Apparently he's very pro-gun-control and has been very critical of the police, in relation to certain heavy-handedness, which is not to say conservatives can't take such positions but bearing in mind how staunch a supporter of the GOP Eastwood is I'm still at a loss as to why precisely he supports them.
Anyway, it's an innocent, unloaded question. I'm just curious, although for the sake of transparency I am a left-winger.
I don't know but perhaps he has more traditionally republican views on other things such as gay marriage, welfare for the poor, pro-choice for women, how taxes are spent in the country. I'm English so don't really know much about American politics or Clint Eastwoods opinions but I think there are lots of things republicans believe in besides the right to own guns and supporting the police.. I think they're a bit like our conservatives in that they hold very traditional views on family etc.
shareAlthough I'm a left-winger I still have fairly traditional views on the family, but ultimately I believe in personal choice and the right for people to raise their families in the unit that best suits them according to their needs, whether that is as a lone-parent, as a gay couple, or a straight one.
shareExactly.. whereas my understanding is that Republicans believe gay marriage/gay couples adopting/having babies via surrogates are matters for the country to decide on - not the individual couple. I think they are ruled by religion whereas my belief is that Christianity shouldn't dictate what any non-Christians do in their lives.. whether we believe they are going to hell or not doesn't mean they have to believe the same.
shareWrong. The Conservative Party believes that the definition of 'marriage' shouldn't be changed just because a particular portion of society says it must be (changed).
"Marriage is Between One Man and One Woman
True marriage is only between one man and one woman. CP-USA supports a Constitutional Amendment that would outlaw gay marriage. Although ruled unconstitutional, continue to support the intent of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) that allows any state to not recognize the same-sex marriage license issued by another state."
He's very liberal on gay marriage and women's rights, very liberal on social issues actually.
shareI am a hard core Republican, was a Democrat in my youth. I am going to completely take out my political view though. I think a lot of it has to do with the way he was brought up, the environment,the kind of person he is. He stances on other issues are also very conservative. He could have been a Democrat in his youth, I don't know. I know a lot of people switched when Reagan was President. A lot of people switched in Obama's first term too. As far as your statement about gays rights, I agree. I have a Republican view on everything else but don't believe you should treat someone different because they are gay. So, you can agree with both sides on different issues but lean more toward one party.
shareI have a Republican view on everything else but don't believe you should treat someone different because they are gay. So, you can agree with both sides on different issues but lean more toward one party.
Conservative and Liberal are two pretty broad terms. Two people who call themselves Conservative can have two totally different positions on many things.
shareNot sure OP, maybe because he's old? Older people tend to be more conservative these days. Liberal during Eastwood's time was a bit different than today. He's done some liberal type films though before. I mean Gran Torino is about a racist overcoming his prejudices, Mystic River has some of the most liberal actors in it in Sean Penn and Tim Robbins, Million Dollar Baby was a film saying that women should be able to box too, Letters from Iwo Jima gave a very nuanced view of the Japanese when many conservatives like to view them as savages who deserved the atomic bomb, so I'd say for a conservative he's been fairly liberal.
shareI'd rather say that these movies show he's not a bigoted, fanatic conservative (which no one expects him to be). My guess is that you can be a conservative and still have reasonable beliefs such as racism is not acceptable or sexism is not acceptable (or to make it short, that we are all equal) and accept that different points of view can be acceptable over the same issue (Iwojima). Shouldn't he stick to these values, he wouldn't be a conservative but simply a Nazi/fascist.
shareClint has said that his views are closer to those of a libertarian, a movement which espouses personal freedom and independence above all else. Politically, It's a very diverse philosophy. That accounts for the mixture of conservative and liberal politics you can find in what he says.
shareI'm going to jump in here a few month's later and give you my thoughts.
We have become a society so divisive and intolerant that it has become the de facto assumption that if someone is a conservative or a Republican that he/she must be a gay hating, anti women's rights, gun toting, bible thumping lunatic who hates the poor and just want all the country's money for themselves.
Of course the reverse is true of the far-right's views of liberal/Democrats.
The truth is that outside of a rather vocal minority of conservatism, there are a whole lot of reasonable, intelligent, tolerant "conservatives" who don't hate gays, don't believe that the world was created 6000 years and are charitable and decent people.
There are many Republicans who don't agree with all the ideologies that have been made to appear to be the core of conservatism. There are many who believe in fiscal conservatism but also are very generous when it comes to charity. Those who believe in the free market but fight against abuse of wealth. There are many who believe in Peace through Strength but disagree with certain military policies.
Just as there are many Liberals who believe in God, there are many conservatives who are agnostic...even atheist.
It is the very essence of bigotry to condemn or judge an entire group of people for the actions or beliefs of one portion.
I don't deny that since the Reagan years, the far-right has certainly become the "voice" and "face" of conservatism. But there are many who simply believe in what is known as Goldwater Conservatism. Good and decent people who believe in smaller government intrusion, lower taxes and a strong military. But also believe in certain progressive social issues.
It is really a lesser of two evils sort of thing. I personally don't agree with a lot of the Conservative/Republican party line. But I disagree with even more the Progressive/Democrat side.
The media and their minions have done a great job of demonizing the Right and perpetuating the bigotry by focusing on the most unpopular viewpoints.
I don't know if it will ever be possible for the Moderate Right to take back their party from the Far right Lunatics. But I fear our Country is doomed unless more reasonable minds prevail.
I could have written your post almost line by line. The perceptions of Conservatives being racist, misogynist, anti-gay, anti-poor, etc. is mostly from a media that's left leaning and pounding these lies over and over.
Joseph Goebbels once said “If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it."
As a black American, I'm told that conservatives are racist and shouldn't count myself among them. My circle of friends consists of many white conservatives, and I've never been treated any different than any other in our group.
As for Clint, I don't know what his politics are nor do I care. I like his films now, and liked his characters in his heyday.
It is bad to drink Jobus rum. Very bad.share
Being pro gun is typically a conservative stance.
Praise the Lord and pass the ammunition.
Many conservatives are anti-authoritarian. Certainly more so than the left, which love the authority of government. So, his criticism of the police would make sense.
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