That’s from commenter MaximusNYC. I didn’t watch the RNC, but I understand Clint put on his worst shitshow since City Heat. My dad will be 82 next month and he’s also in good shape for his age and full of opinions. Fortunately, he doesn’t have a national platform that he can use to make an ass of himself.
Since we’re giving reasons for not watching the convention, here’s mine: I used to watch conventions to judge up-and-comers and to see minor lights get their couple of minutes of national TV while being interviewed on the convention floor. With the rise of YouTube, political blogs and local newspaper websites, I know everything I want to know about Chris Christie and Nikki Haley, and even the minor league heroes have had their moments in the Internet sun. So why watch the production numbers? I’m sure that’s not the main reason that more adults tuned into “Here Comes Honey Boo Boo” than watched Ryan’s speech, but it’s got to be part of it.
Update: Honey Boo Boo beat every single network, not the aggregate, whoever the fuck Honey Boo Boo is. Also, too:
Chyron HR
You laugh now, but Romney’s going to crush Unoccupied Chair in the Fox News debates next month.
Kirbster
The fact that millions watch “Here Comes Honey Boo Boo” depresses the hell out of me and makes me despair for our future.
NonyNony
You laugh, but in 29 years Honey Boo Boo will be running for president.
PaulW
@Chyron HR:
Unoccupied Chair has already released more tax returns than Romney ever will. Plus, Unoccupied Chair actually has a position. Advantage: Chair.
cmorenc
That’s not accurate that more adults 18-49 watched “Honey Boo Boo” than Ryan’s RNC speech; what is true is that Honey Boo Boo drew more viewers than any single network over cable, and more than ABC and CBS combined. However, the article cited clearly said that in aggregate, viewership of the RNC (and Ryan’s speech) was higher than Honey Boo Boo.
Nevertheless, as dubious as Honey Boo Boo is (what the hell kind of folks watch it?) it’s almost certain to be more honestly informative fare than anything seen at the RNC.
Bill E Pilgrim
Watch for Clint Eastwood’s new movie, “Dirty Fritz Perls”.
negative 1
@Kirbster: It’s worse news for rethuglicans though, because their demographic is who tunes into that show. It can’t be too good for them if their own base isn’t that into the convention.
vtr
So Dirty Harry needed a Tele-Prompter?
raven
@Bill E Pilgrim: He just finished a film that was filmed here in Athens this summer.
Litlebritdifrnt
Man the empty chair thing is hilarious, especially seeing as Orly Taitz lost one of her cases to an empty chair once.
My thought is how many regular working folks can wait up til 11pm for a political speech? I get up at six so I am generally in bed by 10pm, 10:30 at the latest. I just think that the lateness of the speech will mean that it won’t have reached anyone other than political junkies.
Brian R.
@NonyNony:
With her gene pool, in 29 years she won’t be able to run anywhere.
Honey Boo Boo/Rascal Scooter 2044!
sdhays
I just feel like it’s necessary to point out that before the convention, the Rmoney campaign was claiming that Mitt was micromanaging (they used a euphemism) the convention, including the stage design, because his super skillz at the Salt Lake City Olympics made him an expert on this crap.
Any successes or failures regarding this convention are Mitt’s.
As I tell my Dad, I don’t take anything for granted, but it’s real hard taking these screw-ups seriously.
kd bart
Unfortunately, after the convention ended last night, Mitt Romney strapped Unoccupied Chair to the roof of the car for the ride back to the hotel. It did not survive the ride.
LGRooney
Yeah, my 80+ y.o., 33-year Navy-chaplain vet father had a few choice words about this and the whole GOP convention… none of it praise. More Navy than chaplain… I’ll leave it at that.
Snarki, child of Loki
@PaulW:
I, for one, welcome our new furniture overlords.
Alex S.
Poor Clint… I heard he criticised Obama for not closing Guantanamo Bay. I don`t know if Mitt is really the better choice there, but in Clint`s mind there are probably some Eisenhower Republicans left.
Older_Wiser
“Popular culture” really is in the gutter in this country–it all seems to be exploitation now, self- and otherwise. And, of course, the Palins have a lot to do with that, too. What kind of moral sinkage have TLC producers and others contributed to it? Plenty.
These self-described “rednecks” seem to glory in their ignorance.
The Idiocracy isn’t hiding in the wood pile or the woodwork anymore.
More on this family and the 4 different fathers of this mother’s kids: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2195277/A-sex-offender-arsonist-thief-The-ex-partners-Honey-Boo-Boos-larger-life-mom-revealed.html?ito=feeds-newsxml
Stuck In 60s
Does this mean that Eastwood will be Romney’s debate coach?
Litlebritdifrnt
As I was saying just found this on Twitter
dimmic rat
Wrong, this is Eastwood’s biggest flop since ‘The Dead Pool.’
Bill E Pilgrim
@raven: Interesting.
Fritz Perls was the psychiatrist who specialized in what he called Gestalt Therapy (unrelated to similarly-named schools of psychology) that involved lots of talking to empty chairs.
You have to be old to remember this, thus the explanation.
I think the whole thing was hilariously bizarre, not to mention fairly blatantly racist.
“You gotta ask yourself, do I feel lucky? I know what you’re thinking, “Did he fire his last six brain cells, or only five?” Well to tell the truth in all this excitement I lost track myself…”
You can say that again.
Older_Wiser
“Popular culture” really is in the gutter in this country–it all seems to be exploitation now, self- and otherwise. And, of course, the Palins have a lot to do with that, too. What kind of moral sinkage have TLC producers and others contributed to it? Plenty.
These self-described “rednecks” seem to glory in their ignorance.
The Idiocracy isn’t hiding in the wood pile or the woodwork anymore.
