Richard Pryor and Eugene McCarthy, and racism and war

The passing of two prominent men, each of whom could be described by the same word, 'anti-establishment', is reported today.

Richard Pryor and Eugene McCarthy had a lot in common, but came at the American psyche from completely opposite directions. And because they were hardly two guys who traveled in the same circles, there's more than a small measure of irony that they proceed side-by-side to the hereafter.

Pryor made racism in America something white and black people could laugh at together -- the first time that may have happened (some would say Redd Foxx was ahead of him).

Eugene McCarthy made an increasingly unpopular war a seminal moment for the Democratic Party (and the nation).

And while the issues they tackled were -- are -- far from resolved, their places in history are safe simply by the impact they each had in shifting the conventional thinking of the time.

Pryor released an album while I was in high school in the mid-'70's called "That Nigger's Crazy". We rode around drinking beer and smoking pot listening to it and laughing our AO --and I grew up in small east Texas town where the Klan had a bookstore on Main Street. He later did a movie, one of my favorites, with Jill Clayburgh and Gene Wilder -- "Silver Streak" -- which started a long cinematic collaboration with Wilder. A couple of years later when I was in college, a racially mixed group of my friends went to see "Stir Crazy" and we cracked up all over again.

I was too young to be much aware of Senator McCarthy's influence on the political landscape; I was getting ready for Boy Scout camp in the summer of '68 when McCarthy's anti-Vietnam war campaign forced LBJ out of the race for the White House. McCarthy's campaign splintered an already fractious Democratic party that election year, and the American racial divide was on full display on the ballot that November with George Wallace, (I).

And that's how we got Nixon (and many more years of war and death and dirty political tricks and lies and high crimes).

I doubt whether McCarthy and Pryor ever met and discussed their respective influences on American pop and political culture, but it pleases me that they are somewhere tonight -- outside the pearly gates, or maybe some place warmer -- talking about it and having a chuckle.

Rest in peace, gentlemen.

I was (as I have posted today) in high school in the late '60s, and Gene McCarthy was inspiring. But yes, in a very profound way, they are linked. And not just because they lived in the same era. They had individual courage, and profound personal integrity, whatever their respective faults. That's what we are searching for here today in describing them. And that's what made them both special: Courage and integrity.

McCarthy was someone Democrats should have sought out and talked with before voting for the IWR. Maybe things would be different today.

Goddamn, why do people continually ignore the mistakes of history and repeat them?

the horrors of Richard Nixon.

I know a little of Clean Gene, but only from the history books. I wish I had been paying more attention in 1968. But I was 10 years old, and far more worried about my my bicycle and my baseball cards, and my first summer at camp. The entire country was splitting apart, and I have no recollection of being concerned about it at all (which may be a testimony to my parents).

But, because your post was terrific in every other way, I did not conclude that you were blaming Sen. McCarthy for Nixon. 1968 was an unbelievable year, and unfortunately too few Americans were able to see that Nixon was the wrong choice, for a variety of reasons. The main reason, IMO was that Bobby Kennedy was asassinated.

out in the Virginia hunt country where we have a weekend place, and he did a lot of readings and appearances to raise money for all sorts of small, local charities. A really nice man, really nice. He's been sick for quite a while, though.

And don't forget that Richard Pryor was one of the writers of :::::: drum roll ::::::: "BLAZING SADDLES"! Will you ever find a funnier movie?

We got their genius, we got their best (I hope), and now we have to wish them Godspeed and thanks for everyhing.

The world's a bit lighter tonight, floating more dangerously away from where it's supposed to be.

Blazing Saddles tonight as a kind of tribute. It remains one of my all-time favourites.

that eventually went to Cleavon Little because someone was concerned about Pryor's 'reputation'.

It's a testament to his magnanimity that he stayed on and assisted in the writing.

I really loved him, kick and rec.

:cry:

from the other.

Your post doesn't say what took McCarthy, but I know that MS got Pryor.

I feel less immortal tonight. I'll hold tightly to the railing when I go up the stairs to bed, and be thankful that I can still go up those stairs.

Redstone

and if that doesn't make me feel like a TOTALLY OldLeftieLawyer, I don't know what will.

He was sick for a long time, just a general failing of his overall health. Last I heard from neighbors, he was in a nursing home in Georgetown, in DC, and his mind had taken him to a safe place. So, this was the natural next step for him.

He did good.

But, hold onto that railing, please.

made you feel like a totally 'O'LL. Doesn't seem that long ago, does it?

I'm happy to hear that he went easy. That's the best any of us can ask for, yes? And if anyone deserves to go easy, it's one with the kind of courage he had.

Yes, I'll hold that railing, and Mrs R when I get to the bedroom. Two more pieces of my past are gone, but there's plenty of future left.

For you, too, so don't feel so old, at least not past this night.

Redstone

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