by
Taking the criticism of Clint Eastwood’s Republican National Convention speech in stride, President Barack Obama said he is a “huge Clint Eastwood fan.”
Obama stated, “If you’re easily offended, you should probably choose another profession.”
Eastwood was the surprise warm-up act preceding Mitt Romney’s acceptance speech last Thursday night, and an act it was. The long-time Republican and former mayor of his home town of Carmel-by-the-Sea, Eastwood conducted a one-sided discussion with an empty chair where the audience was supposed to imagine President Obama was sitting.
That kind of staging would not necessarily have been considered bizarre if the content of the speech hadn’t been so off-base. As one listener commented on Twitter, Eastwood came-off less like Dirty Harry and more like “drunken Uncle Harry.” The speech, or should we say the “performance art,” was filled with rambling, incoherent and sometimes even false statements leaving the audience confused and dismayed by the end of the 12-minute display.
Whether or not Obama is sincere about his love for Eastwood- “he is a great actor, and even better director”- it was certainly the right thing to say, considering the lack of meaningful content in Eastwood’s “invisible Obama” empty chair speech.