More on this family and the 4 different fathers of this mother’s kids: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2195277/A-sex-offender-arsonist-thief-The-ex-partners-Honey-Boo-Boos-larger-life-mom-revealed.html?ito=feeds-newsxml
red dog
No convention coverage in my house instead I caught “Blues Brothers” on HBO and laughed out loud. It is the only musical with a car chase. Clint would be proud.
debit
I’m waiting for someone to make a Romney vid with this. Because no one heard at all, man. Not even the chair.
Older_Wiser
“Popular culture” really is in the gutter in this country–it all seems to be exploitation now, self- and otherwise. And, of course, the Palins have a lot to do with that, too. What kind of moral sinkage have TLC producers and others contributed to it? Plenty.
These self-described “rednecks” seem to glory in their ignorance.
The Idiocracy isn’t hiding in the wood pile or the woodwork anymore.
The 4 fathers of June’s kids are all convicted felons. I’d link to the Daily Mail story, but can’t get it through.
The Ancient Randonneur
Actually, the chair IS taken.
mai naem
There’s so much they could have done with Clint Eastwood. His westerns, The Good, Bad, and Ugly, Dirty Harry, Iwo Jima. What a waste of resource. I could never see the Dems doing this to one of their star supporters and definitely not somebody with the stature of Eastwood.
Mr Furious
I’m proud to say I have fucking idea what the hell “Honey Boo Boo” is.
mai naem
@debit: Funny that Neil Diamond’s a huge Dem. supporter and this song is so appropriate for Eastwood’s performance..
Davis X. Machina
@sdhays
The one guaranteed, absolutely fatal, thing in politics is to read and believe your own press notices.
TheMightyTrowel
@Davis X. Machina: I thought it was the old live boy/dead girl dichotomy…
bemused
Yesterday, when I heard the mystery guest was Clint, I thought why would he do that. He always seemed to guard his privacy carefully and it seemed out of character for him to speak at a political convention. Charlton Heston and Alzheimer’s disease did cross my mind. I don’t think Clint has dementia but I do know older folks who have developed a tendency to say what ever pops in their heads as they aged that they wouldn’t do when they were younger. I had a funny hunch that having Clint speak at the convention was not going to go well. I just didn’t expect it to be so awkward and odd.
Anya
@Alex S.: From the cringe inducing little bit I watched, he actually was mocking liberals for being disappointed with Obama for not closing Gitmo.
Culture of Truth
@Snarki, child of Loki: I fear a wardrobe malfunction.
Chyron HR
They also had a chair that was going to play Joe Biden, but Chris Christie sat on it before the show, and…
SenyorDave
@PaulW: This actually seems like a good ad possibility. Imagine something like this:
Voiceover (use the guy who does the movie trailers):
“This chair has released zero years of tax returns.”
A picture of Romney appears
“This man has released a single year of tax returns. The chair isn’t running for president. Mitt Romney is. Why is Mitt Romney only releasing one more year of tax returns than an empty chair?”
“Mitt, release those tax returns!”
rlrr
Eastwood has been a fair director, couldn’t he see how awful this looked?
Alex S.
@Anya:
Wow, does it sound even worse than it reads? I was too scared to actually watch the video.
Cassidy
@Mr Furious: Funny enough, here in the South, “boo-boo” is a common reference to a small child having a “boo-boo” in their pants. My first thought was who the hell names their kid Honey Shit?
Butch
Perhaps not completely on topic, but I’ve been having a lot of trouble with the reporting on Talking Points Memo for a while now, and I have to say that the following absolutely made my jaw drop – most especially the part about Ann Romney:
There was much for Republicans to celebrate in Tampa: the fresh faces on stage who energized the room and revealed a deep Republican bench of young talent, the emergence of Ann Romney as a beloved national figure and a final night that went a long way toward humanizing Mitt Romney with compelling personal stories.
pattyp
@cmorenc: The fact that ratings watchers are even comparing Honey Boo Boo to the Republican National Convention says all anyone needs to know about the value of the latter.
jimmiraybob
In THE most memorable performance ever delivered by a chair at a political convention, I think we’ve seen a new GOP star born. The power, the passion. And, the chair stayed on script.
Anya
@Alex S.: I could only stomach, I think, less than two minutes. It was really, really painful to watch.
My brother and I used to watch Eastwood movies with my grandpa when we were kids. He loved Eastwood, so we watched every single Eastwood movie million times. This was really sad!
Culture of Truth
Rubio was pretty good. That former Romney cabinet member was excellent. I thought the movie about Romney was good. Unfortunately, it was immediately forgotten by Clint doing his Marina Abramović impression.
Mitt’s speech was solid but far from what was needed to close the deal.
quannlace
Only saw part of the Eastwood debacle; tuned out when he made that crack about Biden.
But I think my reaction was like most of America.
“…..the hell ??”
***********************
This convention. i’m shocked they didn’t finally burst into a rendition of ‘Feelings.’ Cause that seemed to be the really, really important take-away.
Ryan’s speech was full of lies? Who cares, he was so sincere and said them as if he believed them.
Romney gave no real specifics about how he’d fix the economy and the deficit? Pshaw! He talked about his Mom and Dad, and people from his church said nice things about him. He’s a sweet guy, elect him!
(Were all those testimonials only from members of his church?)
Alex S.
@jimmiraybob:
RNC employee of the month: an inaminate carbon chair.
Culture of Truth
Chairs are people my friends
Culture of Truth
He could’ve debated an Ottoman
arguingwithsignposts
@Older_Wiser:
After you’ve finished with your “Get off my lawn” speech, you might go back through popular culture for a few centuries. You’ll be surprised to find people have always been this way. We just didn’t have 500 channels of it.
gogol's wife
@Mr Furious:
LOL.
