Regular readers here know that Alec Baldwin is the Patron Saint of this blog and the inspiration for PETAB, the People for the Ethical Treatment of Alec Baldwin. I like to keep up with Alec’s exploits because his silly liberal rants are chock-full-o-funny, but now I’m finding myself in unfamiliar territory with Baldwin — I feel sorry for him.
Alec has made news not only for his acting, but for saying during the Clinton impeachment hearing that, in the good old days, Henry Hyde’s family would be “stoned to death.” He said if Bush was elected, he’d leave the country. Well, Bush was elected, Baldwin’s still here, and Kim Basinger left Alec. Somebody got confused. Whatever.
Baldwin also suggested that the new Yankee Stadium be built at Ground Zero in New York — presumably so it would be known in years to come as “The house that Thorazine built.”
Now it sounds like Alec’s going after his own family. Any of us with kids know of the frustrations. Heck, there are days when I’ve seen “Mommy Dearest” and thought to myself, “yeah, so what’s the problem?” Those engaged in custody battles know of the frustrations to an even greater degree. But the difference between “tough parenting” and “perpetuating the problem” can be heard in a voicemail that has been made public, presumably by Alec’s ex, Kim Basinger.
Neither the call, nor the release of the tape (direct link to the audio is here), was a particularly humane thing to do, so I can’t take sides on this one. Calling your eleven year old daughter a “thoughtless little pig” because she’s being alienated from her father by her mother isn’t obviously textbook parenting, but there are always two sides to every story, and the path to Lunacy is often paved with past injustice. Unfortunately for Alec, judges often don’t care about both sides or pavement, as his visitation rights have been suspended and he can’t have contact with his child. In other words, “business as usual” it sounds like.
The Baldwin/Basinger divorce has been a public and particularly nasty one. In watching the ongoing battles between Kim and Alec and trying to decide which one is the nut, I’m reminded of the guy on the basketball court in the movie “White Men Can’t Jump” who’s trying to decide which story to believe, and finally concludes, “Both you motherf*$%#*s are crazy.”
Unfortunately, as is usually the case, the kid is caught in the middle. This will be the case universally until the term “civil divorce” is no longer an oxymoron.
(h/t to Kitty)
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