Live by the Sword ...
This is entirely too delicious. Alec Baldwin, patron saint of Hollywood liberalism and fracking expert, has been in hot water this week over allegations that he assaulted a New York Post photographer and proceeded to use racial slurs against him (the photographer was black).
Now, according to the Post, Baldwin is being hoisted on liberalism's favorite petard:
The NYPD’s Hate Crime Task Force yesterday launched an investigation into Alec Baldwin’s tirade at a Post photographer.
Detectives brought the lensman and a Post reporter to a downtown station house, where they were interviewed at length about their racially charged run-in with Baldwin outside the actor’s East Village apartment building Sunday.
Photographer G.N. Miller, a retired NYPD detective, told cops that Baldwin called him a “coon,” a “crackhead” and a “drug dealer.”
Alec Baldwin: pompous jerk? Sure.
Alec Baldwin: hate criminal? Somewhere Jack Donaghy is smiling.
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Feb '11
Re: Live by the Sword ...
Troy Senik, Ed.
(the photographer was black).
What is he now?
Edited on February 19, 2013 at 9:13pmApr '11
Re: Live by the Sword ...
Alec Baldwin is a loser, but the hate crime task force is a very frightening thing.
Jul '12
Re: Live by the Sword ...
Yeah, I have a hard time summoning much schadenfreude in cases like this. The whole concept of hate-crime laws is so scary to me -- it's just a whisper away from thought crime -- that it appalls me to see anyone prosecuted under such laws.
Do we really live in a country where it's illegal to be a jerk?
Apr '11
Re: Live by the Sword ...
Wasn't he supposed to be the next mayor or New York or Senator or President of something like that?
Jun '11
Re: Live by the Sword ...
If hate were really a crime, wouldn't he have long since been doing time for this one:
[Transcript from the Conan O'Brien Show, 1998 (as reported by Media Research Center)]:
"The President is very popular and things are going pretty good and they are voting to impeach the President. They voted on one article of impeachment already. And I come back from Africa to stained dresses and cigars and this and impeachment. I am thinking to myself in other countries they are laughing at us twenty four hours a day and I'm thinking to myself if we were in other countries, we would all right now, all of us together, [starts to shout] all of us together would go down to Washington and we would stone Henry Hyde to death! We would stone him to death! [crowd cheers] Wait! Shut up! Shut up! No shut up! I'm not finished. We would stone Henry Hyde to death and we would go to their homes and we'd kill their wives and their children. We would kill their families." [stands up screaming]
Re: Live by the Sword ...
I will say this for the guy: he does do a terrific podcast called Here's The Thing.
Edited on February 19, 2013 at 10:26pmJul '11
Re: Live by the Sword ...
Somewhere, Team America is smiling.
I respect Baldwin's acting ability. You ever seen his turn in 'Glengarry Glen Ross'? Solid gold plated excellence. "Coffee is for closers!"
I know the musical artist known as Moby; hung with him for a weekend, and was actually listening him today; driving cross-country Estonia.
I disagree with him on so many issues, some violently so, and we've talked about some of them.
But I, in my '40s dotage, have been able to separate the art and the artist. When I was rolling between Tartu, Estonia, and Tallinn today (about a 2 1/2 hour drive), I not once thought of the person I know.
May '10
Re: Live by the Sword ...
Greg Gutfeld nailed it yesterday when he talked about "fighting words" in reference to this incident. When a person is furious and wants to hurt someone, that person is likely to spout the most provocative insults he or she can imagine, regardless of truth or relevance. Racial and sexual slurs are very provocative, so are unsurprisingly common in tirades.
I suspect this explains Baldwin's outburst. What disgusts me is that Mel Gibson was not afforded similar understanding. He was widely assumed to be an anti-Semite for something he said while angry and drunk. Gibson will never be forgiven by most in Hollywood and many movie goers, but Baldwin will be tolerated because he is liberal.
Sep '10
Re: Live by the Sword ...
From what I understand, the photographer was a paparazzi-style guy who asked Baldwin a provocative question on the street. These guys get paid to get celebrities angry so they can be pretty nasty. Baldwin has had to deal with this kind of thing before so he's primed to fight back by being offensive and rude.
