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‘Richard Jewell’ Is Clint Eastwood’s Rebuke to the Kavanaugh Hysteria

Last Updated September 23, 2020 1:06 PM
Lawrence Meyers
Last Updated September 23, 2020 1:06 PM

There appears to be no stopping Clint Eastwood. At age 89, he is about to release his 38th directorial effort, “Richard Jewell.”

The engaging trailer below lays out the story of the wrongfully-maligned security officer  who saved countless lives by discovering a bomb in Atlanta during the 1996 Olympics.

Clint Eastwood’s American Heroes

Clint Eastwood is no stranger to telling stories of real American heroes in an era where such stories have become increasingly unpopular with the politically-correct Left.

In this case, rather than focus on the extraordinary achievements of a soldier in “American Sniper,” or the heroic ditching of a plane in the Hudson River in “Sully,” Clint Eastwood turns his camera to the story of an ordinary man wrongfully accused.

After Jewell warned the public of the deadly pipe bomb in Atlanta, an incompetent series of FBI investigators and an all-too-willing media perpetuated a story about him planting the bomb himself so that he could play the hero.

Why Richard Jewell?

Clint Eastwood rarely shares his conservative politics openly. Other than a humorous appearance during the 2012 Republican national convention, and a run for mayor in California, Eastwood takes a low political profile.

He prefers to let his films tell their own stories, and leave overt political statements to others. That’s what makes the subject of Richard Jewell particularly intriguing.

There are generally three types of Hollywood films involving the FBI.

Either they are portrayed as heroes who bring down awful criminals, or they are portrayed as bumbling idiots who just get in the way of local law enforcement. The third type of film, which is exceedingly rare, demonstrates agency corruption. Sometimes that corruption is simply in service of a fictional story.

Yet the timing of this film provides a clear subtext that Eastwood thinks corruption within the agency is something more than just serving a film storyline.

And no wonder, given that the FBI’s reputation has been sullied over the past few years. James Comey was a partisan hack who worked behind the scenes against President Trump, as did numerous agents, including the unapologetically arrogant Peter Strzok and his paramour, Lisa Page.

That makes his new film is particularly timely, given the revelations of a corrupt FBI, not to mention the role of an overtly partisan media.

Richard Jewell Smear Mimicked in Covington, Kavanaugh Controversies

brett kavanaugh, richard jewell
The Brett Kavanaugh smears show that the media hasn’t learned its lesson. | Source: Christopher Penler/Shutterstock.com

The press, older readers might remember, was also terribly complicit in the smearing  of Richard Jewell.

As often happens in terrorist attacks, society demands that a villain be brought to justice. However, the perpetrator can be challenging to locate, if he isn’t already dead. Society wanted a villain; the media gave them one. They were wrong, and not for the first or last time.

The smear that was perpetrated on Richard Jewell is duplicated with alarming frequency.

Nick Sandmann and his high school, Covington Catholic, were smeared by the liberal media . The hatred for anyone wearing a MAGA hat was on full display, as the media characterized Sandman’s expressionless face into an arrogant smirk at Native American liberal activist Nathan Phillips. Once the entire story came out, including additional video that exonerated Sandmann, nobody bothered to apologize.

And who can forget the baseless attacks on Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh last year? Despite the extraordinary lack of evidence against him, the liberal media piled on, reporting and supporting even the most ridiculous claims that came out of the woodwork every other day.

Today, Kavanaugh sits on the Supreme Court, while onetime media darlings like Michael Avenetti are headed to prison. Was there any apology from the liberal media? Nope.

Clint Eastwood remains one of the last untouchables. The American public needs more filmmakers like him to call out government and media corruption.


Disclaimer: The views expressed in the article are solely those of the author and do not represent those of, nor should they be attributed to, CCN.com.