Anya
@Butch: I agree with with you on TPM. On Ann Romney, they’re just regurgitating the Village’s conventional wisdom. And the Village is repeating what was fed to them by the Romney campaign.
amk
@Culture of Truth: yeah, mittbot did inform everyone that he did indeed have a dad, a mom, a wife and tons of kidz. Who knew ?
arguingwithsignposts
i like the twitter response from the Obama team – a photo of the president sitting in a cabinet meeting – “This seat is taken.” or words to that effect – it’s in an earlier thread somewhere.
gbear
@Alex S.: Here’s Steve Benen’s take on that:
I won’t be able to watch it until after work.
Culture of Truth
No Ann Romney was not good.
But if they feel they must say something nice about someone there, so be it.
Ash Can
To be honest, after all the discussion last night, I came away with doubts about the sincerity of Eastwood’s “performance.” Someone mentioned that Chris Rock had tweeted an imaginary phone conversation between Eastwood and Obama immediately following the convention: “Everything went according to plan tonight, sir.” I can’t shake the sneaking suspicion that Chris Rock may be the only one last night who got it right.
Chris
@Litlebritdifrnt:
Maybe that’s the point.
Culture of Truth
Over four days, the most effective speech, as delivered, was Santorum’s. No one else was close. However, he will always be second tier, so no 2016 nomination for you, Frothy.
Therefore the winner of the week is Chris Christie, who, whether you hate him or merely dislike him, is a dynamic speaker who made himself a true front runner for 2016.
Surprise winner was Condi Rice. I’m sure some in the crowd thought, hey would could nominate someone like this and actually win for a change.
Surprise loser, Huckabee. He speech was poorly delivered and was talk radio snide jabs. He’s halfway to Eastwooding. Oh and Jeb. What the hell, he has given a speech before, right? Liked the dig at your brother, though.
Oh, right, Paul Ryan. He was fine. He seems to really want this, unlike half that room. Should be interesting to watch his progress.
rea
The Republican campaign jsut annouced tht former Congressman Peter Hoekstra will help Romney with debate preparations, citing Hoekstra’s experience with foriegn policy and as a Hermann Miller executive . . . ;)
Bill E Pilgrim
@Culture of Truth:
I think he went with “Kenyan”.
That really was pretty blatant, sitting Obama down in a chair, making him talk like a puppet, having him say disrespectful and obscenity-laden things, and then the “make my day, punk” reference.
Just as a quick thought experiment: as openly critical as people were of George W Bush, just imagine a Democrat doing that to an imaginary Bush, treating him like a child, or a “boy”, to put exactly the right point on it, all right there on the stage at a national convention.
Pen
@Mr Furious: I didn’t either, then I Googled her. Now my brains stuck on the though, “who the fuck would give their 6 year old kid Go-Go Juice (ie redbull & mt dew)? The pageantry’s bad enough, but the energy drink thing… child abuse.
Back on topic though I love Obama’s response. Team Romney really did buy the “dumb black guy” meme hard and it’s biting them in the ass. Couldn’t happen to a nicer group of people.
runt
He talks to the chairs
but they don’t listen to him.
He talks to the walls
but they never hear him.
The doors haven’t time
to hear what he has to say.
He talks to them all
in vain…
Seriously, if the whole internet hasn’t linked to this by the end of the day, I’ll lose my faith in humanity: http://youtu.be/nn8YubD01sk
Cassidy
@Bill E Pilgrim: Honestly, I wouldn’t put that much thought into it. I think this was more Arnie’s use of “I’ll be back” than anything else. Also, keep in mind, since Unforgiven, Eastwood’s movies have been dramatic, story driven affairs that were unlikely to have been watched and enjoyed by half the crowd there. But they’ve all seen Dirty Harry.
At this point, after reading all the comments, I’m gonna have to go with the most epic act of trollery ever. I just don’t see Eastwood dropping off into wingnuttery. He may have conceded to doing a favor for a friend, but I don’t see any heart in it.
Culture of Truth
The whole evening there constant efforts to belittle the President. I noticed it before Eastwood spoke.
Of course part of that is natural politics and not necessarily racial, I had little respect for Stupid and did not hide it, but Democrats, out of temperment and fear of the media, usually go out of their way to be respectful. The RNC was anything but, and I don’t think it’s going to help them.
hep kitty
@LGRooney: Holy crap, thinking the same thing, my dad’s 82. After years of being in great shape, his health is finally failing. Even so, well I shouldn’t go there since he would have reamed out the entire crowd in that fiery SC lowcountry accent of his.
calm68
Last night: Clint Eastwood reprises his Dirty Harry act with the (invisible) President and has an audience of thousands of Republican faithful enthusiastically chant with him, “Go ahead. Make my day.” Unbelievable.
Chris
@Culture of Truth:
But, but, but, some activist drew Bush with a Hitler mustache so both sides do it!
joes527
@Anya:
Fuck.
Fuckitifuckity-fuckfuckfuck.
HE. TRIED. TO. BUT. THE. REPUBLICANS. BLOCKED. HIM.
This is why I didn’t watch/listen to the convention. I would have thrown the TV out the window within 10 minutes.
Violet
Has anyone made a comparison to the “Shit My Dad Says” guy? Seems apt?
Villago Delenda Est
Biden is going to have a fun time with an empty chair at the DNC.
Count on it.
amk
@joes527:
No, not just the rethugs. It was the entire cravenly coward congress critters, save one or two. This was a true case of both sides do it.
pattyp
I’m really starting to think that the entire GOP was taken over by a performance art troupe of such quality as to convince the entire world they’re a serious political party for the past three decades.
Lurking Canadian
@Davis X. Machina: The Romney camp will soon release the following press release:
“It would really help our campaign if the Democrats would stop talking about the complete and total incompetence of our candidate, so we could focus on our false issues.”
