OK, having started my blog post late has a silver lining to it. I was able to watch some of the Republican National Convention last night and doing so, allowed me the fortune (misfortune?) of catching the Clint Eastwood speech. It was a total rambling mess, with Eastwood talking to an empty chair that was supposed to be President Barack Obama. I don’t understand what was supposed to be the good that came from his speech. He started out by saying that Hollywood was not all liberals, it’s just the conservatives are less showy. Was he serious about that, because he is a Hollywood figure doing a speech to an empty chair at the RNC!
Eastwood not only made a fool of himself, but he also embarrassed the Romney/Paul ticket as well as embarrassing the political institutions of our country. He ad-libbed through an incoherent mess that was not only hard to watch, it was mostly not factual at all either. In my opinion, it puts into the question the leadership of the Romney campaign. Whoever thought it would be a great idea to let an 82 year old actor freestyle a bunch of lies right before the most important speech of Mitt Romney’s political career should be questioned.
This leads me to my final thought that had actually been building all week. The RNC is supposed to be a very important process that elects a candidate to represent their political party to try to be President of the United States of America. The version this week was a joke. Paul Ryan had his chance to prove to the nation why Mitt Romney chose him to run on the ticket as Vice President, and his speech was filled with very unfounded claims and lies, as well as bashing the current POTUS. Clint Eastwood, made a mockery of this important institution and Ann Romney was probably the sole bright spot in the entire week. The delegates that were sent to the convention was treated to private concerts, spa retreats, and fine dining. This is hardly what our forefathers who worked so hard to make this a great country with a flagship political system had in mind. Why is it acceptable now for this to happen, and when did it become acceptable to lie and bash the sitting President to try and gain votes? Here is hoping that this year is a bump in the road and not the de facto for years to come.