Oscar winning director/actor Clint Eastwood’s surprise appearance at the Republican National Convention in Tampa, Florida drove home the belief I have always held which is that the Hollywood elite should stay the hell out of the political presidential spectrum completely whether they are conservative or liberal.
That doesn’t mean they should not back a certain candidate. All I am saying is they should do it quietly or make it as conspicuous as possible to the point it doesn’t turn off their fan base and makes one ask, “Why the hell did I ever watch your movies, tv shows or listen to your music in the first place if you are going to bash the previous president, the GOP and vice versa?”
It is no secret that when any Hollywood conservative comes out of the closet, they run the risk of being blacklisted by the studios because of their politics. Just look at the backlash Eastwood got from the Hollywood liberals following his appearance.
“Now that is something to cry for because that is a disgrace, a national disgrace, obviously this administration hasn’t done enough to cure that,” Eastwood continued. “Whatever interest they have is not strong enough, and I think possibly now it may be time for somebody else to come along and solve the problem.”
I agree as I did with his comments as to who owns 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.”
The problem is I would much rather have heard this from someone who is or already held political office.
If people are going to argue that religion and politics don't mix, the same should be said then for the entertainment industry.
I know full well that both Barack Obama and Mitt Romney are wealthy. It’s bad enough I got to listen to two presidential candidates who think they feel my pain living from paycheck to paycheck barely able to make ends meet trying to sell me reasons why I should vote for them.
Presidential conventions should be focused on politics and what the two candidates promise they will do if elected. They should not be big budget Hollywood style spectacles.
People should be talking about what it was the candidates said or did not say in their speeches. That’s more important if not far more newsworthy than seeing an Oscar winning director/actor talk to an empty chair that was an imaginary President Obama.
I did not see Mitt Romney’s speech in its entirety but judging what I did hear I didn’t think it was anything worth remembering. There is something wrong when a Hollywood icon steals the show for 11 minutes to the point everyone is talking about it on Twitter the next day and posting pictures of themselves pointing to an empty chair in what is now called “Eastwooding.”
In fact, I am willing to bet this blog is being read by a lot of empty chairs.
Even my dog is doing it sitting up looking at an empty chair right now.
That is until I realized the person sitting in the empty chair was me. Like President Obama, who not only had a sense of humor about Eastwood’s speech saying, “One thing about being president or running for president – if you’re easily offended, you should probably choose another profession,” but also tweeted a quick response on Twitter following the actor’s speech, I too told my dog, “This seat’s taken.
©9/3/12
That doesn’t mean they should not back a certain candidate. All I am saying is they should do it quietly or make it as conspicuous as possible to the point it doesn’t turn off their fan base and makes one ask, “Why the hell did I ever watch your movies, tv shows or listen to your music in the first place if you are going to bash the previous president, the GOP and vice versa?”
It is no secret that when any Hollywood conservative comes out of the closet, they run the risk of being blacklisted by the studios because of their politics. Just look at the backlash Eastwood got from the Hollywood liberals following his appearance.
I won’t deny that Eastwood made a couple good points during his awkward ad-libbed speech that made me wonder if, like President Obama, was in serious need of a teleprompter to effectively get his points across.In speaking about what I assume was his reaction to President Obama’s election win in November 2008, “Everybody was crying,” he said. “Oprah was crying. I was even crying…and I haven’t cried that hard since I found out that there is 23 million unemployed people in this country.”
“Now that is something to cry for because that is a disgrace, a national disgrace, obviously this administration hasn’t done enough to cure that,” Eastwood continued. “Whatever interest they have is not strong enough, and I think possibly now it may be time for somebody else to come along and solve the problem.”
I agree as I did with his comments as to who owns 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.”
The problem is I would much rather have heard this from someone who is or already held political office.
When a movie star makes an appearance at a presidential convention like Eastwood did, it’s that one event that takes away everything else the other politicians said the past three days.Such is the reason I will not watch the Democratic National Convention as I know the list of Hollywood celebrities from Jessica Alba and Eva Longoria to such rock bands like The B-52s is going to be the equivalent of the stars we see on the red carpet every February shortly before the opening ceremonies of the Academy Awards. The many appearances I have seen President Obama make the past three years on The View, late night and slow jamming the news with Jimmy Fallon have left me asking the question is he the Entertainer-In-Chief or the Commander-In-Chief? Is this really what the Democratic Party stands for? Hollywood?
If people are going to argue that religion and politics don't mix, the same should be said then for the entertainment industry.
I know full well that both Barack Obama and Mitt Romney are wealthy. It’s bad enough I got to listen to two presidential candidates who think they feel my pain living from paycheck to paycheck barely able to make ends meet trying to sell me reasons why I should vote for them.
I don’t need to watch multi-million dollar movie stars and musicians promote their presidential candidate feeding me their liberal conservative opinions. They are not politicians. They work in the entertainment industry. They should all shut up and do what they are paid millions to do which is act and sing.I know that is a weak argument because the first thing out of someone’s mouth is going to be two words, “Ronald Reagan” and he was president for two terms.
Presidential conventions should be focused on politics and what the two candidates promise they will do if elected. They should not be big budget Hollywood style spectacles.
People should be talking about what it was the candidates said or did not say in their speeches. That’s more important if not far more newsworthy than seeing an Oscar winning director/actor talk to an empty chair that was an imaginary President Obama.
I did not see Mitt Romney’s speech in its entirety but judging what I did hear I didn’t think it was anything worth remembering. There is something wrong when a Hollywood icon steals the show for 11 minutes to the point everyone is talking about it on Twitter the next day and posting pictures of themselves pointing to an empty chair in what is now called “Eastwooding.”
In fact, I am willing to bet this blog is being read by a lot of empty chairs.
Even my dog is doing it sitting up looking at an empty chair right now.
That is until I realized the person sitting in the empty chair was me. Like President Obama, who not only had a sense of humor about Eastwood’s speech saying, “One thing about being president or running for president – if you’re easily offended, you should probably choose another profession,” but also tweeted a quick response on Twitter following the actor’s speech, I too told my dog, “This seat’s taken.
©9/3/12
