Charlton Heston

Glenn Reynolds posted Charlton Heston's "cold dead hands" speech and notes that the speech could be considered mainstream today. This brought to mind something I posted about Heston a while back:

It seems to me that the political voyage of Charlton Heston is a reflection of the changes many in the country have also undergone these past 50 years. Heston was a civil rights crusader (he marched with Martin Luther king Jr.) and the Democrats asked him to run for Senate in California in 1969 but the left turn of the Democratic Party turned him off and made him more conservative in his views.

In the early 60's - Heston could have been the face of the Democratic Party. Now he's viewed as an icon of arch-conservatism. When you know the history - the transformation is enlightening. Chances are that Heston always remained the same person but it was the Democratic Party that changed.

Charlton Heston may be more relevant today than he ever was.