Alec Baldwin v. my brother
 

Both divorced with female offspring. Both were married to rich women. Me bro divorced a lady worth well over 300 million (Im not kidding). My bro is not rich anymore, Alec is.

I dont have any idea what has personally gone on in Alec's life with his daughter, but my God to say those things, the kid has got to be Satan.

My bro is incredibly understanding with what I would term an ex that is very hard to get along with (and by far the richest person I know). To his moderately spoiled daughters: "Listen to your mom. We both still love you. If she says bad things about me you will have to use your own judgement. I cannot compete with buying you things, so on the weekends that we see each other, I very much enjoy the movies and going to the park... Your mom and I love you even though we might express it in different ways, but either way we want the best for you, and that sometimes is not what you necessarily want. So when I tell you turn off the cell phones on our weekends together, its because I want to spend the weekend with you. I will never move away as long as you are still in school, and I can get a chance to be a part of your lives. If there is a weekend or date we set, and you cannot make it, I understand."
frckn saint he is. No hanky panky on either's part in the breakup. The divorce was very easy. Me bro did not ask for any money, just to see his daughters.

The problem I have is that so many of these self proclaimed humanitarians like Baldwin, lead horrible personal lives. They often times have horrible family relationships. Albert Einstein was as gentle a person, and a very high minded moral man, but when it came to personal relationships, he had not a clue of what he was doing to people close to him that really loved him. He was interested in bigger things.

I dont see why both cant be accomplished together. There have been so many high and mighty moral men that have been horrible to those close to them that I have to wonder if there is a connection. To name a few:

Shelley, Karl Marx, Tolstoy, Betrand Russell, M. Ali, any Kennedy ... there is a long list. Take a look into these guys and their "family structure". Please somebody give me the names of a few more liberal, high minded men that are good people to their families; people that can maintain a solid family foundation, while also preaching about injustice to people. It seems the two should go together. I would really like some names... so I can feel a bit better.

Good Lord, Dick Cheney (Mr. Mean) loves the heck out of his lesbian daughter who obviously does not live a lifestyle that he condones. But its his daughter. And I have come to realize Mr. Cheney can be an absolute bstrd to others. But his family appears to be very important.

Pgardn: your Brother sounds like he's doing his best to keep the situation level! Kudos to him.....not easy to do when emotions run deep. Other than that...I think Alec Baldwin is a loudmouth punk who abuses women and generally is self-serving to the max! He needs his butt kicked!

I still looking for one name, a man that is a great humanitarian and family man. I must have some hope the world is OK.

The good ones fly mostly under the radar!

Ok a high minded liberal that has a stellar record as a humanitarian, and family man. MUST HAVE AIR... where the heck is DTS. I need some help. Someone please.

Joe Lieberman??

Buffet. Maried over 50 years to the same gal til she passed. Worth $50 Billion (3rd wealthiest in the world). Current salary $100,000 (Ave salary for F500 CEOs is $10,000,000). Giving it all away. His $30 Bil donation to the Gates Foundation is the largest charitable gift ever.

Carlos Slim. Mexican telecom. Son of Christian Lebanese immigrants, worth $50 billion (2nd wealthiest). He is giving it all away by matching, dollar for dollar, all charitable donations in Mexico until it's gone.

Gates.

All good family men.

Very good,S2S!

Ok I got a little breathing space. They are giving away money though. Ideas.

Im looking for guys who have lived their lives with the great humanitarian ideals, that also lived good family lives. I think most of the men on this list are just rich and have decided to use their money for good causes. I dont think they had these ideas in mind when they first started. I think they are giving back. It would really help if I had someone who started with humanitarian ideas in mind and also lived these same ideas. Intellectuals in the human condition, not necessarily business men who become incredibly weathly and felt they owed something back and then later in life when they felt their own mortality turned their gaze to the human condition (better late than never). Nonetheless a comforting try.

And I know I like at least two of the men. Although Gates is so incredibly ill-informed about education as it exists today, that his initiatives wont work. He needs a solid background in the major problems, otherwise he will be throwing money into a pit of educational bureaucrats... yes, even in his more private look at education.

