Union boss kicks empty 'Eastwood' chair off stage in fit of anger at DNC event

[Ban Hammer 13,620]

On Monday, AFSCME President Lee Saunders expressed his anger at Clint Eastwood by kicking an empty chair off the stage after a fiery speech to the Wisconsin delegation at the DNC convention, Politico reported.

“I don’t know if you noticed, but you see this chair? I don’t know if you noticed that he actually walked in with me. He’s invisible, he’s sitting right here. He’s been listening to everything I had to say,” he said. “So I want you to welcome Clint Eastwood.”

“I’ve got a couple of questions. I’ve got a couple of questions I want to ask Clint Eastwood,” Saunders said as attendees laughed. “But first, buddy, what do you have to say for yourself? I didn’t hear you.”

“Clint’s been sitting here for the past hour. He doesn’t have anything to say for himself. Mitt Romney has nothing to say for himself. Paul Ryan has nothing to say for himself,” he added. “We’ve got to make our voices heard. We’ve got to speak loud and clear. If we do that, we will win in November.”

“Dirty Harry, Dirty Harry, make my day," he yelled as he kicked the chair off the stage to laughter and applause.

"As the applause died down, Mike Tate, the Democratic Party of Wisconsin chair, took the stage. Pausing for a moment as he took the podium, he grinned and said, 'And it’s just Monday, we’ll be here all week,'” Politico added.

Conservatives, showing support for Eastwood, turned Labor Day into "National Empty Chair Day," posting pictures of empty chairs in various poses.

“It’s fun. It’s funny,” conservative columnist Michelle Malkin told Politico. “Clint Eastwood resonated with voters outside the snotty, derisive NY-DC-Hollywood axis. He braved derision and ridicule for standing on the convention stage. Activists on the right wanted to demonstrate … their appreciation. As always, humor is the best medicine.”

The humor of Eastwood's routine, however, was lost on the left as some called it racist. Agree or disagree, at least Eastwood didn't physically assault the empty chair that represented Obama.

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[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

[The Nature Boy 4,224]

On Monday, AFSCME President Lee Saunders expressed his anger at Clint Eastwood by kicking an empty chair off the stage after a fiery speech to the Wisconsin delegation at the DNC convention, Politico reported.

"I don't know if you noticed, but you see this chair? I don't know if you noticed that he actually walked in with me. He's invisible, he's sitting right here. He's been listening to everything I had to say," he said. "So I want you to welcome Clint Eastwood."

"I've got a couple of questions. I've got a couple of questions I want to ask Clint Eastwood," Saunders said as attendees laughed. "But first, buddy, what do you have to say for yourself? I didn't hear you."

"Clint's been sitting here for the past hour. He doesn't have anything to say for himself. Mitt Romney has nothing to say for himself. Paul Ryan has nothing to say for himself," he added. "We've got to make our voices heard. We've got to speak loud and clear. If we do that, we will win in November."

"Dirty Harry, Dirty Harry, make my day," he yelled as he kicked the chair off the stage to laughter and applause.

"As the applause died down, Mike Tate, the Democratic Party of Wisconsin chair, took the stage. Pausing for a moment as he took the podium, he grinned and said, 'And it's just Monday, we'll be here all week,'" Politico added.

Conservatives, showing support for Eastwood, turned Labor Day into "National Empty Chair Day," posting pictures of empty chairs in various poses.

"It's fun. It's funny," conservative columnist Michelle Malkin told Politico. "Clint Eastwood resonated with voters outside the snotty, derisive NY-DC-Hollywood axis. He braved derision and ridicule for standing on the convention stage. Activists on the right wanted to demonstrate … their appreciation. As always, humor is the best medicine."

The humor of Eastwood's routine, however, was lost on the left as some called it racist. Agree or disagree, at least Eastwood didn't physically assault the empty chair that represented Obama.

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I know with Libtards everything is either a violation of their rights or Racist. Please someone explain how Eastwood's routine was racist ? I will grant that in some peoples opinions it could be seen as bizarre but Racist ???

