Scott St. Clair: When Dirty Harry tells you it's OK, he makes your day
August 31, 2012 Uncategorizedadmin
Clint Eastwood's short speech at the Republican National Convention is getting a lot of criticismfor his seeming off-the-cuff and rambling conversation with President Obama represented by an empty chair. But Dirty Harry didn't get to be Dirty Harry by being dumb Harry – the empty chair is an old actor's trick. What he told us was about far more than what he said or the invisible politician to whom he said it.
A lot of people tuned in to watch Clint Eastwood who wouldn't have tuned in to watch Mitt Romney, and they needed to hear a message that would resonate with them and maybe nudge them in the right direction. He delivered.
Inspector Harry Callahan made our day by telling us it's OK to laugh at President Obama and Vice President Biden and their policies because they're a joke – they're men who don't know their limitations whose policies, with 23 million Americans out of work, are a disgrace. Anyone who tells us we shouldn't laugh at them can go do that thing he said was physically impossible to do because Dirty Harry has our back.
Who-would-it-be buzz was strong for a couple days when the Republican National Convention had a to-be-announced speaker on Thursday evening's schedule just ahead of Mitt Romney's speech. Possible candidates went from Nancy Reagan all the way to Bill Clinton making a surprise endorsement of Mitt Romney.
The conservative website The Daily Caller even ran a contest to name the mystery speaker with the winner receiving a pretty sweet FMK 9C1 American-made high capacity 9mm semi-automatic handgun for correctly guessing. Given who it turned out to be, it was a prophetic prize offering, albeit not quite the Smith & Wesson .44 Magnum revolver favored by Dirty Harry for its blow-your-head-clean-off capability.
It's been 41 years since the original Dirty Harry, and 24 years since the last film in the series, The Dead Pool, so it's not surprising that the rumpled old guy in an ill-fighting suit who slowly ambled to the podium in Tampa Bay looked a tad worn. In fact, he looked more like your grandfather than anyone who would ask a punk if he felt lucky. But when he got going, your grandfather was Dirty Harry and vice versa, which was the point.
Pops (my grandsons call me that) gives you wisdom you need to hear – tools you use to make your own decisions. Dad, on the other hand, like the Obama administration and its progressive minions, tells you what he thinks you need to do because he doesn't trust you to make your own decisions.
So when an aging Dirty Harry tells you it's OK to mock Barack Obama and Joe Biden you're free to speak what's been on your mind and in your heart for a long time because that's what a real man does.
He told you the basics: It hurts and it's a disgrace when so many people are out of work; some ideas, like trying terrorists in New York City, are stupid and we should learn from the mistakes of others, like the Russians in Afghanistan.
He told us that President Obama is "crazy, you're absolutely crazy. You're getting as bad as Biden" who is "the intellect of the Democratic Party." They're people who can't stand to be criticized – "I can't tell (Romney) to do that to himself" – and who are "maybe not so nice guys, if you look some of the recent ads."
He reminded us that it's our country, not theirs, and the politicians work for us. When they don't get the job done, "We got to let them go."
And because he knows his people, he can say with absolute confidence, "I'm speaking out for everybody out there."
Instead of genuflecting at the altar of obedience ordained by your "betters" in the media, the unions, Hollywood and the Democratic Party – Harry's "left-wingers…left of Lenin" – you can laugh at President Obama because Dirty Harry said so. When that happens – when the pompous autocrats including the unctuous and self-impressed Roger Ebert – become the object of widespread ridicule it means they've lost their legitimacy, and their days are numbered.
Dirty Harry's Gran Torinoalter-ego, Walt Kowalski, would tell President Obama, "Get off my lawn!"because, as his Heartbreak Ridge alter-ego, Gunny Highway, would add, "With all due respect, sir, you're beginning to bore the hell out of me."
With all due respect, Mr. President, you've been boring the hell out of us for a long, long time – we got to let you go.
The Commercial: Obama's Faded Poster
Fuzzy Math in Clackamas
Clack Co Clackastanis will take this mild victory in the hack filled world of Politifact.
Pete the Banker: Banks Got Bailed Out, Home Owners Got Shoved Out
We are told that this Administration "Cares". If the latest housing wire report is correct, the Obama Administration has bailed out banks again—instead of directing that money to buy down the principal on distressed homes.
