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Denis Leary's only claim to fame was "The Speech," he'd
still be a hero to many libertarians.
Leary
delivered "The Speech" in the 1993 science-fiction movie,
Demolition Man. In the film, good-guy cop Sylvester Stallone
chases bad-guy psychopath Wesley Snipes into the future, where Stallone's
character is stunned to discover that the United States has turned
into a nanny-state nightmare. When he asks for a cigarette, he is
informed that they have been banned by the government -- along with
alcohol, caffeine, contact sports, meat, bad language, chocolate,
gasoline, uneducational toys, and spicy foods.
Stallone's character runs into Edgar Friendly (played by Leary), a
rebel against the oppressive "we-know-what's-best-for-you"
system. In the libertarian highlight of the movie, Leary delivers
a defiant speech about freedom:
"I'm the enemy because I like to think. I like to read. I'm into
freedom of speech and freedom of choice. I'm the kind of guy that
could sit in a greasy spoon and wonder, gee, should I have the T-bone
steak or the jumbo rack of barbecue ribs or the side order of gravy
fries? I want high cholesterol. I would eat bacon and butter and buckets
of cheese. Okay? I want to smoke Cuban cigars the size of Cincinnati
in the nonsmoking section. I want to run through the streets naked
with green Jell-O all over my body reading Playboy magazine.
Why? Because I might suddenly feel the need to. Okay, pal?"
While perhaps as much libertine as libertarian, Leary's speech
perfectly encapsulated the persona of the Massachusetts-born actor
and comedian; he's a rebel outsider who relishes the opportunity to
defy authority.
Leary burst into the public eye in 1990 with his one-man comedy show,
No Cure For Cancer. Like "The Speech" in Demolition
Man, the show celebrated the right to make bad choices (or rather,
choices that harm only the person making those choices). In Leary's
case, that meant smoking cigarettes, eating red meat, taking NyQuil
for recreational purposes, driving big cars, and drinking alcohol.
No Cure For Cancer was later broadcast on Showtime, released
on videotape and CD, and turned into a book.
In 1992, Leary's take-no-prisoners style was highlighted in a series
of popular "I've got two words for you..." commercials for
MTV. The exposure earned him a ticket to Hollywood, where he appeared
in dozens of movies, including Strictly Business (1991),
The Ref (1994), Two If By Sea (1996), Wag the
Dog (1997), The Thomas Crown Affair (1999), and The
Secret Lives of Dentists (2002). He also starred in two television
series, The Job on ABC (2001-2002), and Rescue Me
on the FX cable network (2004).
In 2000, Leary launched the Leary Firefighters' Foundation, a charity
that donates money to fire departments to purchase modern equipment,
and helps the families of firefighters killed or injured in the line
of duty. Leary started the organization after his cousin died in 1999
while fighting a warehouse fire in Worcester, Massachusetts. In 2001,
the Foundation set up a separate Fund for New York's Finest for the
families of firefighters killed in the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
Because of the pro-liberty themes that permeated Leary's stand-up
comedy, people had speculated for years that he was a libertarian.
The NNDB.com website even definitively declared: "Politically,
he's libertarian." On April 24, 1998, Leary confirmed the rumor
when he appeared on the Tom Snyder Show -- and told the host
he was, indeed, a libertarian.
--
Bill Winter
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