AP
The "special guest" at the Republican National Convention left his mark last night. But did it do more harm than good on Governor Mitt Romney's big night?
Twitter exploded during and after Clint Eastwood's 12-minute performance in the Tampa Bay convention hall. #Eastwooding began trending and pictures of people talking to empty chairs, stools, and sofas poured in. The impromptu @invisibleobama has nearly 40,000 followers. Just past 12:30a, @BarackObama tweeted a photo of the President seated in the cabinet room, with the simple caption "This seat's taken."
It wasn't long after Eastwood's performance that the Romney campaign put out a statement, saying:
"Judging an American icon like Clint Eastwood through a typical political lens doesn't work. His ad libbing was a break from all the political speeches, and the crowd enjoyed it. He rightly pointed out that 23 million Americans out of work or underemployed is a national disgrace and it's time for a change."
Convention organizers timed Eastwood's appearance so that it would appear on network primetime specials, but it's unclear if they knew the famed performer's plan, which some have called disrespectful and vulgar. Was it appropriate or wise to allow a possibly unscripted moment on such a critical night for Governor Romney? We'll discuss that, and ask James Lipton of "Inside the Actor's Studio" to give us his take on the speakers at the RNC this week. In the meantime, you can let us know your thoughts right now on the blog, Twitter, and Facebook.
See you at noon ET on NOW.
PANEL
Karen Finney, Fmr. DNC Communications Chair/msnbc Political Analyst (@finneyk)
Chris Hayes, msnbc Host (@christopherlhayes)
GUESTS
Mark Halperin, TIME/msnbc Sr. Political Analyst (@markhalperin)
James Lipton, Host, “Inside the Actor’s Studio”
Leave a Comment:
I don't understand how Romney can be upset about President Obama's tweet. Was it not The Romney people that put Eastwood on stage and was it not all of the other speakers that all during the convention insulted and lied about Our President? I think President Obama's one liner was smart and much more entertaining that Clint's or the entire convention.
I don't know whose idea it was to put James Lipton on this show but it was brilliant. He was eloquent and his comments were cogent and thoughful. Bring this guy back!
I really do not want to sound tacky by my question but Was Mitt Romney wearing makeup last night? He seemed to have too much eye shadow on.
And James Lipton is wonderful.
whew! at least we can finally stop
asking, "where are the clowns?" no worries, they are now all gathered
inside one big red tent. need any of them to perform at your next lawn party?
just submit your request to the ringmaster, eastwood.
wasn't it lovely? can't you just
wait for this company of performers to go around the world, presenting this
road-show as the true face of all americans? can't you now take pride in who it
is that claims they are qualified to speak for the rest of us, as their
circus-train makes whistle-stops across the other continents?
a full contingent of LYING LIARS on
the move. a sensational act indeed. don't forget to make room in your budget
for the cost of your ticket --- a million or two should cover it.
republicans just don't get it. or
they only pretend to misunderstand. either way, HOPE and CHANGE will always be
beyond their comprehension and, much more-so, their ability to implement.
we had HOPE that the hate-mongering
and racist bigotry, spawned and perpetuated by ginrich and rush bimbo, would
eventually cease for us here at home. and we longed for our good reputation
around the rest of the world to be restored --- a CHANGE back to the glory
amongst nations we once knew --- after bush succeeded at making us look like
fools on a global scale.
President Obama immediately
accomplished the second goal, with an over-abundance of intelligence, good grace,
and dignity. as for the first, the almighty white European ruling class male is
obviously not going to give up without a fight. but neither does HOPE!
... neither does hope.
wow....why has nobody else mentioned this yet? So I will.. Ann Romney was all over the morning shows talking about the Clint bit...why has nobody mentioned that Mitt and her have the same laugh when confronted with something that embarrasses them? Go watch the morning clips and see what I am talking about.
Eastwood's performance was probably considered puzzling and even "surreal" because it has a capacity to critique either Obama or a right-wing partisan. I doubt that Eastwood, with his narrow range as an actor and director, had any idea that it had that ambiguity, but it did.
Buddhist teachings caution that, if we want to know the truth, we should not be for or against. Taking the view of partisans, Eastwood portrayed a rightist scolding Obama as an absentee leader. But consider the fact that the empty chair, an old motif in the arts, and was famously used in early Buddhism to indicate the true Buddha, who, transcending representation, was not supposed to be substantively represented. In that context, Eastwood's rightist was scolding an Obama entirely imagined by an unenlightened, ignorant partisan, while the true Obama was implicitly identified with the true Buddha.
The Obama tweet, a picture of Obama seated in the Oval Office and the comment, "This seat is taken," keeps the improv going with an appropriate flavor, presenting an objective, factual Obama humbly avoiding pretension to the seat of Buddha but also all partisan illusion.
Eastwood's performance was probably considered puzzling and even "surreal" because it has a capacity to critique either Obama or a right-wing partisan. I doubt that Eastwood, with his narrow range as an actor and director, had any idea that it had that ambiguity, but I'd love to hear James Lipton's take on it. Here's mine.
Buddhist teachings caution that, if we want to know the truth, we should not be for or against. Taking the view of partisans, Eastwood portrayed a rightist scolding Obama as an absentee leader. But consider the fact that the empty chair, an old motif in the arts, and was famously used in early Buddhism to indicate the true Buddha, who, transcending representation, was not supposed to be substantively represented. In that context, Eastwood's rightist was scolding an Obama entirely imagined by an unenlightened, ignorant partisan, while the true Obama was implicitly identified with the true Buddha.
The Obama tweet, a picture of Obama seated in the Oval Office and the comment, "This seat is taken," keeps the improv going with an appropriate flavor, presenting an objective, factual Obama humbly avoiding pretension to the seat of Buddha but also all partisan illusion.