Waynski
Part of Clint’s riff was going off on how it’s bad to have an attorney as President, which seems to have gotten lost in all the “WTF???” reaction to his speech. Mitt Romney has a degree from Harvard Law. Having seen the whole thing, I’m kind of with Chris Rock… left seriously wondering if the whole thing wasn’t a rhetorical suicide bombing.
Violet
@Litlebritdifrnt:
Well, there are other time zones. Wasn’t quite that late in mine, but did run the news late.
Villago Delenda Est
@Mr Furious:
I had never heard of her before, either, and after looking at that Guardian link, it’s like, let’s celebrate the absolute trashiest of white trash.
Of course, these people don’t mind being mocked for being white trash, they’re getting paid (probably very well from their perspective) to be objects of public amusement.
Culture of Truth
Eastwood also asked Invisible Obama why he didn’t consult with the Russians before he invaded Afghanistan.
The crowd loved it.
shortstop
@Litlebritdifrnt: I love that so much I want to marry it.
Mr. Longform
I am chairing the campaign for Unoccupied Chair 2016. Non-human entities are a natural Republican constituency. UC is already polling higher than Paul Ryan and Chris Christie in the 2016 race. The “Don’t Sit This One Out” tour will get underway as soon as the election is over. Mr. Chair will be making a slide through Iowa and then appear at a number of tables, lunch counters, and arenas filled with fellow chairs and other supporters in New Hampshire. He will then swing through several southern states accompanied by his lovely wife, Maple Endtable Chair. The Endtable family has had a long and sometimes awkward relationship with the Chairs, but they are arranged very well for this new adventure.
Give generously. We need more chairisma in our leaders.
Villago Delenda Est
@Culture of Truth:
Given that as far as the Rethugs are concerned, there was no deserting coward assmalistration, only Clinton’s third and Obama’s first terms between 2001 and 2009, that’s quite understandable.
Of course, the problem is, Clinton is the guy who invaded Afghanistan with that time line, not Obama, but hey, Clinton was the actual first black president, too.
Culture of Truth
@Mr. Longform: What is your position on same-wood relationships?
chopper
@Culture of Truth:
too ethnic.
shortstop
@Cassidy: If you look at Eastwood’s political history — he’s all over the map — the explanation seems a little simpler: he thinks things, he says things, he moves on. In relationships and in politics, he’s got the attention span of a squirrel and goes off after the next shiny thing. The guy’s just not that analytical about politics and policy, but he sure does feel things. For a moment.
I think we can put this down to “Coddled old celebrity who’s used to saying whatever the fuck he wants whenever he wants to whomever he wants did it at the wrong place and time.”
Cassidy
@shortstop: That’s possible. I guess I’m having a hard time reconciling his stated positions with his involvement. But, oh well. The end result is that everyone is talking about Clint and Mitt has been stood up, again, by his date. And he even bought a brand new prom dress.
joes527
@amk: true. I guess that everything that has happened since then has led me to remember it as a party line vote + democratic defectors. (like so much else has been) No. You are right. It was virtually unanimous.
I’m voting for Obama for president, but going with the asteroid for Congress this year.
amk
Is tundra twit’s
15-minutes4 years finally ovah?Suffern ACE
@Anya: Yes. I walked away thinking he actually favors keeping Gitmo open…seeing as it cost so much money to build and trying terrorists in New York is bad idea. It would appear that an operating Gitmo is a good thing for Mr. Eastwood.
I mean, certainly he doesn’t think that putting Romney in charge is going to close Gitmo. But then again, he seems to think Obama hasn’t gotten us out of Afghanistan fast enough even though Romney wants to keep us there indefinitely. It could be that he’s telling off invisible Obama to throw his support behind imaginary Romney.
RaflW
A Businessweek journo walked right into a Rove/Crossroads GPS top-level donor breakfast this week. And tells about it.
I love that the Crossroads people are so about who knows who that b/c the journo was invited by a high-roller, he was not questioned about who he is or what he was doing there. Hah!
FormerSwingVoter
I haven’t read through all the comments, so I apologize if someone else already mentioned this… but do a search on Twitter for #eastwooding – it’s hilarious.
For instance:
https://twitter.com/idislikeedward/status/241394424570056704/photo/1
pattyp
@Culture of Truth: Any two woods which truly love each other should be able to tie the knot.
General Stuck
I think it is just peachy, that after the wingnuts spent a bundle on their convention, spinning so many nicely crafted lies to potential voters, that in its wake all we are talking about is a doddering nutso Hollywood guy. And double peachy since they hate about all things Hollywood to begin with. Karma on a Yo Yo string.
Violet
@runt: Oh, man. I didn’t even know that existed. HILARIOUS.
eyelessgame
Oh, y’all are a bit harsh. For me, hearing a senile Hollywood actor speak at the Republican convention evinced a certain nostalgia.
pattyp
@Cassidy: Maybe that was the point. Everyone is now talking about Clint instead of Mitt’s tax returns, Ryan’s lies, Bain’s government bailout, etc….
Villago Delenda Est
@shortstop:
If you look at Eastwood’s professional history, as an actor, director, and producer, that’s pretty much it. On the wiki page for Magnum Force, the director it seems was pissed because Eastwood didn’t share his desire to get the takes down perfect…70% was good enough for Clint. He was ready to move on to the next scene if they got it close enough for Clint, no matter what the director thought.
Not a perfectionist, ala Kubrick. A workman who isn’t out to make everything just so.
Nemesis
@sdhays: Perhaps more credit is due mitt for saving those Olympics. He only spent an average of $600,000 per athelete. The previous average had been $5,000 per athelete. With such a tight budget, mitt once again proved he is quite the businessman.
lonesomerobot
Y’know, and sorry if this has already been suggested, but I’m glad republicans are idiots. It’s hard to believe that not one person could have had the thought that having Dirty Harry on the same night as Dubya Mitt Rmoney would be a bad idea. No matter what he said or did, he was going to overshadow the nominee and that is the last thing you want, when the night is supposed to be all about the nominee.
