I have been kind of wondering why some people think
all of the jokes about "the chair" are somehow mean spirited and cruel. The
reason the speech seemed so odd was precisely the cruelty and
disrespect Clint Eastwood showed towards the President. There were
snarky remarks, remarks that blamed a war from President Bush on President
Obama, and worse, two remarks that basically said the President (with no
way to respond) had asked Romney and Clint to go F
themselves.
It is not uncommon for a mob to create an effigy of a hated
figure and do terrible things to it. It is not so common at a
convention. The Romney, or GOP people, responsible did not vet the speech,
trusting Clint Eastwood for some reason, to ad lib without
teleprompters. The jokes about "the chair" are mostly not pointed at
Clint Eastwood's personal character but at the incompetence of the
Romney "kiss my a**" people who all let Clint Eastwood twist in the
wind.
Not unlike every other touchy situation, they found other people
to blame and swallow what should have been their responsibility. For
those who have made this some kind of mean spirited attack on Clint
Eastwood, I even hesitate to criticize them. Clint Eastwood burned an
effigy of Obama in one of the most public of places and, despite what
some people think about some imagined infirmity on his part, he is a
highly intelligent man capable of writing, directing, and acting. His weakness is
in having the ego of a man who believes he knows better than those around him
and overestimates his own ability to create a spontaneous stage presence.
Comedy aside, the
whole affair was such an accurate metaphor for the GOP, it is hard to
overstate it. In attacking people with meanness, making untrue
accusations, creating an evil Obama out of thin air, and treating those
of us who respect the President to a sorry display of utter hatred, THEY
cross the line. The Democrats have, for all too long, rolled over in the face
of things like this, the dehumanizing of us all. In general liberal
folks do not display the type of hatred that, say, the tea party folks,
display without reserve. Liberals generally do not even do this in response to
the hatred they receive. But times have changed as hatred has piled upon
hatred, often by those who act morally superior, and now the liberal side
is actually fighting back. And enough IS enough. Eventually you punch the boy in the
nose who constantly steals your lunch money.
For further reading on the "chair" incident and the flaws it illustrates:
http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/scocca/2012/08/clint_eastwood_gop_convention_the_romney_campaign_sells_out_its_surprise_speaker_.html
