February 07, 2003 - 1:47 p.m.
This may be old news for some of you, but as I just discovered it this morning and it's got all the Gears of Fury going in my somewhat achy head (thanks for the tip, btw, Mel - I've started a bit of cleaning to eliminate dust and mold irritants) I decided to vent in public.
Stop reading here if you want to skip the rant.
George Clooney recently attempted to be witty and mock Charlton Heston. Heston has Alzheimer's. I could roll my eyes at his juvenile humor and just go on, but when Clooney was asked if he thought his jibe was a bit over the line, he replied, "I don't care. Charlton Heston is the head of the NRA; he deserves whatever anyone says about him."
Nice. In that vein of logic Clooney deserves to be called a jackass.
Believe me, I've heard a bevy of Alzheimer's jokes. They're all right up there with "I'm schizophrenic and so am I" and just about as accurate about the disease. Alzheimer's isn't about just forgetting things. It's about your brain slowly degenerating until it no longer has the ability to run your body anymore or you fall victim to an opportunistic disease. It's a long, dreadful, hopeless way to die.
Clooney's remarks piss me off for two reasons:
- I'm a little sensitive to Alzheimer's jokes right now anyway.
- For what reason does an individual's personal convictions make them a permissible target for mockery?
What really wins the Sad Shake of the Head award is Clooney's demonstration that the Hollywood Left is always willing to espouse sermons of tolerance and acceptance- unless you disagree with them. Their virtue is conditional. For those with differing beliefs, there is neither tolerance nor acceptance. Because Heston is involved with the NRA, he deserves their derision and Clooney has no compunction in the slightest to even consider an apology.
