With the passing of Charleton Heston, an era in Hollywood passes...and possibly in American politics, as well.
Winning his Oscar for Best Actor in 1959 gave Mr. Heston the approval of his peers in Hollywood.
Though he played in many, many films (before and after 1959) it was Ben Hur that provided the Oscar for his fireplace mantle and his career resume/financial billing prospective.
Winning his Presidency of the NRA in 1998 gave Mr. Heston the approval of his conservatives gun-owning peers and the utter disapproval of his former-peers in Hollywood.
The two events seemed like bookends in a semi-Reaganesque career. His NRA leadership is well chronicled by photos of "Moses" with a Revolutionary War flintloock rifle raised over his head and reoccuring quotes that included, but were not limited to the words: "prying - cold - dead - hands-etc" .
Though I saw Charleton Heston in person on two separate events, I never really met him. Both events were in Idaho, both up-close and personal, both poltical in nature. I listened to him and laughed at his jokes and wondered about his toupee ( I really did!) - the truth of the matter was that I most liked the role that nabbed him the Oscar:
I liked Judah Ben-Hur.
As timing would have it, on this very day I am 271 pages into Lew Wallace's masterpiece book, Ben-Hur, upon which the film was based.
In this beautiful book, Ben-Hur received the following commentary regarding Jesus from Egypt's Balthasar: "Do we need to be told that human governments are never for the sake of religion? How many kings have you heard of who were better than their subjects? Oh, no, no! The Redemption cannot be for a political purpose - to pull down rulers and powers, and vacate their places merely that others may take and enjoy them." Saddened, Judah Ben-Hur agreed.
Regarding rulers: I've seen 'em come and I've seen 'em go. Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan, Clinton, Bush 41, soon Bush 43. Of those listed - in my lifetime, I've seen 8 of them in person. Corresponded with 4 of them. Had dinner with one. And I'm only 52 years old. My resume with local, congressional and Senate campaigns is all on record, as well.
"...merely that others may take" their place.
Putting our full faith in any candidate is fundamentally goofy. Believing that a particualr Presidential candidate will usher in a new-er world order is goofier still... and goes against the wisdom of the good Egyptian to the Israelite Jew in General Wallace's book....and in Charleton Heston's movie. Confidance and support? Sure. Full faith? Nope, not so much.
In a strange and odd way, we are really subjects of the KIng of Kings, cleverly disguised as Democrats or Republicans in a Constitutional Republic. Only what's done for the King will last. Everything elses fades away, like the grass in the fields.Our accomplishments (and theirs) fade even quicker like the flowers of that same grass.
Ask Moses, ask Lew Wallace, ask Charleton Heston. They know.
Den
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Posted by: Sophie19 | February 08, 2010 at 01:24 PM