Heston Fires Back

"It just goes to show that sometimes class does skip a generation," NRA head Charlton Heston harrumphed in response to George "Dangerous Mind" Clooney's nasty comment about Heston on the Charlie Rose Show. "Charlton Heston announced again today that he is suffering from Alzheimer's," the Riptide and Facts of Life dreamboat quipped on Rose's latenight drivelthon, prompting not only Heston's comment but a hot rejoinder from Bill O'Reilly: "If this had been George Clooney's first mistake I'd just mock him and forget about it, but he's clearly out of control… Just imagine if someone mocked Christopher Reeve's paralysis."

Comments

[Phil]

Actually, Clooney's comment is pretty funny ... Heston's rejoinder is a sad comment on his own lack of sense of humor.

Let it be known that if and when I develop a serious condition, all and sundry are welcome and encouraged to joke about it. Especially if the jokes are actually funny.

[Steve]

I think the point isn't so much the comment as the double standard. Let's face it, with his conservative views, Chuck ain't real popular amongst the Hollywood elite. So jokes are ok. God forbid the jokes should be made toward a Hollywood darling like Christopher Reeve.

[Brad]

The double-standard argument is a false one. Ronald Reagan is at least as disliked as Heston, perhaps even more so, but I don't hear many jokes about his illness. Besides, it's not like there's been an outpouring of Heston-Alzheimer yuks. One tasteless comment by one bonehead who doesn't represent anyone other than himself or anything other than his one stupidity. What's the big deal? (Besides, I don't recall much outrage over the Christopher Reeve piece on suck.com)

[Brad]

The double-standard argument is a false one. Ronald Reagan is at least as disliked as Heston, perhaps even more so, but I don't hear many jokes about his illness. Besides, it's not like there's been an outpouring of Heston-Alzheimer yuks. One tasteless comment by one bonehead who doesn't represent anyone other than himself or anything other than his one stupidity. What's the big deal? (Besides, I don't recall much outrage over the Christopher Reeve piece on suck.com)

[Steve]

Nobody reads suck.com

('course, I'm not sure anyone watches charlie Rose, either)

[Brad S]

Steve - I don't even know who Charlie Rose is to be honest, nor do I care. Pete Rose was Charlie Hustle back in the day. Is that who they mean?

[Steve]

Brad, I knew I could count on you to make the point of half of my observation.

(Charlie Rose is a talk show host of sorts.)

(Pete Rose is a unrepentant a**h*** who should probably be in the Hall of Fame anyway, but that's another thread.)

[Kevin Carson]

The article leaves out the most damning part of the story. When called on the inappropriateness of his comment, Clooney said (paraphrase from memory): "He's head of the NRA, so he deserves whatever he gets."

I'm a pretty hard-core left winger, and yet I can't recall anything "radical" Heston or LaPierre have ever said about guns that I disagree with. In fact, my main criticism of the NRA is that they're such pussies about gun rights. Instead of just coming out and saying, "We need guns to defend our rights because the Constitution didn't work," they blow a lot of smoke about sportsmen. And if I hear the term "law-abiding" one more time, I'm gonna puke.

[Brad S]

Add Clooney to the burgeoning list of Hollywood celebs who have proven beyond the shadow of a doubt that their brains don't function much beyond reading words from a script.

[Flex]

What's the opposite of Christopher Reeve?

Christopher Walken.

[Johnson Andrea]

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DATE: 01/25/2004 08:23:33
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