When the media the next day are talking more about Clint than they are about Dubya Mitt, that = FAIL!
Violet
@Culture of Truth:
I loved that part. Why didn’t Bush and his team ask the Russians about Afghanistan? Because that was what Clint was really saying.
RaflW
Great line in the Bloomberg Businessweek piece (at the end)
Yeah, inherit with a 0% estate tax. That’s the key with that room full of billionaires and near-billionaires.
Pretty blunt 0.1% buttlicking there, Mr. Barbour.
General Stuck
deleted wrong thread
Rommie
OK, let’s say it really was Halftime in America when the commercial ran in the super bowl. Eastwood’s speech was the team getting cute early in the 4th quarter with a fake punt, only the punter threw a pick-6. Coach is looking flummoxed as he ponders what to do down 30-14 with 10 minutes left to play.
If the DNC doesn’t do something brilliant with an empty chair, I’m sure SNL can figure out something witty.
amk
@RaflW: from that piece
the establishment hates him. the base hates him. why the fuck mittbot even running?
Cassidy
@pattyp: Well, they will never be accused of competence. If they’re moranic enough to think those issues won’t come back, then I’m in the wrong line of work. I could be making hundreds of thousands of wingnut money just by telling Ann and Mittens to not be such condescending assholes. I need to figure out how to be a consultant.
shortstop
@Cassidy: And that thing required special magical underwear, you know. LDS-approved Spanx ain’t that easy to find.
arguingwithsignposts
@RaflW:
Yeah, that’s going to happen with Republicans.
Cassidy
@Rommie: A bunch of people standing around an empty chair…
“What’s that Mr. President? Go ahead and get OBL? Consider it done.”
Just One More Canuck
The chair may have been made from the same tree as Romney
Lurking Canadian
@Cassidy:
That is not a good way to plan to make your pile. If you told them that, they’d fire you on the first day.
hueyplong
They went with Eastwood because that was the best thing they had. That crazy former SNL woman and Ted Nugent aren’t considered mainstream enough, and this is a crowd who doesn’t realize that Eastwood made any movies after the orangutan died.
There simply have to be some downsides to living in an insular, fictional FoxNews world, and you’d like to think that one of them is that they trot out concepts for the broader, non-Fox public that are not well conceived for that demographic’s viewing.
Long term, this seems like a losing strategy unless the entire non-Fox public is disenfranchised. They’re giving that a shot, though, and we don’t yet know for sure that they’ll fail.
Chris
@Violet:
Consult the Russians? Why? So they can teach us how to slowly bleed to death in Afghanistan while our economy crumbles underneath our feet? I think we can figure that one out for ourselves, thanks.
Villago Delenda Est
@amk:
Three words: White Horse Prophecy.
General Stuck
@amk:
Money. They figure with enough CU cash they can get a ham sandwich elected president. Like Grover said, a warm republican body to sign republican laws repealing laws passed by democrats. It’s a simple formula, and could work. And if it does work, then it will be the fate we deserve and were destined for all along.
Cassidy
@hueyplong:
This I would have watched. RW nuttery and a ukelele! That would have been frakkin’ epic.
jibeaux
@arguingwithsignposts: It also says Haley Barbour discussed how they need to talk about what they’re going to do. Uh huh.
schrodinger's cat
I did not see the RNC convention yesterday, got home late, was tired, had to get up early. So what exactly happened, what is the deal with the chair? I am checking Balloon Juice posts and nothing makes sense. I feel like Alice in Wonderland. Can somebody explain what happened?
Lurking Canadian
@Chris: I think it was a “don’t get involved in a land war in Asia” thing, but it’s strange to me for two reasons:
1) Obviously, Bush got into Afghanistan, not Obama.
2) The Republicans are supposed to be all about AMERICAN EXCEPTIONALISM!!! A non-RINO Republican would think, “Just because some bunch of dirty commies couldn’t keep their boots on the Afghans’ necks doesn’t mean WE can’t. Hell, the wogs’ll be so glad to see us that they’ll greet us as liberators and throw flowers at the troops!”
jibeaux
@Cassidy: “You need to permanently eighty-six the words ‘you people’ from your public vocabularies. That will be one million dollars, please.”
Cassidy
@schrodinger’s cat: They went down the rabbit hole.
@Lurking Canadian: Good point. “Great job Mitt. Love the dress Ann. Yeah, just make that out to…”.
Culture of Truth
The chair should host the SNL opener
JPL
@schrodinger’s cat: Keep paging down, there is a video of Clint’s speech.
General Stuck
@schrodinger’s cat:
The looking glass. Look thru the looking glass.
hep kitty
@Villago Delenda Est: I’m telling you, hiding in plain sight. Nobody, including libs, want to talk about it. When the man has more money than God (no pun intended) and absolutely loathes campaigning and being in the same room with the help (look at the pain in his face, looks like he has hemorrhoids.)
They don’t mind talking about the Christianists, but oh no, don’t touch Mormonism, which is interesting considering how damned secretive the church is. You might sound like a bigot! Or there’s no difference b/w all religions, blah, blah, blah. Go ahead and think that at your own peril.
At least we know exactly where Christianists are coming from.
Bill E Pilgrim
@Cassidy: That speech, if you can call it that, hit all of the wingnut points. Clint has been a fairly right wing Republican for some time, which surprises some people.
Did you ever see “Absolute Power”? Not only one of the worst movies ever made, but basically a film version of the entire 90s right wing radio anti-Clinton tropes, with Clint Eastwood “acting” in it himself with his dialogue something that could have been written by Rush Limbaugh.
