Someone, I am not saying who, emailed the Rachael Maddow Show again.

[No Elephants]

I have permission from the author to post the contents of the email, but first, some context:

The Outlaw Josey Wales was the title of one of the many movies in which Clint Eastwood starred. I never saw the movie. However, within the last few years, I did hear a discussion of the author of the book on which the movie was based. The book title, however, was The Rebel Outlaw Josey Wales. The movie folk dropped "Rebel."

I was asleep during Eastwood's speech. I woke up just a few minutes before Al Sharpton commented that the image of Josey Wales was an inappropriate backdrop for Eastwood's RNC speech, because the character, Wales, was an outlaw. The panel then discussed that very briefly, obviously unaware of information about the author of the book.

Okay, now the email someone sent Maddow right after Sharpton made the comment.

During MSNBC Convention convention coverage, you guys commented on the impropriety of the image of Josey Wales, a movie about an outlaw.

The author of the book, Asa Earl Carter, aka Forrest Carter, was a notorious racist. I am sure Eastwood knows that by now, even if he did not know it at the time he made the movie. Please check Carter's wiki for further details.

Things like Romney's birther allusion and the Josey Wales backdrop make me think that the Romney campaign is daring the Obama campaign to "play the race card," as protesting racism has come to be known.

Not sure if anything will come of this, but i thought DU2 posters and lurkers might like the information about Carter, too.

(Love each and every one of you.)

[Contrary1]

1. I think they are baiting the Obama campaign with the "age card".

I am reading reports that Eastwood's teleprompter picked that exact moment to quit working.

His speech was rambling, and I am being kind. But c'mon, the guy is 82 years old. I think he did ok, given the circumstances.

There's not much that could make me dislike him, and a difference in political views isn't even a contender.

That being said, the only possible reason (other than the age thing), I can come up with as to why the Romney bunch wanted Clint to speak at all would be the no-nonsense, take no prisoners persona he represents on the big screen.

And that failed miserably.

[No Elephants]

2. I almost "quit" my pharmacist today because, on my way in to refill a scrip, I saw a Brown placard

in his pharmacy window, so it's funny you should say that political differences would not make you dislike Eastwood.

But, we have a long history; he and his brother and wife, all of whom work in the pharmacy are so nice to me; and the place is an easy walk my from home, etc. And he is extremely competent and hooked into the hospital computer, as well as the computer at the neighborhood health center and as they say in Massachusetts, "I treat" at both those places.

Besides, changing pharmacies would have involved trying to reach my doc to get a new scrip and I was totally out. Besides, his only competitor in my neighbohood is CVS. So, I swallowed hard and into his pharmacy I went.

Why small businesses ever risk pissing off about half of their customers has always been beyond me anyway.

[Divine Discontent]

3. interesting. didn't know that. thank you!

and we love each and every one of you, too!

oh wait, there's
definitely
only one,

[Enthusiast]

4. I like the movie The Outlaw Josey Wales. nt

[No Elephants]

5. My intent was by no means to diss the movie, which I have never seen

and was not even written by the same author as the novel.


My point was only: Out of the hundreds of movies Eastwood made, good, bad and Italian, I think that particular one may well have been chosen as a backdrop because of the dog whistle relating to the real life of the author of the novel on which the movie was based.

Carter was quite famous in his day and, after the movie came out, quite notorious. I think Willard and people who work for him who are around his age and professional politicians around Mitt's age would have heard about Asa Carter. And certainly, Eastwood had to have known, though I have no way of knowing if Eastwood was consulted about the backdrop.

Carter is still infamous enough to have been discussed on TV as an uber racist within the last few years. (I wish I could remember which show, but I can't. Maybe someone had just written a biography about him and was being interviewed?)

Anyway, either the backdrop was a racist dog whistle, or I owe Romney's campaign people (and/or Eastwood) a huge and abject apology. It's one or the other, nothing in between.

In any case, I never intended to diss the movie and certainly not to diss the taste of any fan of the movie. The movie is supposed to be very good. However, for the purposes of the OP, the movie itself is irrelevant.

If Shakespeare turned out to have founded the Stratford on Avon branch of the KKK, that would say nothing about whether Hamlet, Prince of Denmark was a good play or not.

[Enthusiast]

6. I didn't mean anything negative.

Actually it was my lame attempt at humor. I often fail miserably at humor.

I appreciate your information on Carter. :hi:

[No Elephants]

7. Ah. Several people have told me that I am too literal, but

I assumed they were joking.

;-)