The American Pundit

Actor, former NRA President, and former civil rights activist Charlton Heston has passed away at age 84, his family has confirmed.

Heston, best known for portraying such historical figures as Moses, Michaelangelo, and El Cid, died late Saturday night with his wife Lydia at his bedside.

In his early life, Heston was a well-known liberal Democrat. He walked alongside Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. during the Reverend’s march in Washington and even wore a sign reading, “All Men Are Created Equal”. Perhaps ironically, Heston would appear in 1968 on The Joey Bishop Show to campaign alongside fellow actor Jimmy Stewart for LBJ’s Gun Control Act of 1968.

As he got older, Charlton Heston’s views, like with so many others, changed drastically. By the 1980s, Heston had taken conservative positions on issues such as gun control and affirmative action. He had even changed party affiliations from Democratic to Republican.

Heston served as the NRA’s president from 1998 to 2003, during which time he was again thrown into the public light for a speech in which he raised a flintlock rifle above his head and said Al Gore would have to take away his Second Amendment rights “from my cold, dead hands”.

In 2002 Charlton Heston began experiencing signs of Alzheimer’s disease, which actor George Clooney would claim was deserved due to his role in the NRA.

When Smith asked the actor if he went too far with his remarks, Clooney — who’s against the gun lobby — responded, “I don’t care. Charlton Heston is the head of the National Rifle Association; he deserves whatever anyone says about him.”

Yes, like many in the liberal blogosphere, apparently Clooney believes horrible diseases are deserved for having opposing political viewpoints. Heston would shoot back, recalling the class Clooney’s late aunt, Rosemary Clooney, possessed.

“It just goes to show that sometimes class does skip a generation,” Heston was reported as saying.

Heston lived a long life, in which he played many roles, from actor to civil rights activist to NRA president. Rest in peace, Mr. Heston.

More: All American Blogger, The American Mind, Blogs For Victory.