Clint Eastwood ADMIRES Bush's "tenacity"

I know this is a dupe but the OP's headline was "Eatwood comes out against the Iraq War"...

I think that Eastwood professes his "admiration" for Bush is the bigger, more telling headline.

FU, Eastwood and the Bush you rode in on.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070209/ts_alt_afp/afpentertainmentusfilmeastwoodiraq

While other Hollywood celebrities have been outspoken in their criticism of Bush, Eastwood said he admired the US leader's tenacity.

"I think -- you know, I kind of admire the tenacity he has," Eastwood said.

Asked how he though Bush would be remembered, Eastwood replied: "Well, somebody who -- you've got to admire somebody who stands up for what they believe regardless of how the polls go.

"A lot of presidents do everything by the polls. They do a focus group then all of a sudden they say OK, that's what I'm going to be for because that's where focus group is leading me."

I thought he was holding back and felt that was probably the only positive thing Eastwood could come up with. I don't think he's a fan of bush by any stretch of the imagination.

...I guess we can just do away with voting altogether. I guess the collective opinion of the American People doesn't count for squat.

Right, Clint?

Except on election day.

Eastwood's right, tenacity is admirable. In Bush's case, it's all the other things that aren't so admirable (cough cough) that must be kept in mind.

If you read the article, you'll see that Bush probably isn't on Eastwood's Christmas card list.

Peace.

I think he's an idiot and I have to question whether it's tenacity or just stubborness but I have to admire his ability to go from failure to failure without losing enthuasiasm.

for i am also a fucking narcissistic sociopath.

:sarcasm:

hey clint, Pale Rider STUNK.

and that's not enthusiasm, its meds.

...with other peoples' lives.

stubbornness. An intelligent person is tenacious, that is they keep going until they succeed. A stubborn person is ignorant and they keep going until they fail.

I might add, however, that one never knows until the results are in.

I'd say in Bush's case, they've been in for a while, say, about six years.

Peace.

We usually kill them when they begin harming people.

The guy is an actor and a director. He looks at people as characters. The quality of tenacity in a character is generally admired. Movies are made all the time that have as a central feature a character who tilts at windmills, who embarks upon impossible quests, and ends up crushed at the end. It's just one quality--it's not judgment, it's not temperance, it's not patience, kindness or understanding. He certainly isn't admiring the nitwit's INTELLIGENCE.

Everyone has a good quality, after all. Hell, even Hitler loved his dog. No one is a cartoon cut-out of ppure, vicious evil. Even if they do very bad things.

And this interview was with Fox news. They were probably grinding their teeth when Clint said he opposed the war. What was the CONTEXT of the question? You don't see it in the article. How about "Name ONE thing you admire about Bush," perhaps?

A while back, Faux Noise did a bit on Clint, and they put forth a huge speculation, reported as (almost) news--that he had a love child, based on his minescule contribution of $250 to the campaign of a guy named Randy Eastwood. See here, and note the smug commentary at the end of this cited snip: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,137212,00.html

Oscar-winner Clint Eastwood, 74, one of the last great Hollywood stars, acknowledges seven children, including actress Alison and musician/actor Kyle, actress Kimber (by Roxanne Tunis) as well as a daughter by actress Frances Fisher, two children by Jacelyn Reeves and another by his current and lovely wife Dina Ruiz Eastwood.

None of the published biographies of Eastwood mentions a Randle or Randy. Calls to the candidate's office were not returned last night. If only Randy were his long-lost son, it might make for a good tie in headlines for Clint's new movie, "Million Dollar Baby."

I suppose it's possible that Clint just liked the fact that someone named Eastwood was running for office — and was a Republican.

Love that "I suppose it's possible" style of reporting by innuendo--they do it so fucking well!

I decided to see where Clint donated his political/PAC money, and here's what I found out.

1. He's cheap. Three contributions total, one of $1200 to the Director's Guild.

2. That tiny contribution to that Republican is the only one to a GOP candidate listed.

3. He's only given one contribution to a Democrat, too--and it was four times that amount.

http://www.opensecrets.org/indivs/search.asp?NumOfThou=0&txtName=eastwood%2C+clint&txtState=CA&txtZip=&txtEmploy=&txtCand=&txt2006=Y&txt2004=Y&txt2002=Y&Order=N

To take a single comment in a tossoff entertainment blurb, from an interview conducted by Faux Spin, no less, and project that to assume that he's a footsoldier of BushCo is just a stretch, I think.

That said, he is a Republican...an Eisenhower Republican, per this article, apparently:

http://www.usatoday.com/life/movies/news/2006-10-12-clint-eastwood_x.htm

The money paragraphs:

Where does he stand?

"I'm not right or left. Maybe on some things I sympathize with the right, and some things I sympathize with on the left. I'm not predictable. And still, there's no harm in changing. There's no harm in updating your philosophies as you go along. As you get older, you see more and you learn more and maybe take different attitudes."

As the director of a movie about the scars of war, he knows it's impossible, though he comes across as private about such things. People as well-known as Eastwood who express their opinions can attract scorn from people with different beliefs. Eastwood acknowledges the need to fight terrorism, but says of Iraq: "I'm happy to not be of the school that thinks we should be democratizing another country that obviously doesn't care that much about it and doesn't seem to be suited for it."

He speaks with a quiet resolve, the voice of someone who, after almost eight decades, no longer takes such things lightly. In real life, he shares the intensity of his famous screen characters but not the stubbornness. He says open-mindedness and a willingness to grow are responsible for his successes.

"If I get to the point where I'm repeating myself or not progressing or taking new challenges, then I should see if I can play golf or something," he says, breaking into that disarming grin again. "Listen to different points of view and you learn something about yourself."

It's that open-mindedness that, after working on Flags, led him to make Letters from Iwo Jima, the Japanese perspective on the battle...."I started philosophizing on what the Japanese young guys were like. I started reading letters from young conscripts and they had the same problems: I miss my mother. I don't want to die. How's my dog?"

That's another tragedy of war, he says: "You start realizing when you look at the other side that these are people you could be great friends with."....

Clint only kills people in movies. I admire many people for tenacity, but still think they are idiots.