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Charlton Heston, wonderful as a man and in movies, lousy in politics, dies at 83

Charlton Heston, the actor who went through life being "typecast" in popular culture as "God," died last night in his home in Los Angeles. He was a consummate actor to whom the cliche "larger than life" really did seem to apply.

He also was a leader in conservative political movements -- and president of the National Rifle Association (NRA), one of the toughest, nastiest political lobbying groups you'll find in the world. Heston always disappointed me with his strong, very vocal adherence to the NRA's extremist "party line" on weapons. The now famous video of him one-handedly waving a rifle overhead and shouting about taking it from his "cold dead hand" or some-such, I'm willing to give him. I just saw that particular clip this morning in a tribute to Heston, and I think I detected a bit of the actor's tongue-in-cheek fun involved.

Because if there was one GOOD thing about Heston as a conservative it was this: He seemed to have a warm, genuine sense of humor and was able to poke fun at himself. That's unlike today's crop of silly "neo-cons" who take themselves FAAARR to seriously. Can you even imagine Ann Coulter or James Dobson poking fun at themselves? I doubt it.

And Heston, unlike today's neo-con pipsqueaks, seemed to understand compassion and stood for individuals and for helping people. He was in the vanguard of those back in the 1950s and '60s who marched and called out publicly for equal rights and the end of segregation.

So, here's to you, Chuck Heston, and all your complexity. I quote the wonderful Shakespearean quotation you used when you announced to the world that you had the horrible Alzheimer's Disease:

"We are such stuff as dreams are made on; and our little life is rounded with a sleep."

Sleep well, Mr. Heston. Like all of us, you were human, you realized both the grand and the ignoble in those years you lived here with us. Take your rest with God.
[tags]Charlton Heston, neo-cons, National Rifle Association, acting, entertainment news, just a guy who reads the papers[/tags]