(2003-12-23) -- New York Governor George Pataki today pardoned comedian Lenny Bruce posthumously for a nearly 40-year-old obscenity conviction prompted by a foul-mouthed political commentary.

Democrat presidential candidates John F. Kerry and Wesley Clark both expressed hope that they would someday receive similar forgiveness for their own recent obscene comments.

"Gov. Pataki has demonstrated that America is the land of second chances," said a spokesman for Mr. Kerry. "Lenny Bruce is a hero to all of us who make political points with pungent language. If he were alive today, I would hire him to write my speeches."