Maybe I just have to stick with men, or women, that are in some sort of religious position. Folks that are humanitarians with big ideas that have written extensively and have spent their lives striving to fulfill propositions, but not necessarily wealthy.

"just rich"? I'd like to be just rich like these guys. And giving it back is the icing on the cake for THEM! You seem to unintentionally dismiss what they've accomplished...I daresay none of the 3 listed are of the "Enron" ilk. The only Intellectuals I would trust are the guys like YOU,for instance, who are using and piecing together protocols for productively existing on this planet and in this society. At least....I think that's what you're doing:eek:

pg, the squeaky wheel gets the grease. don't think that the alec baldwins of the world are at all a good indication of what everyone else is like!!

The "Baldwin" incident was on local radio this morning:eek:

WOW!

Buffet is one hell of a nice guy, and probably the most brilliant business mind on the planet.

Well we might just live on different planets. Striving for the almighty dollar and finding the almight dollar has never been a goal for me so I dont see it as anything I personally would want to accomplish. I dont respect these guys because they have become rich. The accumulation of wealth may be a grand goal for you and others, and you can have it. I see nothing wrong with this endeavor. I just dont want it to get in the way of what is important to me. I would rather live through memorable times. Some of the best moments I can think of had nothing to do with money. They came unexpectedly and usually occurred in the presence of loved ones.

Like I said my brother walked out on 300 million dollars and growing. So my family may just have a completely diff. mindset than others. I will not live with a woman I cannot stand for 1 billion dollars. I got more than enough money to do what I want, which is thankfully not expensive. I feel blessed to not crave much that involves the acquisition of material. Got no interest in fancy cars, dont know what I would do with a 6 room house, dont need a big boat, I got a kayak... I feel like the lucky one.

So I dont dismiss what they have done, its quite amazing. But accumulating wealth would never ever be something important to me. Becoming a great writer is quite amazing to me also. But its not something I strive to do. I have great respect for great writers because I feel especially lacking in this area. But its not something at the top of my list.

Back to Alec. I cant ever imagine talking to a kid like that. I was never pummeled with stuff like that. My dad would strap the crud out of me, but I never got verbally abused. Maybe his daughter has tried to kill him.

Pgardn: I don't think they started out to be rich..they were wildly successful in their endeavors and their wealth is a handsome by-product of their combo of timing,hard work,and skill. btw...we are very similar on what is important vs the frivolities of life.

Amen Brother.

Live a good live and you will get to relive it again in your memories.

Baldwin will only have fabricated memories in his drunkin state of mind.

Does not really matter to me personally where they started. For all we know they could have a loved one with a severe medical condition that cant be solved by wealth. I have had experience with this. My father made a very good living as a real estate lawyer. He accumulated wealth from an extremely poor position, dirt poor. Good for him RIP. But it did not help my mother. I lived a very comfortable childhood monetarily, but it did not mean squat to me as my mother was always sick. I think this experience turned me the other way, as I saw money could not solve the most important things in my life.

So my dad worked his rear off, got rewarded monetarily, but was not successful in solving the number one family problem which he had no control over. Poor guy tried every expert he could find spending very large sums to find a fix that could not be had by wealth. In a sad way I feel lucky to have experienced this.

BAck to Alec. I have thought and listened to this tirade some more and it is so self centered that I cannot believe anything this man says concerning his altruistic world views. He is a spoiled brat. I used to respect this man as an actor, and spokesman. No longer. Typical guy who is used to getting his way via bullying and money, and when he cant get something accomplished in this manner, he has not a clue about solving problems. People need to listen closely to how self centered that tirade is. Quite shocking.

Alec Baldwin is an a-hole, always has been. I can't stand him, he is a total hypocrite who lives in his fantasy world. Didn't he promise to move out of the USA if Bush got elected? What happened to that promise, I'm still waiting for him to do it. I'm sure that the French would be more than happy to take him.

Apparently, Baldwin had court orders to call the kid at a certain hour and when he did, either Basinger or the kid herself had turned the phone off. Which was pretty crummy behavior on either Basinger or the kid's part. By the way, what did he call her besides "pig?"

