How very thoughtful of the mainstream media to have removed something that is quite revealing about the inner workings of that seemingly genial fellow.

I did find much of the speech to be humorous.

As a liberal-leftist whatever, I found it interesting that Eastwood chided Obama for keeping the war in Afghanistan going and for not closing Gitmo. I doubt Romney has any problem with either of these actions or non-actions by Obama. I do. But it strange to hear the response from the crowd favoring a position that I hold, but that their candidates do not.

Confusing. Gives Clint some kind of strange aura - getting laughs from the convention when he condemns actions that its candidate endorse.

I did enjoy it when he suggested, in answer to a question posed to the empty chair (Obama), that Obama's reply was to tell Romney to go fk himself.

That kind of talk is most welcome at these scripted sh!t festivals.

If you're interested, the complete and uncensored speech is
available here.

The censored throat-slashing gesture which has to be seen to be believed begins at about 9:34.

Some tidbuts:

I have to give the man credit. Romney on Thursday night came as close as he ever has in his political career to being thoroughly human. He worked so damned hard at being empathetic that, even if I didn't buy a word of it, the sweat equity was positively profound. Really, at times, he looked like a guy trying to push a truck up a hill.

[snip]

I have to admit that I, a son of the Commonwealth and grandson of a shepherd lass from the hills of north Kerry, never looked at Willard Romney and his perfect wife and his perfect children and thought to myself that we shared a common experience as the descendants of emigres. I have to admit that I don't look at him and think anything of that sort now, either. But, by god, he made a real stab at it, and I had to respect the effort, and the raw chutzpah, if nothing else.

[snip]

I think that, somewhere along the trail, it occurred to him that, really, all he was doing was conducting another sale, and that, if there was one thing he can do, it's that he can sell. And he has learned very well how to sell an indictment of this administration that is not going to be as easy to parry as this president's people seem to think it's going to be.

[snip]

On Thursday night, Willard Romney may have come as close to humanity as he needs to come. The rest is all just waiting for him out there -- 8-percent unemployment, and a Democratic Party that may well spend a week talking about how much they're willing to cut and how serious they are about The Deficit. I felt a pulse on Thursday night, and I saw a certain vigorous color come to his cheeks. I think Romney's alive now, and it bothers me, because I think he's a lot closer to becoming president than he was at the beginning of the night.

There were some trademark snarky lines in Pierce's column, but it was, overall, uncharacteristically subdued, which may be a measure of his fears that Romney may have a better chance than even he thought, up to this point.

However, when Mittens got on with the business at hand, he became, once again, more familiar---"lying for the lord" and revising history (e.g., the Republicans hoped Mr. Obama would succeed.), and gave a wink and a nod to the crowd that we need an "American" to lead us. His nose did Geppetto proud,  but unlike his running mate, the fire department did not require him to wear asbestos pants.

Mitt kept it all deliciously vague as to what he would do differently other than he would do everything differently. To applause, he offered a brief re-assurance that he was still  pro-life and pro-sanctity of marriage.

In foreign and national security, he did not veer from what  President Obama has done, but he would not be as easy on the bombs and those countries that are just asking for them.  A lot of nostalgia for the Cold War, and don't get him started on Putin.

About 14-15 years ago, before kids, the Mrs. SUO and I attended an industry function at which Clint was the keynote speaker. Unfortunately the Mrs. SUO was having so much fun chatting away with the other guests at the pre-dinner cocktail hour that she had that dreaded second gin and tonic on an empty stomach.

After we all got seated and were served dinner, and Clint was getting started on stage, the Mrs. SUO's forehead kept drifting perilously close to her salmon and mashed potatoes, so I walked her outside for some fresh air.

She found a curb to sit on, and, after a while, having finished his speech, Clint walked out with his driver into the night. Noticing my wife on the curb with her face in her hands, Clint detoured over to us and asked if she was all right.

I said yes, he said hope she feels better, and then he headed to his car.

No big thing, except it showed a level of simple, common decency that I rarely see, especially here in "big city" LA.

In an honest rating system not heavily biased to favor the SEC, the Gamecocks would have started no higher than #19, and after last night maybe dropped a few places.  This is not to say the top couple of SEC teams are overrated so much as the league overall is.

And a richly rewarded league too -- the SEC is now in the 5th year of enjoying two massive, very long term tv network contracts which total some $3b for the conference.  This situation affects how these networks cover and present the league, leading to ratings inflation from top to bottom.

3 overtimes...I do like the college OT rules, wish they would put them in the NFL.

Anyways.  Eastwood, it's hard to watch him, he's there, but not entirely.  He looks broke down, but I still really most of his movies and he's a good director.  But I had to leave my friends, the convention is just too much.  It's the same self serving congratulatory BS with the audience acting like the messiah is speaking.  It way too cultish.  Not that the D's are any better, but at least I agree with their BS, but the cultishness is up there as well.

A couple of of funnies, I love how the right hates Hollywood all year, but then when they can score one, they act like starstruck teenagers.  But Eastwood is especially perplexing, he did the Super Bowl ad for the auto industry that had the ditto heads exploding.  But all is forgiven I guess so long as he's on their team.

Romney, the thing is I agree with a good deal of his criticism directed at Obama, but that's were it ends.  I hate the way the right keeps acting like they are looking out for the people in need, when any idiot can look at what they want to do and easily see it's going to help the people at the top at the expense of everyone else.  Or how they are dumping republican generated problems on Obama without acknowledging their party created the problem.  Since when did R's want the war to end or GITMO closed, though they were actually wanting more wars, Iran comes to mind as well as N Korea.  But I guess they will cheer for anything when the applause meter lights up.

For Romney, that is easily the best he has looked on stage, not saying much, but he did good a pretty good job for Romney, which means about average.  It was weird for him to mention how his mother discovered his dad had died, no rose on the pillow.  And what happened to the Mormon speech we have been hearing about, worried the evangelical/baptist base might have walked out of the convention.

But congratulations republicans, you finally nominated the guy no one really liked six months ago whop is apparently the best you got.

Big mistake putting Rubio on before Mittens...he stole all the thunder.  Rubio can sling some snakeoil, love him or hate him he gives good speech.

But they should be careful not to overdue it. Clint has more fans than anyone in this race. And if they take it too far it could backlash to Clint and Romney's benefit. They should especially watch the ageist stuff.

This now goes to Romney's leadership and decision-making skills.  To spend a significant portion of the one network hour that is supposed to be the climax of the convention and Romney's shining moment  with a person who is inconsequential in the big scheme of things who proceeds to put on such a terrible performance calls into question that Romney has even a basic understanding of the critical job he is asking the American people to hire him for.  

I would expect that he would be whisked away by the Feds within minutes.

And this happened at the Republican convention with millions watching.

A shooting in a supermarket in Old Bridge, New Jersey, left three employees dead, including the gunman, the township's mayor said.

The shooter, an ex-Marine, had been employed at the store for about two weeks, Henry said. After showing up for work, he left the market and returned in military fatigues with an AK-47 rifle and an automatic pistol, shot the two victims and then himself, Henry said. The motive isn.t clear, Middlesex County Prosecutor Bruce Kaplan told reporters at the scene.