I have just finished
watching Clint Eastwood's speech to the Republican National
Convention for the umpteenth time, and since just about everyone else
has already sounded off on the matter, I have decided it is now my
turn. Although as a liberal I am expected to disagree with everything
Clint said, there are a few things with which I agree.
For example, I think it
would be a good idea to end the adventure in Afghanistan. Our
objective was to get Osama bin Laden, and we have done so. As Clint
said, we should have consulted the Russians on the problems of
stabilizing that country – if we had, we would have left when we
got Osama.
It is not as if we are
fighting for the security of the United States; it is extremely
doubtful that the Afghans would attack us if we left. The rest of the
world knows the tribal situation in Afghanistan, and is laughing at
our stupidity.
Clint also mentioned
that some of us in Obama's own party are disappointed that the
economic problems of the country have not been solved, which is true,
but we also realize that the solution is not dependent upon who is
in office. As long as there are people in this world who are willing
to work for pennies per hour, the jobs will flow in their direction.
(Mr. Romney's tenure at Bain Capital is a prime example.) And as long
as robots and software continue to displace people, the ranks of the
unemployed will grow.
Mr. Eastwood may be
correct in assuming that attorneys in government may not be a good
thing - I won't speculate on that - but he neglected to mention that
Mr. Romney has a Juris Doctorate from Harvard. Perhaps Clint forgot
that during a senior moment.
Mr. Eastwood as well as
the whole Republican party seems to be confused as to the goal of
government as compared to that of business. Here is the difference –
the object of business is to inflate the bottom line so that
shareholders receive the highest possible return on their
investments. Period!
The
goal of government, at least that of the
United States is to: form a more perfect union, establish justice,
insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote
the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves
and our posterity.
The last businessman
who became president was Herbert Hoover. Clint, ask yourself how that
worked out.
As Clint said,
[ideally] we - not the Koch brothers, Sheldon Adelson, Harold
Simmons, Bob Perry nor any of the other billionaires who are
attempting through SuperPACS to obtain the best [business friendly]
government money can buy - own the country.
A
few weeks ago I wrote a blog entitled I
Can't Believe Someone Really Said This.”
To that list I wish to add the following from no less than Supreme
Court Justice Anthony Kennedy in the Citizens
United
decision: “We now conclude that independent expenditures, including
those made by corporations, do not give rise to corruption or the
appearance of corruption.” I wonder if he still believes that.
One more thing: To put
vulgar sayings in the mouth of an absent individual, president or
otherwise, is to my mind the epitome of disrespect. But it is also an
outstanding display of the complete lack of class of the individual
who does so.
Clint, stick to acting.
******
My
books,
“There Are Only Seven Jokes” and “The Spirit Runs Through It”
are available in paperback or Kindle at Amazon.