This came across today on Housingwire (2nd Article below bolded in brown). Apparently some 80% of the AG Bank Settlement proceeds are being used to cover the gap between the existing mortgage amount and actual short sale proceeds (lower than principal balance) of the residential homes in question. In other words, the proceeds are being used to cover the bank's shortfall or loss position on the short sale rather than to keep struggling homeowners in their homes. Wasn't the publicized purpose of the AG settlement reached in conjunction with the Administrations interjection to keep struggling borrowers in their homes?
Now let's see; excerpt from the article on the Administration/State Attorneys General Settlement From Attorney General Holder and the Justice Department website entitled, "Federal Government and State Attorneys General Reach $25 Billion Agreement with Five Largest Mortgage Servicers to Address Mortgage Loan Servicing and Foreclosure Abuses $25 Billion Agreement Provides Homeowner Relief & New Protections, Stops Abuses ",
"It holds mortgage servicers accountable for abusive practices and requires them to commit more than $20 billion towards financial relief for consumers. As a result, struggling homeowners throughout the country will benefit from reduced principals and refinancing of their loans. The agreement also requires substantial changes in how servicers do business, which will help to ensure the abuses of the past are not repeated."
"This historic settlement will provide immediate relief to homeowners – forcing banks to reduce the principal balance on many loans, refinance loans for underwater borrowers, and pay billions of dollars to states and consumers," said HUD Secretary Donovan.
These new customer service standards are in keeping with the Homeowners Bill of Rights recently announced by President Obama – a single, straightforward set of commonsense rules that families can count on."
So this article from Housingwire suggests the Administration is coming up a little short on immediate relief to homeowners including failure to implement reduction in principal balances on their loans, refinancing underwater borrowers, and paying billions of dollars to consumers, all of which was emphasized by HUD Secretary Donovan above (see my red bolding). Instead struggling homeowners are simply allowed to walk away, while the settlement proceeds which were initially coerced by government from the banks are simply reimbursed to the banks to cover the sale proceeds shortfall. It's nice to know the Administration's first priority is to "care enough" to send the banks the "very best". Now what about all those existing/former distressed homeowners, not to mention struggling taxpayers who provided the funds in the first place??
So all of this is really becomes nothing more than political melodrama! Does anyone in this Administration ever speak the truth? Who is holding this Administration accountable?
Great Speech, Mitt.
Mr. President, That's Not Your Chair. That's the People's Seat.
Romney Heckler Gets Slammed
Dana Loesch of Breitbart shows how to shame a selective dilettante "war" protester who's simply a republican hater.
Paul Ryan Coming to Oregon; Democrats Apoplectic
This hysterical message today from the Democrat Party! Republican Wunderkind Paul Ryan is coming to Portland! Maybe they know something we do not. It has not been confirmed yet.
Democrats must be concerned. They've sent out a central planning video outlining Ryan's "lies" in his speech which, as many reporters have pointed out, aren't lies at all. Not even close.
As Guy P Benson points out in his TownHall.com column:
To the surprise of no one, the ad's "rebuttals" are misleading and wrong themselves. Point by point:
(1) They begin with video of CNN reporters discussing accusations of Ryan's "lies." This is proof that the Obama campaign sent out a lot of angry emails, and nothing else.
(2) Medicare – Sorry, guys, but it is 100 percent true that Obamacare raided $716 Billion from Medicare to pay for itself. … He has admitted this on camera:
(3) The GM Plant – Part of the factory Ryan mentioned was shut down under Bush, despite the initial GM bailout (which Senator Obama supported). The plant finally fully closed in April of 2009, during Obama's presidency, as this report clearly states.
(5) The debt commission – What Ryan said is absolutely correct. The Obama ad quotes Chris Wallace, who notes that Ryan was on that commission and voted against it. True. He refused to abide the section maintaining Obamacare, and voted no on its final findings. Still, he was intimately involved in the group's deliberations and proposed solutions. Not fully happy with the final outcome, he went on to craft two budgets of his own, with numerous elements based on the Simpson-Bowles framework. The commission's Democratic co-chairman (Bowles of Simpson-Bowles) has praised Ryan's proposals to the hilt.
Well done, Guy.