[JohnR! 5,495]

On Monday, AFSCME President Lee Saunders expressed his anger at Clint Eastwood by kicking an empty chair off the stage after a fiery speech to the Wisconsin delegation at the DNC convention, Politico reported.

Is this the story? It seems that he has got criticism from both sides...

http://www.politico....0912/80591.html

The right rallied on Labor Day to celebrate “National Empty Chair Day,” a show of solidarity with Clint Eastwood after his rambling address to an invisible President Barack Obama at the Republican National Convention last week.

The action picked up steam on Twitter, where the hashtag #emptychairday began trending on Monday morning as users tweeted pictures of empty chairs in various poses.

Notable conservatives like Michelle Malkin and writers at Breitbart.com, as well blogger Prof. Glenn Reynolds, kicked off the trend, according to the conservative blog Legal Insurrection. The blog, which had asked readers to send in photos of empty chairs, updated its post midday to say that the response had been so overwhelming — and the backlog of photos so great — that they were forced to close submissions.

“It’s fun. It’s funny,” Malkin explained to POLITICO. “Clint Eastwood resonated with voters outside the snotty, derisive NY-DC-Hollywood axis. He braved derision and ridicule for standing on the convention stage. Activists on the right wanted to demonstrate … their appreciation. As always, humor is the best medicine.”

As conservatives have pointed out on Twitter, AMC is capitalizing on this national conversation with a Monday marathon of Eastwood’s films.

Meanwhile, #Eastwooding — which was trending on Twitter last week after the Hollywood icon’s speech, and refers to an address to an empty chair — has arrived at the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte.

AFSCME President Lee Saunders, capping off a fiery speech to the Wisconsin delegation Monday morning, held a conversation with an invisible Eastwood.

An empty chair had been brought on stage before Saunders started speaking, but he ignored it for most of his speech.

“I don’t know if you noticed, but you see this chair? I don’t know if you noticed that he actually walked in with me. He’s invisible, he’s sitting right here. He’s been listening to everything I had to say,” Saunders said. “So I want you to welcome Clint Eastwood.”

“I’ve got a couple of questions. I’ve got a couple of questions I want to ask Clint Eastwood,” Saunders continued as dozens of attendees cracked up. “But first, buddy, what do you have to say for yourself? I didn’t hear you.”

“Clint’s been sitting here for the past hour. He doesn’t have anything to say for himself. Mitt Romney has nothing to say for himself. Paul Ryan has nothing to say for himself,” he said. “We’ve got to make our voices heard. We’ve got to speak loud and clear. If we do that, we will win in November.”

“Dirty Harry, Dirty Harry, make my day,” Saunders yelled, knocking the empty chair off of the stage.

As the applause died down, Mike Tate, the Democratic Party of Wisconsin chair, took the stage. Pausing for a moment as he took the podium, he grinned and said, “And it’s just Monday, we’ll be here all week.”

if you noticed, but you see this chair? I don't know if you noticed that he actually walked in with me. He's invisible, he's sitting right here. He's been listening to everything I had to say," Saunders said. "So I want you to welcome Clint Eastwood." "I've got a couple of questions. I've got a couple of questions I want to ask Clint Eastwood," Saunders continued as dozens of attendees cracked up. "But first, buddy, what do you have to say for yourself? I didn't hear you."

"Clint's been sitting here for the past hour. He doesn't have anything to say for himself. Mitt Romney has nothing to say for himself. Paul Ryan has nothing to say for himself," he said. "We've got to make our voices heard. We've got to speak loud and clear. If we do that, we will win in November."

"Dirty Harry, Dirty Harry, make my day," Saunders yelled, knocking the empty chair off of the stage.

As the applause died down, Mike Tate, the Democratic Party of Wisconsin chair, took the stage. Pausing for a moment as he took the podium, he grinned and said, "And it's just Monday, we'll be here all week."

As the convention winds up, Democrats couldn't stop talking about Eastwood, some even defending him."I love Clint Eastwood," L.A. Mayor Anthony Villaraigosa, the convention chair, said. "I think it's unfair to do that to Clint Eastwood. [Republicans are] supposed to be the managers. Somebody didn't manage that very well."

