By Manifesto Joe
Hard-core film buffs may recognize the title of this post as a paraphrase of a line that "Blondie" (Clint Eastwood) speaks to "Tucco" (Eli Wallach) in the quintessential spaghetti Western The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1967).
As an actor, Clint was OK, but always a bit more archetype than character, sort of like John Wayne was to an older and less-hip audience. As a director, he blossomed into a world-class auteur, aided by the tutelage of cinematic masters like Sergio Leone and Don Siegel.
It was tragi-comic to see an 82-year-old Eastwood make a doddering fool of himself before a prime-time TV audience Thursday night at the Republican National Convention.
For one thing, I thought Clint had learned a few things about his "friends" on the right. His reaction to having right-wing critics like Michael Medved spray bladder juice all over his 2004 boxing masterpiece Million Dollar Baby was angry and defiant. The film seemed, in the view of right wingers, to support euthanasia. Clint seemed at the time to have distanced himself at least somewhat from the political right, with his obvious and apolitical question about any script: Is it a good story?
But he's always been a fiscal conservative, and was a Republican as mayor of Carmel, Calif. Old habits die hard.
Back to the post title -- God may not be on the Republicans' side, but from what one can tell, He, She or It often doesn't seem to be on ANYBODY'S side. The deity, presuming that one exists, doesn't usually intervene in human affairs. Jews and other victimized groups were not spared holocausts, and black people were not rescued from slavery, at least not for centuries.
Humans are mostly left to their own devices. They can do things to make the world a better place -- or they can make it a hell on Earth, which they quite regularly accomplish. It's often sad to watch, but that's what free will is all about.
God didn't even stop Il Doofus (Bush 43) from being president for eight long years, declining to step in as apparent election fraud was committed. He, She or It didn't stop 1.4 million Iraqis from being killed over official lies.
And, perish the thought, He, She or It may not prevent Slick Willard Scumney and Paul "Ayn" Ryan from being "elected" to the Nos. 1 and 2 offices in the land. Atheists and agnostics seem to expect the deity to intervene in human affairs, but that seldom happens. We can foolishly and avariciously screw things up just as much as we please -- I learned that from watching "Blondie" on the Big Screen when I was just a lad of 11. It's up to us.
He, She or It may hate stupid people -- but that's never stopped them before.
Manifesto Joe Is An Underground Writer Living In Texas.
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6 comments:
Why didn't you stop with, "Ya cain't fix stupid?".
Eastwood's pathetic lapse into near-dementia, seemingly seeped into his last couple of films
You certainly have the GOPs pegged. Thanks for the excellent commentary.
I really wish Dirty Harry dirty embarass himself like that. I used to respect Clint Eastwood a lot more before that fiasco. He even went to bat for Chrysler and did a pro-manufacturing, pro-American ad campaign for them. I especially liked Gran Torino, it may have been set in "Hell on Earth" Highland Park, Michigan, but it told a tale of modern Detroit. I especially liked his portrayal of an auto worker retiree with selfish, negligent, Republican, Toyota-selling, albatross-like sons. Oh well, chalk it up to old age, lack of delivery, and the fact that he's a liberal compared to the wingnuts in that audience.
-WageslaveZ-
I understand that next, mouthpieces like Lardbaugh are going to say that the Eastwood fiasco was part of a liberal conspiracy to make Republicans look bad!
I think the Liberals are too hard on President Bush. The man wasn't perfect (who is?) and he made some mistakes. But things back then were much, much better than they are today. Even many Democrats admit this.
We must remember that after 9/11, when the Libs were calling for appeasement, President Bush stood firm in opposing terrorism. He ordered the War on Terror. As a result, Saddam Hussein is dead and Al Qaeda has been greatly weakened, and democracy is on the march throughout the Middle East.
Vice President Cheney ordered enhanced interrogations to get the intel we needed to pursue the evil-doers. It was this same intel that eventually led to the death of Bin Laden (although the Libs keeping claiming this as "Obama's victory.")
If any Liberal can give me one reason why I should vote for Obama, then I will do so in November. Until then, I will vote for the party that stands for prosperity, free markets, capitalism, Christian values, protection for the unborn and common working people.
Vote Romney/Ryan in November!
Sometimes it's hard to tell whether those commenting are serious or not. This comes off almost like a parody.
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