Empty Chair, Empty Obama Pinback Button

Clint Eastwood’s performance at the Republican National Convention last Thursday sparked a raft of conflicted reactions from the political commentariat. Many liberals sneered at the speech as a grotesque bit of exploitative theater – Dirty Harry meets Honey Boo Boo – while others, including Bill Maher and Jon Stewart, applauded the speech for its comedic timing. Conservatives, too, had mixed reactions, with some bemoaning the speech’s potential for distraction on a night that should have belonged to GOP Presidential nominee Mitt Romney, while others found it hilarious and cutting in its unscripted genuineness.