Ben LaBolt, the national press secretary for Obama for America, quipped, "We actually vetted the speech in advance."

Perhaps such jokes explain why Matt Bai, chief political correspondent for the New York Times Magazine, believes an improvised appearance like Eastwood's won't be repeated at a national political convention.

"It was the last vestige of an unscripted appearance," he said. "It will never happen again."

Read more: http://www.politico....l#ixzz25WXIBls5

Edited September 4, 2012 by Gegel

[Penny Lane 8,159]

Racist, no. Absolutely stupid, yes. The biggest night of Mitt Romney's political career to date and the only thing people left talking about was a movie star and an empty chair. Embarrassing.

It was bizarre and downright disrespectful. It painted the "imaginary Obama" as stupid, vulgar and rude.

It speaks volumes that Romney's own people distanced themselves from it as quickly as possible the very next morning. No hesitation.

Edited September 4, 2012 by Evylin

[JohnR! 5,495]

Racist, no. Absolutely stupid, yes. The biggest night of Mitt Romney's political career to date and the only thing people left talking about was a movie star and an empty chair. Embarrassing.

It was bizarre and downright disrespectful. It painted the "imaginary Obama" as stupid, vulgar and rude.

It speaks volumes that Romney's own people distanced themselves from it as quickly as possible the very next morning. No hesitation.

That is nicely put.

I don't know what Clint was trying to do - if anything other than promoting his own movies - but it seems it took the focus of attention from the actual purpose of the convention.

I am surprised they invited someone from Hollywood to speak for the GOP and its conservative fringes quite often cringe at the notion that the left liberal entertainers should express their political opinion anyway. But then again, as of lately, those who hijacked the GOP are not really consistent and rational, are they?

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

It speaks volumes that Romney's own people distanced themselves from it as quickly as possible the very next morning. No hesitation.

Romney's people seem to always recognize the political malpractice they keep committing after they commit it. They know that everyone talking about an old man yelling at an empty chair rather than talking about their candidate is bad. All the effort they spent on trying to humanize Romney earlier that day - poof. Gone. All for nothing. Romney's acceptance speech - poof. Gone. Nobody talks about it. The nation is still focused on this bizarre, confused bit that Eastwood performed on stage. That, Christie's obvious ambitions for 2016 and the chock full of lies speech Ryan delivered. That's what's left of the week they spent in Tampa.

If these are the best people Mitt could find to get him elected, I hate to think about what a Romney administration would look like.

Edited September 4, 2012 by Mr. Big Dog

[Teddy B 17,252]

That is nicely put.

I don't know what Clint was trying to do - if anything other than promoting his own movies - but it seems it took the focus of attention from the actual purpose of the convention.

I am surprised they invited someone from Hollywood to speak for the GOP and its conservative fringes quite often cringe at the notion that the left liberal entertainers should express their political opinion anyway. But then again, as of lately, those who hijacked the GOP are not really consistent and rational, are they?

[Darnell 8,479]

Oh Cool. There's gonna be lots of nawty photos coming out with empty chairs now. Yay Google Search !

[Ban Hammer 13,620]

If these are the best people Mitt could find to get him elected, I hate to think about what a Romney administration would look like.

on the bright side, chairs won't be kicked.

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

on the bright side, chairs won't be kicked.

No, they'll just spend their time speaking to empty chairs. People like that belong into the nut house not the White House.

[Ban Hammer 13,620]

No, they'll just spend their time speaking to empty chairs. People like that belong into the nut house not the White House.

last i checked, clint wasn't running for office. and personally, i'd rather be around someone who speaks to chairs than someone who assaults chairs.

[JohnR! 5,495]

i'd rather be around someone who speaks to chairs than someone who assaults chairs.

So, what's behind door #3?

[Usui Takumi 1,562]

Clint is a closet democrat, he purposely sabotaged the GOP Convention.

[Penny Lane 8,159]

Clint is a closet democrat, he purposely sabotaged the GOP Convention.

Can just picture it after he left the stage, places a phone call. "Mr. Obama? Yes, it all went according to plan."