A well-placed Republican source tells Townhall that Oscar-winning director and actor Clint Eastwood will travel to Tampa, Florida to attend Mitt Romney's nominating convention this week. As the news media scrambles to identify the so-called "mystery speaker" scheduled to address GOP delegates on Thursday evening, some have speculated that the iconic Hollywood figure could fit the bill.
I have a couple of caveats about this story: First, it's just one source. People think they know things, but then they don't.
Two, it was filed at 3:04 am. Liquor may have been involved. On one hand, liquor loosens tongues; on the other hand, liquor loosens everything.
It's a nice idea but I wouldn't get too invested in it.
Here's one reason to think it's real: Clint Eastwood doesn't talk a lot about politics, but one thing that really steams his beans is entrepreneurial litigation, under the Americans with Disabilities Act. The racket here is that lawyers hire disabled people to go to businessplaces, to see if there is any grounds for suit. They're looking for a reason to sue -- to greenmail a business owner and make a quick buck, usually by settlement.
Now if you combine that feeling he already has, having been a victim of such entrepreneurial litigation, with Obama's "You didn't build that" -- something which resonates strongly with anyone who's ever owned a business -- and it becomes pretty believable that Clint Eastwood had a "Do you feel lucky, punk?" moment over Obama.
It's all well and good to speak of the deleterious effects of regulation on businesses in the abstract. It's another thing to speak in detail about your own real life horror stories.