The dilemma is, do we hope this happens to them so they'll learn, or is this just too scary to celebrate? I go with the latter - by a mile.
Edited on February 19, 2013 at 11:33pmRe: Live by the Sword ...
EstoniaKat
I respect Baldwin's acting ability. You ever seen his turn in 'Glengarry Glen Ross'? Solid gold plated excellence. "Coffee is for closers!"
Agree. And my nod to "30 Rock" was heartfelt. For my money, that's probably been the funniest show on TV for the past decade.
Your broader point is also well-taken. I know a lot of conservatives who disengage from huge swaths of the culture because they don't like the politics of the people involved. I understand that if the content itself is overtly political, but I just can't audit the personal beliefs of everyone who produces a product I happen to like (it's the same thing I found repellent on the left with Chic-fil-A).
This is only salient because Baldwin's real world behavior is running smack into Baldwin's real world politics.
Re: Live by the Sword ...
I actually referenced this very exchange in conversation with the Blue Yeti earlier today. For those who didn't see, Greg's point was that this probably isn't evidence that Baldwin is a racist so much as evidence that Baldwin is a brawler who'll reach for the (verbal) weapon closest at hand. That strikes me as likely correct.
Re: Live by the Sword ...
Franco: The dilemma is, do we hope this happens to them so they'll learn, or is this just too scary to celebrate? I go with the latter - by a mile. · 12 minutes ago
Edited 6 minutes ago
As do I. I believe in conservative principles for conservatives and liberals alike.
May '10
Re: Live by the Sword ...
Include me among the fans of Baldwin's comedy. 30 Rock became more political with each season. And the other comedians rarely rise to the level of Baldwin and Tina Fey. But his mock conservatism is hilarious at times.
One of my favorite exchanges was in the first episode.
Apr '11
Re: Live by the Sword ...
I think there is a difference. When liberals disagree with you, they organize boycotts or try to deny a building permit. They try to cause harm or limit freedom. I choose not to patronize liberal artists because I don't want my money in their pockets helping them promote their liberal agenda. If I stay home from an Alec Baldwin movie, he is in no way harmed or denied freedom. He just doesn't get my $15, or however much a movie costs these days.
Re: Live by the Sword ...
Doc
I think there is a difference. When liberals disagree with you, they organize boycotts or try to deny a building permit. They try to cause harm or limit freedom. I choose not to patronize liberal artists because I don't want my money in their pockets helping them promote their liberal agenda. If I stay home from an Alec Baldwin movie, he is in no way harmed or denied freedom. He just doesn't get my $15, or however much a movie costs these days. · 4 minutes ago
Well, I think (or hope anyway) that there are plenty of liberals who employ the same methods you do. You're certainly right, however, that the activists seem more inclined to suppress than dissent.
May '10
Re: Live by the Sword ...
Just because.
May '12
Re: Live by the Sword ...
As EJ has 'shopped, so let it be done.
Come on, we know he'll skate. He'll bear the brunt of late night jokes this week , but he'll still get the multi-million contracts the next and he'll still be harping about the Republican hate mongers in aeternum.
Apr '11
Re: Live by the Sword ...
He'll write a book about race relations to mop up his inability to control himself. Perhaps fighting words were employed with his daughter as well. Politics aside, this is a man-child.
Aug '10
Re: Live by the Sword ...
Somewhere ,Kim Basinger is smiling .
And I'm smiling as I consider her countenance .
Sep '12
Re: Live by the Sword ...
Completely agree. I don't mind Democrats and liberals getting nailed by the press for their own transgressions of liberal pieties, but being prosecuted is just plain creepy.
Whenever I hear of something like this (research the efforts of local "Human Rights Commissions" if you need a bit more paranoia in your life), I get a sad, scared feeling. Is it the modern curse that the spirit of the Soviet Union is to haunt us forever in some form or another?
Bartholomew Xerxes Ogilvie, Jr.: Yeah, I have a hard time summoning much schadenfreude in cases like this. The whole concept of hate-crime laws is so scary to me -- it's just a whisper away from thought crime -- that it appalls me to see anyone prosecuted under such laws.
Do we really live in a country where it's illegal to be a jerk? · 6 hours ago