Start Prying
“Heston raised a flintlock over his head and challenged his detractors to pry the rifle "from my cold, dead hands."
-LA Times-
I guess it’s time to start prying his gun out of his cold dead hands.
I may have seen some of his movies when I was a kid, but if I did, I don’t remember anything about them. All I will remember him for is his being a jerk when it came to gun control and his alliance with the NRA.
I try to respect the dead, but I will shed no tears over this man’s death.
-LA Times-
I guess it’s time to start prying his gun out of his cold dead hands.
I may have seen some of his movies when I was a kid, but if I did, I don’t remember anything about them. All I will remember him for is his being a jerk when it came to gun control and his alliance with the NRA.
I try to respect the dead, but I will shed no tears over this man’s death.
posted by pissed off patricia at 1:48 AM
33 Comments:
Condolences to his family.
Not a great loss to the acting world, though.
Perhaps his best role was in "Bowling for Columbine" - as himself.
This putz set the debate over the 2nd Amendment back 50 years.
i am with you POP.
and he was a lousy actor. try watching ben-hur and tell me you dont fall asleep
he did make a few good movies -- Planet of the Apes, Soylent Green, Touch of Evil.
believe it or not, he was a protester for civil rights in the 50s. i guess he found the god of the NRA
that picture of him holding the rifle still rifles me
I agree with you on his stance over gun control, but he wasn't all bad. He marched with Dr. King in Washington DC to promote civil rights. I persobnally enjoyed is screen persona. I was a huge fan of his sci-fi work!
No matter how much I want gun control, I must defer in the end:
Give 'em a millimeter, they want a mile. Between the government and the loonies, ya just cannot trust them. Look what's happening to abortion rights as we speak - chip away and chip away.
I respect the man for his persistence in standing for his beliefs, no matter how much I detest those beliefs.
We need some of that persistence on our side. I watch the progressives sniping and fighting, and despair for our country.
Too bad he sullied his fine acting legacy by whoring it out for the NRA.
POP, please let me clarify for my understanding - despite all evidence to the contrary, you believe that government confiscation and regulation of privately owned guns is somehow justified? Can you offer a rational justification?
I blame his Alzheimer's for his turnaround in beliefs, he was at one point in favor of control.
To add to what Lower Mack said - who wants to be in a country where only cops and criminals can arm themselves? Who amongst us has a police force that's so effective that personal action is never required?
I don't have a gun, but I'm thinking about it. Too many people die because they can't defend themselves and there isn't enough time to even call the cops, much less wait for them to arrive. And sometimes, when they do arrive, they're no damn better. Look at places like Chicago and New Orleans - the police are pretty much just another gang. Many more will be victims if not arming yourself is mandated by a government that can't protect us in the best of times.
Besides, how many times must we see the obvious happen before we get wise? Outlawing guns means that honest people won't have them, but dishonest people will. Cocaine has been illegal for over a century, and there's no problem getting it. It's a cash cow for those who don't care about the law. So let's create another black market to help those Crips make a buck, eh?
Aside from that, it's sad when people who consider themselves liberals can't have respect for people who peacefully express contrary political opinions (yet they still bemoan the schisms in the party). If one can't have respect for others who do nothing more offensive than disagree, then just what DOES make one different from people like Rush or Ann Coulter? I try very hard to disagree with IDEAS, but the people holding them may have a dozen other ideas that I DO agree with. I'll never know that if I consider them worthless for the one idea I disagree with. If Heston had behaved like Coulter, I'd have no respect for him, but he didn't - he took his stand as an adult.
Mind you, the NRA is full of knobs, and I won't be joining even if I do get a weapon. Still, putting up with them is a LOT easier than putting up with a new black market and a criminal element that knows it has the edge in force. Blaming them for the fact that Americans grow up worshiping violence is misguided, IMO.
I think that the only movie I willingly saw him in was Bowling for Columbine. I endured him as Moses a few times.
for a look at some of heston's best and most overlooked work netflix Will Penny. it's some real lunch pail acting, done by an artisan.
guns suck. and good riddance, chuck.
I love the title of this post, PoP. I wish I had thought of it! I don't respect anyone who argues passionately on behalf of anything that degrades the civility of society.
It's strange how people's lives divide. When he was young, he was a civil rights activist (not just guns). Right now, Charlton Heston is remembered for the last phase of his life and his role with the NRA. It does occur to me that like Reagan, it may have been the result of the onset of his dementia.
Lower mack and Joe the Troll,
Its gun control, not gun prohibition.
It isn't about taking guns away from our citizens, its about accountability, training, banning them from those who act irresponsibly, and keeping the military automatic weapons of the street (those which were developed to kill many people very quickly and easily, and high powered weapons).
