Beware of actors with guns. The first to realize this, too late, was President Abraham Lincoln.
According to the Los Angeles Times, “Hours before actor Alec Baldwin fatally shot a cinematographer on the New Mexico set of ‘Rust’ with a prop gun, a half-dozen camera crew workers walked off the set to protest working conditions. The camera operators and their assistants were frustrated by the conditions surrounding the low-budget film, including complaints about long hours, long commutes and waiting for their paychecks.”
So, actor and the producer of this movie, liberal icon Alec Baldwin (who complains about the treatment of workers by Trump or corporate America), does the same or worse to his employees.
The same can be said of Harvey Weinstein, Jeff Epstein and Matt Lauer. Espouse one thing, then do exactly what you accuse others of doing. It is a classic case of deflection, and no one does that better than liberal Hollywood.
The key thing to remember about Alec Baldwin and his ilk is that liberals pretend to protect others from everyone except themselves.
If you believe that these leftist actors, who claim they support workers’ rights, not smoking and gun control, are genuine, then you believe this is really the Rolling Stones’ farewell tour.
In every “gritty” movie that wins awards in Hollywood, there is smoking (it makes their characters gritty and “believable”), guns and violence. Hollywood and Oscar sweetheart Quentin Tarantino are the kings of such liberal hypocrisy.
All over the movies and the violent video games the entertainment industry produces — which must play a big role in mass shootings by desensitizing young men to violence — are the oily fingerprints of the liberal Hollywood elite.
Somehow these stars, who are protected by well-armed security guards but who want to defund the police who protect us, reason that we should not have our Second Amendment right and that we Southern males are the real root cause of violence in America. Guns in your hands: bad; guns in their hands: good.
Back when entertainers were entertaining, Dean Martin said it best. He was arrested carrying a gun. A reporter asked him if he thought everyone should have a gun, and he said, “No, in a perfect world, just me.”
The narcissistic Alec Baldwin has left misogynistic and mean messages on his daughter’s voicemail. He has made anti-Semitic and homophobic statements while in a rage. He has been thrown off an American Airlines flight for anger. He yelled at someone who parked in his reserved parking place. The police were called; I think they charged him with three counts of “being Alec Baldwin.”
It might be a sweet irony if Donald Trump played Alec Baldwin on “Saturday Night Live.” In a case of art imitating life, it would be funny if Baldwin refused to concede his “presidential” role to Jim Carrey when Biden was elected. I am surprised that SNL producers chose Carrey to play Biden when Gary Busey was right there under their noses and available for the asking.
When Obama was president, the left was silent; humor accelerated its PC death spiral. The rule? You could make fun of a Republican but not a Democrat. Those of us who wrote humor were silenced for eight years. While America was fighting radical Islam, we could only tell anti-Christianity and Jesus jokes. If we told an Obama joke we’d get beheaded.
I actually think Alec Baldwin is a great comedic actor. His work in 30 Rock and Will and Grace is fantastic.
And in his defense, between post-Trump notoriety for his work in bashing the President on SNL and being relegated to the low-budget movie “Rust” that he was doing in New Mexico, Baldwin’s ego has to be deflated. Then throw in COVID last year, when he had to wear a mask. You know it kills narcissistic actors when people can’t recognize them on the streets.
All that said, accidents happen. I stand behind Alec Baldwin on this shooting. There is no way I’d be willing to stand in front of him.
In the wake of the shooting, he might have a hard time in Hollywood now. It won’t be long before California politicians enact a new law requiring a ten-day waiting period before a producer can hire Alec Baldwin.
Ron Hart is a syndicated op-ed humorist, award-winning author, and TV/radio commentator; you can reach him at Ron@RonaldHart.com or Twitter @RonaldHart.