He called Jon Voight a “great guy” and praised his politics– it’s all pretty wingnut central really. Nothing about it surprised me, well the total being out to lunchness did, but nothing about his political views.
Nemesis
@Culture of Truth:
Expect a Lyan/Rice or Christie/Rice 2016 ticket.
Will old white southerners vote for a blah woman?
JPL
@schrodinger’s cat: you can also type in drunk uncle Harry on google and that will give you some info.
shortstop
@schrodinger’s cat: Set aside 12 minutes, pour yourself a cup of coffee and have fun.
Chris
@Villago Delenda Est:
Holy crap.
This explains my Mormon facebook-relative-I’ve-never-actually-met’s posts over the last year or so. “Constitution hanging by a thread, Mormons will save America” – heh indeed…
@Lurking Canadian:
Honestly, I think the tribal instinct has crowded out everything else in the Republican Party to such a degree that if Clint Eastwood had gotten up there and said “Mister President! Why didn’t you fight for a public option!” the crowd would still clap like seals.
Bill E Pilgrim
@Culture of Truth: I am reminded of famous debates in the past, who can forget Harry Truman debating his sofa, Ronald Reagan’s good-natured back and forth with a Queen Anne desk, John McCain yelling at his lawn funiture…
shortstop
@Bill E Pilgrim: I was fairly amused by his reference to all the secret conservatives in Hollywood…then the only names he could trot out were Voight and a couple more of the usual suspects. But remember, we don’t know about all the TV/movie wingers because, unlike Democratic celebrities, Republican stars are low-key and humble. They don’t hot dog by, for example, rambling incoherently at empty chairs at national conventions.
shortstop
@Bill E Pilgrim: Hey, that last one really happened! Several times! He mistook it for kids.
arguingwithsignposts
This entire convention was a secret stimulus package for Big Comedy.
Chris
@shortstop:
Clint Eastwood. John Wayne. Ronald Reagan. Charlton Heston. Arnold Schwarzenegger. Sylvester Stallone. Bruce Willis. Chuck Norris. John Voight. Ben Stein. Mel Gibson. Fred Thompson. Tom Selleck. Adam Baldwin. Angie Harmon. Andy Garcia.
Yes, where, oh WHERE, in all of Hollywood, can one find a conservative? And they’re so modest about it too, like you said. I suppose they’re still afraid of the blacklist those Hollywood liberal meanies set up back around 1950.
cmorenc
@Rommie:
The DNC should leave the “empty chair” and any other attempt to make humor at Eastwood’s expense ALONE. FORGET ABOUT IT, BAD IDEA. FIRST, despite last night’s performance, Clint Eastwood remains a beloved icon to most Americans, Democratic, Republican, and Independent alike. Even though most people watching on TV regarded his riff as inappropriate, and unintentionally weird and demented, nevertheless, most people are sympathetically embarrassed FOR him, and are likely to resent attempted humor at Eastwood’s expense at the DNC as mean-spirited piling on. Leave the humorous riffs on Clint to comedic forums like Colbert, where it’s far more likely to be regarded as appropriate and funny, and actually far more likely to do continuing damage to the GOP and Romney. SECOND, Eastwood’s performance last night was such a perfect storm of embarrassing clusterfuck for the GOP that it would not only be impossible to improve on for opposing partisan political figures, but counterproductive to try. When your opponent is shooting themselves in the foot, stay back out of the way and let them, don’t take a chance on accidentally wandering into the line of fire yourself.
schrodinger's cat
The party on vacation from reality. If we elect them, we will be a country on vacation from reality and you know how well that works in the long run. Reality always comes to bite you back in the ass.
ETA: Thanks for answering my question about the chair, I plan to watch the 12 min video, when I am drinking coffee after lunch.
pattyp
@schrodinger’s cat: Trust me, you’d feel the same way if you’d witnessed it firsthand.
Violet
@Chris: No, I took it as “remember how the Russians (along with all previous invaders) have failed in Afghanistan. Maybe it’s because prior to the invasion of Afghanistan I had many, many discussions along these lines with a family member who was incredulous that no one seemed to be remembering the past, but it struck me as funny coming from Eastwood.
The way I took it was, “Bush was an idiot for not looking at history before he invaded Afghanistan.” I know that’s not what Clint said, but it struck a chord with me in that way. I don’t think asking Obama (empty chair) why he didn’t talk to the Russians before invading Afghanistan made any more sense than anything else Clint said. It seemed like an oblique slam on Bush, which cracked me up.
shortstop
@schrodinger’s cat: You don’t have a white blouse on, do you? Maybe the coffee was a bad idea.
pattyp
@cmorenc: I agree 100%. The Dems need to show everyone who the grownups are. Besides, Obama’s great Twitter photo response was all that needed to be said.
Culture of Truth
To be fair to Clint, we didn’t hear both sides of the conversation.
amk
@Chris: selleck & garcia too ? The other punks, I get.
schrodinger's cat
@shortstop: Green blouse. Will be careful with the coffee.
Argive
I kept wondering when Clint would tell Obama that there are too many states these days, and that eliminating three should be one of the president’s top priorities. Also, I was surprised that Eastwood lacked an onion on his belt.
Ah well. I think I’ll go watch Letters From Iwo Jima to remind myself of better days.
Chris
@amk:
Well, Garcia = Cuban American, so that’s the Republican thing for you.
He actually got a movie made that was basically a love letter to Cuba without Castro (set around the time of the revolution), and surprisingly it wasn’t that bad. Tears Castro and Che a new one (deservedly so), but also doesn’t try to conceal the fact that Cuba before that was a thugocracy and Mafia client state.
