Clint Eastwood’s Unpatriotic Ad For Mitt Romney

What is it about desperate politicians who are afraid they are losing that makes them resort to ugly and counterproductive rhetorical assaults? In 2008 we saw Sarah Palin accuse Barack Obama of “palling around with terrorists.” Now, in 2012, Mitt Romney’s surrogates have dispatched Clint Eastwood to up the ante.

Clint Eastwood

The ad featuring Eastwood (video below) was produced by Karl Rove’s American Crossroads Super PAC, which is funded by millionaires who are ashamed of disclosing their identities. Super PACs themselves are unpatriotic in that they are a perverted distortion of the democratic principle of “one person, one vote.” When millionaires are allowed to anonymously aggregate unlimited sums of money you have something more like “one dollar, one vote.”

Eastwood’s performance in this ad is a big improvement over the one he gave at the Republican convention. Of course, he had a script for this. The problem is that the script contained this bit of foolishness: “Obama’s second term would be a rerun of the first and our country just couldn’t survive that.”

Precisely how weak does Eastwood (and his handlers at American Crossroads) think this country is? Does he really believe that America will dissolve into dust if Obama is reelected? Does he think that our enemies will subdue and enslave us? What dreadful fate awaits in the second term of Obama’s presidency that would cause us not to survive? That sounds like the kind of fear mongering that is more often associated with Apocalyptic prophets or Glenn Beck’s fans. And it is a starkly different message than the one he delivered in his famous halftime ad for Chrysler when he spoke about the difficulties are nation had endured:

“But after those trials, we all rallied around what was right, and acted as one. Because that’s what we do. We find a way through tough times, and if we can’t find a way, then we’ll make one.”

Apparently Eastwood has lost that sense of optimism and now thinks that when we encounter tough times we will fold up like paper dolls and be swept away by a light breeze. Or maybe it just tells us something about the differences between a commercial trying to sell us a car and one trying to sell us a horror story about monsters from Kenya who hate freedom.

It is also curious why Eastwood thinks a rerun of Obama’s first term would be unsurvivable. Which part does he think would do us in? The part where Osama Bin Laden (and dozens of Al Qaeda leaders) was put to rest? The part where the war in Iraq was concluded? The part where the stock market doubled? The part where unemployment went from 10.1% to 7.8%? The part where a full-on depression was avoided and companies like Chrysler were rescued so they could hire actors like Eastwood to make commercials?

America survived a civil war, two world wars, a depression, presidential assassinations and corruption leading to resignation, and George W. Bush. If people like Eastwood and Rove and Romney are so pessimistic about America that they think it will not survive another four years of Obama, they have very little faith in the nation they profess to love and they should stop pretending they are patriots.

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8 thoughts on “Clint Eastwood’s Unpatriotic Ad For Mitt Romney

  1. “Does he think that our enemies will subdue and enslave us?”

    Not sure what he thinks, but we’re doing it to ourselves just fine when electing progressive politicians who believe, as you clearly do, that turning our well being over to government is best.

    I’m not sure I’ve seen you actually state why people should vote FOR Barak Obama – just AGAINST Mitt Romney. Not a strong message – exactly what has Barak Obama done to deserve a second term???? anything, so far you haven’t stated much other than you hate rich people and they need to pay more taxes. Mitt Romney is not the best alternative candidate for president, but Barak Obama has proven he was NEVER up to the job – at least Mitt Romney, for all his less desirable traits – has governed/managed something successfully – so we won’t be any worse off than having another 4 years of this pathetic excuse for a president.

    • Would you just shut it with the whole “you hate rich people” crap? There are plenty of reasons to not want Mitt Romney anywhere near the job of POTUS, and only one reason is that he is a clueless privileged white dude with more money than most people can conceive of who pretends to be a “regular Joe” who knows exactly how poor people have it. The main reason to nt vote for Ronmey is because he is a serial flip-flopper who has no true opinion of his own. At least, no opinion other than he’s the “right man for the job,” which based on some of the things he has done and said over the election season that are to the contrary. And what exactly has Mitt really run on other than “I’m the right guy because I’m not Obama?” Sounds like a little hypocrisy in your reasoning of Mark’s support of Obama. Pretty sure that if you read the article you’d see that he gave a quick rundown of the things that Obama has done that were positive for the country, not just blind zealotry (but I know you already think those things don’t count because SOCIALIST!!!). For all the birthers out there, I have a challenge: forget “prove Romney isn’t a unicorn,” it should be “prove Romney isn’t an android,” because he sure does whatever his party tells him to, which would fit in with the whole flip-flopping behavior of his.

    • What has Obama done?

      1) Osama bin Laden is dead
      2) Ended the Iraq war as promised
      3) Is on track to end the Afghan war in 2014 as promised
      4) The stock market has gained 67% since his inauguaration
      5) Steady employment gains in the private sector for 20+ months
      6) Prevented the 2nd US Great Depression
      7) Passed the Affordable Care Act
      8) Increased US manufacturing jobs

      and many, many more…

      http://pleasecutthecrap.typepad.com/main/what-has-obama-done-since-january-20-2009.html

      http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2012/news/economy/1206/gallery.Obama-economy/index.html

      Mitt Romney would be a return to the Bush presidency — just look at who he has on his team, Michael Chertoff, Eric Edelman, Michael Hayden, John Bolton, Robert Bork, Carlos Gutierrez, Michael Mukasey…. and the list goes on.

      Do you really want a return to Bush’s failed policies (two wars & Medicare Part D on the nation’s credit card, stagnant job creation, stagnant wages, tax cuts that created a 6 trillion dollar deficit)?

      http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2012/05/federal-deficit-barack-obama-spending-stimulus-budget-historic-trends.php

    • Your reading comprehension skills are … lacking. Try reading the article again and then make a comment that isn’t incoherent.

  2. Most political ads are framed to make you fear the other guy, not to tout your own candidate’s successes. It is a demonstrable fact; negative ads work. That said, I have yet to see a single reality based ad trying to show what Mitt Romney has done or will do. The same can be said for Allen West, Scott Brown and more than a few others currently running. Mr. Romney et al. have spent much of the campaign running from their records, rewriting history, hiding records and cynically acting as if we, the people have no right to know.
    I have heard few fact-based arguments against the reelection of the president. There are always grounds for legitimate argument against this or that policy, this or that action, or this or that position. The opinionators never seem to make reasonable analyses based on reality. They, like Clint Eastwood, are only able to make a case against a non-existent strawman; an empty chair.
    The motivation for cable TV pundits is obvious: if they can sell you on the idea of impending doom they can hold your interest until that next commercial break when they can get sell you the latest new phone with an app allowing you to take their empty blather with you everywhere. It would serve their advertisers poorly to say “stay tuned for the meaningless and mundane analysis of our latest skewed polling data!” Instead, they serve us up this disgusting stew of false talking points and seedlings of hatred.

  3. This site is a prime example of media decay! Start publishing things that aren’t trash and so biased!

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