(in unison): Excellent!
Posted on 02/04/2003 3:55:46 PM PST by yankeedame
Charlton Heston Speaks Out On Clooney's Cruel Alzheimer's Joke
Gallant Alzheimer's victim Charlton Heston is refusing to react in anger to George Clooney's joke about is tragic medical condition.
"I don't know the man - never met him, never even spoken to him," the 78-year-old silver screen legend told The ENQUIRER in an exclusive interview. "But I feel sorry for George Clooney - one day he may get Alzheimer's disease.
"I served my country in World War II. I survived that - I guess I can survive some bad words from this fellow."
Clooney ignited a firestorm of fury while accepting a Special Filmmaking Achievement Award from the National Board of Review in New Tork by telling the audience: "Charlton Heston announced again today that he is suffering from Alzheimer's."
And despite the hurt he caused, former "ER" star was unrepentant.
"I don't care," he said defiantly. "Charlton Heston is head of the National Rifle Assiciation - he deserves whatever anyone says about him."
Heston has often been the focus of controversy over his leadership of the NRA, but he was universally praised for his courage last August when he went public with the admission that he was suffering from the incurable - and fatal - disease that has also stricken former actor and President Ronald Reagan.
"I've still got a busy life going," Heston said. "I have no problem remembering things or being aware of things at all."
But if Heston was inclined to forgive Clooney's callous mockery, many others were not so forgiving.
"We've been inundated with e-mails from people across the country expressing outrage," Elizabeth Wilson, of the Alzheimer's Association, told The ENQUIRER.
"It was a totally insensitive joke at the expense of a man who had the courage to come forward, reveal that he had been disgnosed with this tragic disease - and by doing so gave hope to others that attention would be focused on it and perhaps hasten a cure
"It was particularly hurtful to the four million Americans who suffer from Alzheimer's and the 18 million more who love and care for them."
(in unison): Excellent!
And I believe that some people, through their words and deeds, are all too easily understood. This guy, for example...
...how much time would you be willing to spend trying to understand him if he showed up at your place for dinner?
Me too. I am not one to boycott a movie just because there are liberals starring in it. But Clooney's statement went waaaay beyond merely having dumb political ideas. It was cruel and downright evil. I hope Clooney ends up on Hollywood Squares, right under Alec Baldwin.
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