At least he’s not a Batista Lost Causer, which puts him ahead of the Gipper fawning over Latin American death squads as “the spiritual equivalent of our founding fathers.”
Villago Delenda Est
@Violet:
The problem wasn’t so much “invading Afghanistan” it was the mission creep that turned into “nation building” in Afghanistan.
If they had stuck to the original plan, get in, get bin Laden and Al Qaida, get the fuck out, mission accomplished, to coin a phrase, it would have been fine. Overkill, of course, but the job would have got done.
If the ostensible reason for going in was, indeed, to avenge 9/11 and take out the man responsible.
Turns out there was a lot more going on, and 9/11 offered a pretext. They had bin Ladan at Tora Bora, and they let him go. We’ve got the accounts of soldiers on the ground there who were prepared to issue the Coup de grâce on bin Laden, and were told to back off from on high. All the way at the top. Actually accomplishing the ostensible mission got in the way of other considerations.
So, here we are, years later, still mired in there, and no one will admit to the real reason. For the deserting coward and the Dark Lord, it was a pipeline from central Asia to the Indian ocean…a literal pipe dream. For Obama, it’s worry about Pakistan’s nukes.
catclub
@Chris: Don’t forget Janine Turner. I was trying to think if there were conservative women stars.
catclub
@Bill E Pilgrim: Barney Frank will be blamed. Did he not claim that he would do more good arguing with a table than with the woman who was ranting at him? I think that was after asking her which planet she was from.
Suffern ACE
@cmorenc: I actually agree with that. Also, I especially do not want the president or vice president riffing on this at the convention. That is for others. I want the president to go after Romney, not Clint Eastwood. I also don’t want this to get to be a habit where we have to expect the “traditional exchanging of the empty chair” moments at conventions and pretend that this is just the normal part of a functioning democracy.
I’m only glad that I doubt our conventions get much detailed coverage on the news in other places. If I were a despot, I’d play the Eastwood clip next to part of the speech where Romney declares that he wants to export democracy on the TV and ask any democratic activist types (any who I haven’t already imprisoned, that is) if this is what they mean when they want to bring democracy to my country. My guess is that they’d scratch their heads, give up, and support the continuation of my dynasty as the only rational way to govern.
Rommie
@pattyp: Honestly, I can agree that the DNC can ignore the chair like Beavis and Butt-Head changing the channel silently when a horrible video pops up. Leave it to SNL and the Comedy Central twins for the lampooning.
But, by Gawd, if done right, a response at the DNC could just BURY Mittens. Think an on-his-game Bob Newhart talking to the chair as an example. Yeah, it’s too dangerous to chance it backfiring like it did in Tampa, but oh, if they pulled it off, it would be priceless.
Violet
@Villago Delenda Est: I don’t disagree, and your comments about making a quick mission with a specific goal were the kinds of things I was discussing back then. My English family member was screaming about “The British learned this back in (whatever year it was) and then the Russians” and why didn’t we pay attention to history. So when Clint said that, it just cracked me right up because it felt like a slam on Bush and the whole idea of invading Afghanistan. Took me right back to all those conversations.
gogol's wife
@Rommie:
I love the idea of Bob Newhart doing something with this. But I think he’s quite a bit older than Clint, so probably retired.
jimmiraybob
I’ve overheard some of Chair’s people talking and if there’s enough of a write-in effort in 2012 it’s a good bet that we’ll see a Chair-Lectern GOP/Tea Party ticket in 2016. So far Chair is saying nothing.
When reached for comment, Chair’s chief spokestable said, quoting Cool Hand Luke, “Sometimes nothin’s a real cool hand.”
Chair-Lectern 2016
hep kitty
@cmorenc: Oh good grief, you are talking about the biggest wusses of all time. I wouldn’t lose too much sleep over the fact that the WH tweeted a pic of Obama sitting in a chair after the disrespect heaped upon him throughout this convention, and all day every day, much less Clint Eastwood acting like a senile old fart.
wenchacha
@runt: Thanks, runt. I was trying like crazy to post it. Yes, it ought to go viral today.
hep kitty
Just saw this tweet from Frances Fisher, Clint’s previous wife:
@billmaher: Wow. Who knew Clint Eastwood was such a down the line rightwing asshole?” (@Frances_Fisher) I did.
check out her twitter feed, btw! good stuff
muddy
I thought it was bizarre that one of the first things Eastwood said was that 23 million were unemployed, and the crowd cheered for that, before he got to the criticism or the solution. They just cheered at 23 million unemployed.
hep kitty
Check out @Frances_Fisher twitter feed, all abuzz with Clint jokes.
I believe she is loving every minute of this but then, why not? She’s probably been chuckling up her sleeve about the current Mrs. Eastwood’s cheesy reality show wife for some time now.
Applejinx
I would like to imagine that Clint Eastwood is the most fantastic troll ever…
3 AM phone call, Eastwood/Rove last thread
Jay C
@catclub:
So that can be the next campaign’s Big Debate? Barney Frank’s table vs. Clint Eastwood’s chair?
The sad part is that it would still be more informative and/or entertaining than many a debate featuring human candidates (or, in the case of Republicans, the nearest thing they cam find….)
Jay C
@catclub:
So that can be the next campaign’s Big Debate? Barney Frank’s table vs. Clint Eastwood’s chair?
The sad part is that it would still be more informative and/or entertaining than many a debate featuring human candidates (or, in the case of Republicans, the nearest thing they cam find….)
Jay C
@catclub:
So that can be the next campaign’s Big Debate? Barney Frank’s table vs. Clint Eastwood’s chair?
The sad part is that it would still be more informative and/or entertaining than many a debate featuring human candidates (or, in the case of Republicans, the nearest thing they cam find….)
bjacques
Don’t blame me: I voted for Unoccupied Chair.
