Comments on: He Was Legend

By: HR

HR — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 20:46:01 +0000

HP, a fellow name of Hitler made the same mistake of underestimating the Soviets late in the war, even as Soviet production was increasing and Hitler’s forces were being driven out of Russia. If the Allies had attacked the Soviets, their losses would have been catastrophic, and the outcome dubious. I also don’t buy into the myth that Soviet physicists were too dumb to have developed nuclear weapons on their own.

By: Hue Longer

Hue Longer — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 08:33:48 +0000

Patton knew how to use up more men than was nessesary…what a hero!

By: Hue Longer

Hue Longer — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 08:31:51 +0000

I agree with all of that Kevin Carson

Gore Vidal has made fun of Charlton Heston’s understanding of the roles he played (at least as Ben Hur–who was rewritten by Vidal to be a homosexual prior to where the story starts). I loved those three sci-fi movies too, but I don’t give Heston any credit unless I’m presented with evidence that he injected social commentary into them himself– Just like I don’t give him any credit for rightward or seemingly rightward positions he took. He read a good script, good for him and the movies he did

By: hp

hp — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 02:47:14 +0000

Dream on. Patton was ready to take all of Europe AND Russia.
The Russians did indeed die like leaves and at the end were devastated. The US was at peak production and Patton, with the Waffen SS (talk about crap history books), would have ran over the Russians easily. All the way to Moscow.
He hated the Jewish Bolsheviks beyond any other and predicted exactly what would and did happen.
My father was there. Called to be a witness at Nuremberg. 25th Cavalry, 4th armor. He and all his buddies assumed Patton was killed for saying too much and planning on saying even more about Uncle Joe, FDR and the coming tragedy which did indeed materialize.

By: M.Landa

M.Landa — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 01:57:04 +0000

Heston was a lackey of the state and gave his significant “amen” to the invasion of Vietnam. Three million people were killed there. I can understand sentiment for the Vietnamese only.

By: HR

HR — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 19:25:25 +0000

Well, not exactly “handed over” half of Europe to Stalin. Stalin’s army did most of the bleeding and dying in Europe, though you wouldn’t know it to read our history books. Our leaders were desperate to get troops into France and on their way to Germany before Stalin took ALL of Europe, no “handing over” involved at all. It also seems unlikely that Stalin would have willingly given up any of the territory his armies had taken, all of the megalomaniac Patton’s bellicosity aside. Fortunately, a semblance of reason prevailed on the part of the Allies, and we didn’t get involved in a land war with the Russians, one which we might damned well have lost.

By: hp

hp — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 15:11:24 +0000

He also handed half of Europe to his good buddy ‘Uncle Joe,’ the current record holder.

By: Kevin Carson

Kevin Carson — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 04:38:44 +0000

Recently when I heard Rev. Wright’s comments about the U.S. government being run by a gang of criminals, and “America’s chickens coming home to roost,” my only response was “Yeah–so?”

And that was my reaction back in the ’90s to the stuff Heston and Wayne LaPierre said about guns and government tyranny.

I get a lot more shocked and morally outraged by what the expressions of “moderate” opinion I hear from the suits of the Corporate Center: the kind of people who used to appear on Crossfire, about half an inch to the left and right of center, respectively.

I’m probably as left-wing as 99% of the population, and I have absolutely zero problem with the gun rights. My only problem with the NRA is their wussy “law-abiding citizen” crap and their friendliness to the police state. Every right we have, we have not because some benevolent government granted it, but because our ancestors forced government–at gunpoint–to recognize it. And we only keep those rights we are able to continue forcing them to recognize. After almost thirty years of Meese, Reno and Ashcroft, I wouldn’t think that was so hard to understand. And after an endless series of Abner Louimas, Cory Mayes and Katherine Johnsons, I’d a hell of a lot rather leave the guns in the hands of ordinary people and TAKE THEM AWAY from the cops (along with their tasers, pepper spray and batons).

Moore’s problem is he’s not really a leftist at all, but a good liberal who trusts government (if only it’s put in the hands of good liberals). He admits himself that the U.S. government were the “good guys” back in WWII. Shedding all the goo-goo civics class rhetoric, “Good Guy” FDR engaged in rivalry with Japan over the markets and resources of the Western Pacific, and got us into an imperial war. In so doing, he created a military-industrial complex and permanent warfare state that have continued ever since, and installed the U.S. as enforcer of a corporate world order. The truth is, notwithstanding the official Art Schlesinger version of history, the “liberals” are just the left wing of the corporate-state establishment that’s run this country since the late 19th century.

By: HR

HR — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 02:07:40 +0000

Oh, come on. The guy was an actor, not some god. Sounds like the author is around my age, since I grew up watching Heston movies, too, but never held the guy in awe any more than John Wayne or Jimmy Stewart. They were just movies and the people in them were just acting, after all. It was fantasy, like what you saw on TV (with mild apologies to any Trekkies). The movies were fiction for the most part, or badly rendered history. Hero worship of actors has always amazed me … I mean why would anyone give a good goddamn who actors are voting for, or what their politics are in general?

Hell, even the premise of Soylent Green was utter nonsense. If your population is running our of food production capability, you don’t solve the problem by growing livestock (human corpses in the movie), you grow plants and feed them directly to the humans … or you watch people starve. Too much energy is lost in the intermediate conversion from plant to livestock.

By: Evie

Evie — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 00:21:55 +0000

Evie, you’re weird.

Well, at least you’re not a Conformist:) No hobgoblin of Little Minds is gonna be fast enough to keep up with YOUR switcheroonies, so I’m not even gonna try.

Shazzam,

BOOM

By: Al

Al — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 00:06:17 +0000

There was nothing disgraceful about Moore’s behaviour. What was disgusting was a senile Heston’s views on gun ownership. Anybody who supports the NRA is a moron!

By: Michael Hureaux

Michael Hureaux — Sat, 26 Apr 2008 23:40:45 +0000

I’d agree with you on M. Moore’s disgraceful display of bullying in Bowling for Columbine, which did more to legitimize Heston’s more reactionary moments than anything I can think of in recent years. I’m not so sure about the rest of all this.

And it’s Edward G. Robinson, not Edgar.

By: evie

evie — Sat, 26 Apr 2008 14:49:35 +0000

Great observations on Heston. Thanks.