I don't want to live in a society where only cops, government and miltary have guns, but I also don't want to live in a society where weapons of wartime are freely sold to the public. If they want those types of weapons to entertain themselves, then store them in an armory, and take them out only for target practice, make them accountable for what they do with these deadly weapons who only purpose it is to kill mass amounts of people with little effort.
Cars kill many more people than guns, and we have programs to educate, license, and penalize those who drive. No matter how much "control" you try to enforce, there will always be those that operate outside the lines of the law, nothing can be completely controlled.
It's more or less unfortunate that this is the way he will be remembered. He was a pretty okay B actor. Pretty much like Ronald Reagan.
My reaction to his death was, meh. With that stupid slogan, he helped perpetuate the myth that the left wants the government to take guns away from law-abiding citizens. I can hardly wait (yawn) for the next wingnut who takes his place. (I hear John Ashcroft isn't doing anything these days.)
I liked him in Planet of the Apes, The Omega Man and Soylent Green.
Not so much as himself but he wasn't a complete right-wing jerk. I'd take him over Ted Nugent any day of the week.
i agree, condolences to his family. Alz is awful for all concerned. and yes, his civil rights work was admirable - but the picture that will always be associated with him is the rifle and the slogan. it offered such fervent energy to the NRA that no rationale discussion on guns/control/prohibition has been possible since.
I doubt anyone in the Heston family will give a rats ass when you finally croak Patricia.
Yeah, Patricia, the Heston family won't care when you die. Or when I die. Or when Anonymous dies, for that matter. I will ask them, however, to dance a fancy jig when Anonymous does croak. I emailed Miss Lydia yesterday and she suggested that Chuck would be laughing at the big to do people are making of his death.
I call Charlton Heston's wife, Lydia.... because she said I could call her that when she was teaching me to dance jigs on the graves of idiots.
My name is Targa and you can pry this post from MY COLD DEAD HANDS!!!!!!
My,my....this Targa (whatever a Targa is) twit certainly got her knickers in a bit of a knot.Perhaps her vibrator batteries went dead.
ah, shut up. You obviously don't get it because it's aimed at you.
And, I'm all man, baby.... love me.
Oh, and I can't wait til you die. Death is cool. Everyone's doing it. You should try it.
So much hate bottled up in there...you may want to consider doubling up on the Prozac for a while.
I'm sorry...maybe its the ole time of the month for you.
The Heston family called....wanted to know if Patricia died yet? If not what is she waiting for?
I don't much care when actors or actresses die, unless I liked their work. Heston? Meh. I save my sadness for people I know and/or admire.
Is Patricia dead yet?
you make an interesting point, mtrc--
"If they want those types of weapons to entertain themselves. . . ,"
but, I've got a slightly different idea:
they can always join the army, right?
"Cars kill many more people than guns, and we have programs to educate, license, and penalize those who drive."
As we also do for guns. The problem isn't a lack of laws, the problem is a lack of competent and even-handed enforcement.
"Pretty much like Ronald Reagan."
If Reagan had been an actor. Ever see him in anything? Yuck. Try "Santa Fe Trail," at least he wasn't the star, so you have Errol Flynn to pay more attention to.
"he helped perpetuate the myth that the left wants the government to take guns away from law-abiding citizens."
Anything relating to "the left" as a whole or "the right" as a whole is generally a myth. There are plenty of folks, however, who do want to take guns away from law-abiding people altogether, and they aren't hiding that fact. They believe the fallacy that it is the guns to blame, not the people. They think that if we outlaw guns, Americans will suddenly turn into Europeans and stop WANTING them. The fault is in ourselves, not our tools.
"I'd take him over Ted Nugent any day of the week."
AMEN! At least Heston didn't spread his hatred of foriegn people, as Nugent does. Hell, Nugent will put down his fellow Americans just for listening to the Grateful Dead instead of the shit that Nugent puts out.
"they can always join the army, right?"
The right to bear arms was initiated so that the people could fight against the government should it ever become tyrannical. In this day and age, I cannot fathom how people could think that is impossible, or even unlikely.
That is the reason I would get one. Not to hunt, and not to get a rush of power. Because the world and the USA are getting worse and there's no legal requirement - yet- to be a victim because you want to obey the law.
The NRA are much like the ACLU to me. I don't agree with everything they do or say, but I'm glad they're there to keep the Constitution from being shredded by people on both sides of the aisle who seem to think it's "outdated."
So Chuck kicked the bucket, eh? I had no idea.
I don't recall any of his movies, but I do remember what an asshole he was to Michael Moore. Wish there was something more positive to remember him for...
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