Grabs and Changes: the Rove/Eastwood Dust-Up
An incident during the telecasting of the latest of the interminable Super Bowls, just a few days ago, prompted K. Rove, GWBush's former chief political operative, to once again "grab the sow by the wrong teat," to use an expression that James Joyce so memorably included in his "Ulysses." But this goes hand in hand with being on the hind end of the political spectrum where Rove spends all his days..
It seems that the last ad that was run before the second half of that jivetime football game began, Clint Eastwood, the highly renowned film actor and film maker, showered two minutes of praise on the resurgence of the American car industry and specifically Chrysler, after they had been almost about to go under in the economic collapse that was the final insult that Bush\Rove inflicted on the country and the world.
Chrysler, which coughed up several million bucks for the ad, and Eastwood contend that the ad was only a sort of pep talk to cheer the country onward as it slowly floats back up into the part of the economic sea where the prevailing color is black instead of red. But because it is agreed that the industry was only saved by the bailout that the Obama administration carried out during its first days in office, Rove seized on Eastwood's statement as a chance to grab the ball and run for six, by accusing Eastwood of acting on behalf of Obama's re-election campaign. But several points of information shoot down that contention right quick. One is that despite having made several decidedly progressive films and the great roles that he has given to his close friend, the illustrious Rainbow actor, Morgan Freeman, Eastwood is a longtime Republican. Another is that he voted for J. McCain. And another may be that, for all I know, he has not yet been invited to the White House for dinner.
By now it's obvious that Eastwood is nothing if not flexible in his thinking, because if the report on this matter by Reuters is accurate, he was stoutly against the auto bailout when it happened, saying that if a CEO isn't bright enough to save his company, then he shouldn't be the CEO.
It could be argued that here Eastwood was speaking out of an interest in his bank account instead of from his personal convictions. But I believe that his integrity and, let's face it, his cowboy cantankerousness are such that he wouldn't have made that ad if he wasn't saying what he personally believed. That's been part of his schtick ever since his "make my day" days, and there is no law against an 81-year old guy changing his mind. Never mind all that claptrap that political people constantly make about the evil of "flip-flops," when it really isn't an evil at all. How does that old though probably half-sexist saying go? "Women always change their minds. Fools never do." Or maybe Eastwood doesn't think that the government had anything to do with the automotive industry's U-turn, and that instead they managed it all on their own.
As for Rove, I don't know what his excuse is. That's because, as usual, he doesn't have any.
It seems that the last ad that was run before the second half of that jivetime football game began, Clint Eastwood, the highly renowned film actor and film maker, showered two minutes of praise on the resurgence of the American car industry and specifically Chrysler, after they had been almost about to go under in the economic collapse that was the final insult that Bush\Rove inflicted on the country and the world.
Chrysler, which coughed up several million bucks for the ad, and Eastwood contend that the ad was only a sort of pep talk to cheer the country onward as it slowly floats back up into the part of the economic sea where the prevailing color is black instead of red. But because it is agreed that the industry was only saved by the bailout that the Obama administration carried out during its first days in office, Rove seized on Eastwood's statement as a chance to grab the ball and run for six, by accusing Eastwood of acting on behalf of Obama's re-election campaign. But several points of information shoot down that contention right quick. One is that despite having made several decidedly progressive films and the great roles that he has given to his close friend, the illustrious Rainbow actor, Morgan Freeman, Eastwood is a longtime Republican. Another is that he voted for J. McCain. And another may be that, for all I know, he has not yet been invited to the White House for dinner.
By now it's obvious that Eastwood is nothing if not flexible in his thinking, because if the report on this matter by Reuters is accurate, he was stoutly against the auto bailout when it happened, saying that if a CEO isn't bright enough to save his company, then he shouldn't be the CEO.
It could be argued that here Eastwood was speaking out of an interest in his bank account instead of from his personal convictions. But I believe that his integrity and, let's face it, his cowboy cantankerousness are such that he wouldn't have made that ad if he wasn't saying what he personally believed. That's been part of his schtick ever since his "make my day" days, and there is no law against an 81-year old guy changing his mind. Never mind all that claptrap that political people constantly make about the evil of "flip-flops," when it really isn't an evil at all. How does that old though probably half-sexist saying go? "Women always change their minds. Fools never do." Or maybe Eastwood doesn't think that the government had anything to do with the automotive industry's U-turn, and that instead they managed it all on their own.
As for Rove, I don't know what his excuse is. That's because, as usual, he doesn't have any.
posted by Carl (aka Sofarsogoo) | 7:49 AM
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