RIP Charlton Heston (Oct. 4, 1923 - Apr. 5, 2008)

Charlton Heston is dead.

The Oscar winning actor succumbed to the ravages of Alzheimer's disease, having announced he had contracted the debilitating illness in 2002.

His death follows the deaths in March of actor Paul Scofield (the 19th), and of Richard Widmark (the 24th), completing the most recent "Celebrity Death Trinity." (As in "Celebrities Always Die in Threes.")

In addition to his Academy Award-winning performance in Ben Hur, Heston also gave Oscar-caliber performances as Moses in The Ten Commandments, and as Col. George Taylor in Planet of the Apes. He was the original I Am Legend character in the classic The Omega Man.
One of the first Hollywood heavyweights to come out in support of Civil Rights, he was later vilified by the Political Left for his support of the Second Amendment and the National Rifle Association.

After hearing Heston had contracted Alzheimer's, George Clooney famously, if not callously said Heston "...deserved whatever was said about him for his involvement with the NRA..." When asked to respond, Heston merely said he felt sorry for Clooney, noting that he (Clooney) was just as susceptible to Alzheimer's as anyone else.

Like President Ronald Reagan before him, Heston had been head of the Screen Actors Guild, and wasn't afraid to speak out in support of his Conservative principles. In a speech at Harvard Law School in 1997, about Political Correctness he stated, "If Americans believed in political correctness, we'd still be King George's boys - subjects bound to the British Crown." He went on to say, "Political Correctness is tyranny with manners."

Heston was one of the last of a dying breed - one of the greats from the Golden Age of Hollywood. He will be missed.

Charlton Heston - dead at 84.

Rest in Peace, Mr. Heston.

TFC

They Beat Horses, Don't They?

Now that ROOT BEER 203 - A Fighter Pilot's Story has been cast to the winds of the World Wide Web, it's time to go Back to the Future, er, back to the present, and deal with one of the pressing issues of our day.

Namely, who is going to be the next President of the United States.

As the saga of the Democratic primary has continued, as mentioned in an earlier post, it has been rather amusing to watch members of the Drive-by Media feign surprise and shock, and HARUUMPH! about the possibility that the junior senator from the Empire State might be less than forthcoming with the truth.

With apologies to Claude Rains, (RIP), in the (slightly altered) words of Capt (Wolf Blitzer) Renault: I'm shocked, shocked to find that Hillary is a liar. (Average, tax-paying American) Croupier: Hey, aren't those my winnings (taxes) she's got there?

PUUUUHHLLEEEEEZ!

The Flying Curmudgeon has to admit, however, as a long-time observer of the Clintons, even he was surprised by the lengths to which Ms. Rodham-Clinton went to conjure up the Tuzla "Sniper Incident."

Is it possible she has reached a new low?

Not according to Dan Calabrese of the NorthStar Writer's Group. http://www.northstarwriters.com/dc163.htm

In keeping with TFC's theme today, here's a blast from the past.

Enjoy.

TFC