The most shocking thing about Baldwin’s blow up is that you can find a few folks on the ‘net willing to defend him. People like Baldwin groupie/child abuse advocate Meleah Hawthorne who had this to say about Baldwin’s attack on his daughter:
“Let’s take a moment to appreciate the fact that a Hollywood icon, is truly upset over the fact that he is not able to talk to his own daughter. There are plenty of Hollywood (and regular life) fathers that don’t make any effort at all to have any relationship with their kids. That appears to be what Alec is really yelling about. He lives far away, he can’t see her everyday, I’m sure he is limited in participating in her life to begin with and all he wants to do is talk to his kid. Yet, he can’t even do that. So he yelled. Big deal.”
Translation: If a man shows any interest in you at all you do whatever it takes to keep him interested. One could imagine Ms. Hawthorne being called unexpectedly into the principle’s office of her teenage daughter’s high school, surprised to find a detective waiting for her.
“Why yes, detective” she’ll say, “My boyfriend Snake does spank my daughter in the nude. Why do you ask?”
“In the nude ma’am?”
“Let’s take a moment to appreciate that Snake cares enough about Betty, and ME, to be involved at all!”
“In The Nude?!?“
Huffpo hack and DNC operative Stacy Parker Aab also weighs in with similar defense of abusive Fathers. This one different only in that it admits that this is abusive, but that it’s the people on the outside “judging” poor Alec that are truly to blame:
“Let me repeat again: words matter. They can hurt you in deep ways. They can foreshadow actions to come. But not always. Sometimes, a word is more steam than steel. Steam that evaporates quickly and is soon forgotten. It takes understanding to know the difference. Something that we, as outsiders, with so little to go on, lack.
And even if a word said is truly mean-spirited, said with intent to hurt, that is only one moment in a relationship. Not the whole.
I feel for Mr. Baldwin, because for the sake of his relationship, and for the sake of damage control, he will not be able to explain himself. At least not now while its fresh in our minds. The slur will stay with us, the proverbial bell that can’t be unrung.
For his family’s sake, I hope this story goes away fast. And I also hope his daughter can later forgive all those involved in making her family pain some very public news copy.”
I put the parts in bold that her therapist will probably want to go over in their next session. Mrs. Aab seems to be saying that even though words hurt, verbal abuse is transitory but love is forever (at least until the guy kills you, right Stacy?) and it is we outsiders who are doing something wrong by pointing out that Alec Baldwin is a dangerous loon who’ll just as likely hurt his daughter than not.
Sorry ladies but in New York, where Alec Baldwin called from, this phone call is legally considered abuse. I worked in youth programs for many years and I can tell you that if one of the parents was heard saying something even remotely similar, we were required by law to report it to social services. And defending a grown man calling an 11-yr old girl a pig reeks of the kind of abuse enabling low self-esteem that Women’s Studies programs were supposed to eliminate.
Feeling about Baldwin’s parenting are sharply divided among ideological lines, unsurprisingly. An unfortunate commentary on the state of the New Left.
Wuzzadem imagines Baldwin in a new career.
Ace of Spades and Slublog team up. Hilarity ensues.
Hot Air has more comedy based on child abuse. Plus news that a judge has severed Baldwin’s visitation rights, which is the family court version of a restraining order.
Vince Aut Morire isn’t happy with Alec.