Last night, Unoccupied Chair showed it has what it takes–steadfastness, centeredness, quiet resolution. When it takes a position, it does not move. With Unoccupied Chair, you know where you stand. Where many politicians don’t have a leg to stand on, Unoccupied Chair has four. You won’t catch Unoccupied Chair off balance. It knew 2012 wasn’t its year and widely chose to just be part of the furniture. But come 2016, Unoccupied Chair steps aside for no one.
Jay C
Re comments nos. 158-160:
FYWP.
That is all.
Ben Cisco
@schrodinger’s cat:
OK, seriously now – either drink the coffee BEFORE or AFTER (if you can) watching the clip. Drinking it DURING the clip will not end well.
GxB
@Litlebritdifrnt: Score! Clint better watch his Wingnut appeal – he’ll have Malkin calling and asking him to play Misty for Her.
Heliopause
I’ve been trying to think how the Dems could top the Eastwood thing. I vote for Yoko Ono, maybe performing this.
GxB
@Alex S.: “In chair we trust” I was half expecting Clint to explain that in his day Republicans wore an onion on their belt…
Ben Cisco
@Applejinx: Can I post this to my blog? (full accreditation) That is EPIC!
GxB
@muddy: Ignorance is wisdom, weakness is strength, slavery is freedom…(waive a foam finger with “USA #1” for best effect)
Also too
@Argive: Great minds and all that such like.
GxB
@muddy: Ignorance is wisdom, weakness is strength, slavery is freedom…(waive a foam finger with “USA #1” for best effect)
Also too
@Argive: Great minds and all that such like.
GxB
@muddy: Ignorance is wisdom, weakness is strength, slavery is freedom…(waive a foam finger with “USA #1” for best effect)
Also too
@Argive: Great minds and all that such like.
LanceThruster
@hep kitty:
Boy, you weren’t kidding. She’s gathered a heapin’ helpin’ of gems. I always thought she was beautiful and talented. I did not know she was so funny and insightful.
bottyguy
So Clint Eastwood is scared to try a few handcuffed terrorists in NYC? When did he become such a pussy?
LanceThruster
They said he ad-libbed the whole thing but as I recall, he was just plagiarizing the Simpsons.
Kang: My fellow Americans. As a young boy, I dreamed of being a baseball; but tonight I say, we must move forward, not backward; upward, not forward; and always twirling, twirling, twirling towards freedom!
schrodinger's cat
@Ben Cisco: Emissary, I did see it, finally and without the coffee.
About Clint Eastwood, he sounded like a crazy old uncle who rambles on about stuff and nobody has quite the idea of what he is talking about. I didn’t see the point of it at all. How does this help Romney in anyway?
riptyde
The whole thing was fitting, since Republicans have been campaigning against an imaginary version of Obama for 4 years now.
White Trash Liberal
Biden should have a conversation with an empty suit on a hanger
HgMn
@White Trash Liberal: @White Trash Liberal:
Didn’t Clint make a film about protecting the presidency?
I really liked him as an actor – but what an Ahole!
Won’t be seeing any more of his films
jacksmith
“Give me Liberty, or Give me Death!” – Patrick Henry
What a brilliant ruling by the United States Supreme Court on the affordable health care act (Obamacare). Stunningly brilliant in my humble opinion. I could not have ask for a better ruling on a potentially catastrophic healthcare act than We The People Of The United States received from our Supreme Court.
If the court had upheld the constitutionality of the individual mandate under the commerce clause it would have meant the catastrophic loss of the most precious thing we own. Our individual liberty. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Supreme Court.
There is no mandate to buy private for-profit health insurance. There is only a nominal tax on income eligible individuals who don’t have health insurance. This is a HUGE! difference. And I suspect that tax may be subject to constitutional challenge as it ripens.
This is a critically important distinction. Because under the commerce clause individuals would have been compelled to support the most costly, dangerous, unethical, morally repugnant, and defective type of health insurance you can have. For-profit health insurance, and the for-profit proxies called private non-profits and co-ops.
Equally impressive in the courts ruling was the majorities willingness to throw out the whole law if the court could not find a way to sever the individual mandate under the commerce clause from the rest of the act. Bravo! Supreme Court.
Thanks to the Supreme Court we now have an opportunity to fix our healthcare crisis the right way. Without the obscene delusion that Washington can get away with forcing Americans to buy a costly, dangerous and highly defective private product (for-profit health insurance).
During the passage of ACA/Obamacare some politicians said that the ACA was better than nothing. But the truth was that until the Supreme Court fixed it the ACA/Obamacare was worse than nothing at all. It would have meant the catastrophic loss of your precious liberty for the false promise and illusion of healthcare security under the deadly and costly for-profit healthcare system that dominates American healthcare.
As everyone knows now. The fix for our healthcare crisis is a single payer system (Medicare for all) like the rest of the developed world has. Or a robust Public Option choice available to everyone on day one that can quickly lead to a single payer system.
Talk of privatizing/profiteering from Medicare or social security is highly corrupt and Crazy! talk. And you should cut the political throats of any politicians giving lip service to such an asinine idea. Medicare should be expanded, not privatized or eliminated.
We still have a healthcare crisis in America. With hundreds of thousands dieing needlessly every year in America. And a for-profit medical industrial complex that threatens the security and health of the entire world. The ACA/Obamacare will not fix that.
The for-profit medical industrial complex has already attacked the world with H1N1 killing thousands, and injuring millions. And more attacks are planned for profit, and to feed their greed.
To all of you who have fought so hard to do the kind and right thing for your fellow human beings at a time of our greatest needs I applaud you. Be proud of your-self.
God Bless You my fellow human beings. I’m proud to be one of you. You did good.
See you on the battle field.
Sincerely
jacksmith – WorkingClass :-)