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[Golfhaus]

The obligatory joke seems to be, "I guess we can have his gun now."

[lprkn]

Only if you feel like doing some prying...

[littlefallsmets]

There's some kind of Charlton Heston-Gary Gygax Meeting In The Afterlife meta-joke to be had but...

Heston's political extremism rendered him entirely humourless for me, someone else'll have to mine that particular shaft of comedy.

[CortJstr]

Well don't forget he was also very active in the civil rights movement, unless that's the extremism you were referring to.

[littlefallsmets]

Oh I know.

He was a good actor at certain kind of archetypes and did some other things that were good.

But the dude was just such an unflinching un-self-examined tool of The Culture of Fear that, no, even in death, the dude does not get a pass.

It is one thing to make a reasoned and open-minded argument that maybe people should be allowed to hunt for food or keep a well-guarded weapon around for personal protection. My heart screams "no!" but my mind will listen in betrayal of my heart.

But to be the big unthinking un-nuanced Moses awful-catchphrase machine for psychotics who wanna stockpile machine guns for Ragnarok or Helter Skelter?

No. Automatic Fail. Do not pass Go, do not get respected in death.

[AugustWest]

 

un-self-examined

Wow, you must have done a lot of research into Charlton Heston's inner life in order to make that pronouncement.  Because surely you wouldn't call someone "un-self-examined" solely because they hold a position that you (and I) disagree with, right?

[side_show]

You goddamn dirty apes!

[Pedro Picasso]

As per my eBay gold membership, I have purchased said cold dead hands.  Gun prying attempts are going for $5 per handgun, $50 per rife.  Philosophical discourse on the value of human life, the culpability of weapons-makers, and the intent of the framers of the Constitution allowed on the premises but not in the building.  Smoking allowed in the building.

[AugustWest]

...allowed on the premises but not in the building.  Smoking allowed in the building.

You must either be from Kentucky or North Carolina.

[Pedro Picasso]

You must either be from Kentucky or North Carolina.

I live on the border between those states in a little-known town called Kentuckolina.

[AugustWest]

I live on the border between those states in a little-known town called Kentuckolina.

Huh.  I always called the border between those states "Tennessee".

[theinevitable]

I have to try hard to give a shit any time anyone starts complaining about Political Correctness.
Because, quite frankly, 99% of people who have ever mentioned that phrase within my earshot have been about to say something profoundly racist, sexist, homophobic, bigoted, or just plain ignorant and idiotic.
His speech makes good points, though. I just get mad when people read things like that and get all High and Mighty about their right to tell jokes about N******. I completely believe that people have the right to say whatever they want; they completely have the right to joke about whatever they want, too. But when someone starts saying something unabashedly racist, they are NOT the victim when I tell them to shut the fuck up.


Also, the kids getting assigned to a Spanish Language class because their last name sounded hispanic... sounds more 1920 than 2008 to me. That is not PC at all.

[melack]

I feel sympathy for anyone who gets tricked into a Michael Moore movie, but I'll be goddamned if I feel too bad for the guy. But I will admit it's sad to see any Hollywood legend of his stature pass away.

[Pedro Picasso]

Here's some text for you, let's see if it can fuel some more jokes and vitriol about the man.

No vitriol, just jokes.  The man said we could pry guns from his hands when he died.  I've been making fun of that line for about 10 years now (which tells you a little about what JL has to put up with).  For darn heck I'm not about to let that joke go when it actually becomes topical.  It's not like I don't want people making fun of me when I die.  I'll say it right here and now.  I'll give this joke up when you pry it from my cold dead hands.

See, I think you completed the circle in there with your text. Just because you have freedom of thought and expression doesn't mean your home free from someone using theirs to tell you why you're full of shit.

I really, really prefer that to what I believe he's discussing, which is defining the means of discussion so that those definitions can be used to exclude topics.

"Defining the means of discussion so that those definitions can be used to exclude topics." is a great thing to fight against.  It's bullying.  When you think of political correctness, you think of people being bullied around.  That's not what springs to mind for me, but I'll remember that for a long time.  It's insightful.

Here's what I think of:
People who profess political correctness take public nicety to farcical extremes and demand you join them.  People who profess to be politically incorrect claim the right to be an ass in public and demand you not call them on it.  I've met very few real live not-on-tv people in either camp.

I read the whole speech.  It is a famous one.  I wrote a point for point risposte, but it's long-winded, and you didn't ask for one.  Unless you want to go back and forth on specifics, I'll just paste the short version.

Agreed: Don't let people try so hard to make things right that they control what you can and cannot say.  Don't let them pervert what is true and just in this world in order to prevent the possibility of hurt feelings.
Disagreed: Don't pay any attention to what an oaf you're being given the experiences and situations of those around you.
Agreed: If you see something wrong in your community, work like hell to publicize and fix it.
Disagreed: Exaggerate and repeat small local ills over and over again on a national stage (regardless of the fact that they were rectified quickly) in order to support your point of view.

[lprkn]

I'll give this joke up when you pry it from my cold dead hands.

I saw this and immediately thought of you. #20, homes.