Clint Eastwood

I Thought I Knew Ya

Dear Clint,

 Why? Why did you choose to speak for and on behalf of the Republican party at their convention? No, I'm not talking about the empty chair, the impolite references pretending Obama is telling you to "____ yourself." I'm not talking about why you chose to face the country with a performance that was not thought through clearly and for which you had not properly prepared. I'm wanting to know why you would stand up and say anything supporting this group of people and the political and social platforms they are espousing.

 Clint, I have been told that you are pro choice when it comes to women's health care decisions. And yet there you stood defending a Party that considers your position to be immoral. Not wrong, but flat out immoral.

 Clint, I have been told you are in favor of gay rights including the right  for gays to marry. Yet, this Party whose ascendancy to power you regal says your position here, too, is immoral.

 Not only that. Your Party enthusiastically endorses Tony Perkins and his Family Research Council who has stated that pedophilia is caused by homosexuality and who opposes anti bullying campaigns that target gay teens.

 It's okay to bully gays!? Really, Clint? These are your people?

 Clint, you criticized Obama for not getting out of Afghanistan more quickly. But, Clint, he has a timetable for doing so. Yet the position of your Party has been critical of his efforts in this regard referring to it as "cut and run." And, if they were to have their way we could easily find ourselves in more Middle East conflicts such as Iran.

 Not to mention that it was your Party that got us into Iraq costing precious dollars and even more precious lives in search of non existent weapons of mass destruction.

 Clint, why?

 
I thought I knew your values, Clint, from your movies.
 

In Gran Torino the message seemed to be one that fosters an openness to American immigrants and not the xenophobia often expressed by your Party.

 In Invictus the power of forgiveness was celebrated which seemed far afield from the speeches of hate coming from the Republican podium.

 In J. Edgar we saw how the dangers of ego and the overstepping of government can result in diminishing individual liberties in the name of national security. This has been a fear expressed often by the left and defended by the right.

 In Million Dollar Baby we saw how decisions concerning end of life are not painted in clear colors of black and white. Yet, here you stood proclaiming an alliance for a Party who insists that such is a certainty. And, it is their certainty. Is it your certainty as well?

 Clint, you stood before a cheering throng whose convention motto was: "We Built It", which was a counter point to Obama's assertion that we owe who, what, and where we are to not only our individual efforts, but also from the support and help of others.

 Clint, you come from an industry that requires the work of ensemble acting blended with countless crew members. You cannot make your films with out financing from others, distribution networks, and a myriad of movie houses.

 And yet here you stood behind a banner that is the antithesis of your life's work.

 So, Clint, I don't know what to think.

 I know you're very wealthy and the very wealthy will be benefited more by the Republican agenda than by the Democratic one. But I can't believe you would put personal greed over personal values.

 Perhaps you are simply unaware of the policies for which the Republican party stands. Perhaps it is just the fact that you have always been a Republican and, therefore, will always be a Republican. Perhaps you are unaware of how it has been taken over by the extreme right. Perhaps you were unaware of you Party's platform and assumed it reflected the Party of its past.

 Well, Clint, it doesn't. It is no longer the Party of Lincoln.

 Or, maybe I have been wrong about you. Those pictures and values I admired did not really reflect who you really are. On that point I hope I'm wrong.

 And, if I am wrong, then why, Clint, why?

 

Sincerely,

A Disillusioned Fan