance speech is being p heavily overshadowed by the reaction to clint afaict

stop being spoilsports. original script called for Obama impersonator to say "well, go fuck yourself, then" into a live mic

while obviously having one of the biggest elderly stars in hollywood do a vaudeville bit beforehand didn't help, i think romney would have been a non-event either way, since none of the speakers beforehand actually ramped up anticipation for it as much as they did their 2016 runs.

someone needs to do a video of those pained lil emphasis face romney was doing after every line

also not seeing mentioned: he was talking v fast

i watched clint's speech again this morning and i think ppl are right that it was totally out of place at RNC, but i don't think he was crazy. he sounded like a guy who really liked obama at one point but had serious questions for him and who was maybe trying to convince himself to vote for romney but really doesn't like him and by the end of the speech i thought maybe clint was still going to vote for obama this election.

hah

someone needs to do a video of those pained lil emphasis face romney was doing after every line

yessssss

The biggest problem with Clint's speech, besides having an old man talking to a chair, was that the big buildup line was "you don't have to vote for someone just because he's nice" after an hour of establishing that Romney is really, really nice

also the part where he said we should bring the troops home tomorrow at the RNC

"don't settle" is a weeeeeeird thing to say at a romney event

I believe the original plan was to have Trump on stage as Obama, in blackface. At least, that seems the most classy - and by extension, Trumpy - explanation.

i watched clint's speech again this morning and i think ppl are right that it was totally out of place at RNC, but i don't think he was crazy. he sounded like a guy who really liked obama at one point but had serious questions for him and who was maybe trying to convince himself to vote for romney but really doesn't like him and by the end of the speech i thought maybe clint was still going to vote for obama this election.

while i think clint was fine in a "grandpa gives a speech at the kiwanis club" way that certainly won't make america reconsider the fifty odd years they've been paying money to see him in movies, a movie star alienated by obama trying (and possibly failing) to convince himself to vote for romney by arguing with a chair on stage at the rnc during prime-time is about as crazy as it gets.

also the part where he said we should bring the troops home tomorrow at the RNC

only for Romney to get on stage and say "you know what we should do, is invade Syria, Iran and Russia"