2Hot, I find it funny that you had no problem with being physically punished, and consider that much less damaging than verbal punishment. I don't know how many people would agree with you on that one (I myself don't really have an opinion on it- I was spanked and yelled at as a kid and lived to tell the tale).

Look, it was stupid of Baldwin, and he's a hothead and does plenty of stupid things, and Basinger was crummy to give the message to the press, but come on- he's a parent of an 11-year-old. None of you have never, ever, yelled at your child, or perhaps used language that was less than angelic with them? Hell, I've heard much worse on the local radio station when kids arrange for their parents to be crank called by the DJs ("you little b*tch" and "I'm going to kill you" are very popular among the parents, when all is revealed to them).

I think this is a real tempest in a teapot. But it inspired this pretty funny article, so perhaps it was all worth it:

http://salon.com/mwt/feature/2007/04/25/hotheads/

GR the thing that made it so horrible to me, Is that it was all about Alec, not the language that was horrible (and I have never used anything close to that on my daughter). It was all about how his 11 year old daughter had done this and that to poor Alec. It was one of the most selfish rants I have ever heard.

I got punished with a belt as a kid. It was the only thing I understood at the time, I had no ability to empathize. So my mom saying, "look honey, imagine how it would feel if someone bit your toe off", would mean nothing to me. My little mind did understand pain. You do this, and this is what its gonna feel like made "sense" to me. I understood the consequences of my actions if immediate action was taken. It was like getting your hand crushed in a car door. I never left my hand there again, I had great respect for car doors. I had not the faintest of how someone else might feel... "oh thats bad because think how it would make someone else feel." I needed to feel it for myself. I find it amazing that so many adults dont understand the level of reasoning in young kids. I had no neuronal capacity to empathize at an early age. Is the belt right for all kids? absolutely not. Did it work on me? heck yes. It was the only thing that worked. When I got a little older, I gained the ability to empathize (my butt was thankful), so the more typical of parental reasoning worked. My Dad altered course accordingly. And I never got into any sort of trouble in High School or College and was given a free rein because I was trusted.

I'll take your brother and the points.

I'll take the 300 million and the tax accountant who keeos it.






Lee Travino best line......."Somewhere someguy is tired of ---ing her"

Pgardn, again, what did he call his daughter besides "pig?"

I agree, a small child doesn't get empathy, but this girl is 11 years old; she's not a small child. She's a pre-teen and I know by 11 years old I certainly understood my actions could hurt others. Were you still getting belted at age 11? I certainly wasn't getting spanked at that age anymore. In addition, that court order requiring these phone calls applies not only to Baldwin, but also to her- by turning her phone off, either she or her mother was in violation of a court order. And again, an 11-year-old is old enough to understand if the court says you do something, you do it.

I'm not saying this is all the kid's, or Basinger's fault- Baldwin is a bad-tempered loudmouth who got famous too young, no question (hell, the whole family is weird- check out his God-lovin' brother's "ministry"), but I think he's being crucified in the press over things that frankly, lots of parents have been guilty of doing- losing their tempers with their kids. And I'm sure the kid is messed up by how ugly her parents' divorce was and lashing out- again, something kids all over the country do every day. As I said, I think it's a tempest in a teapot. I mean, even you took it as an opening to ruminate over why liberals aren't saints. Because only saints are saints. Liberals are people, like anyone else, and screw up. And when it's a big deal, they should be taken to task for it. I just don't think this is a big deal.

The two views I gave were not tied together. The other view was about kids in general a punishment, I did not mean these to run together.

And again I say I really dont care if he called her a whore. The fact of the matter is it was all about Alec getting hurt. You dont do that to your kid. "You hurt me so bad you little pig Im going to make you pay for this." Alec cares far more about Alec than his child. This is the main point of that entire tirade. And this is the same crusader for all that is good and against self serving people. I hate the hypocrasy. He cant even live his own ideals. So its much worse than "oh he has a bad temper, oh he goes overboard." The man is a selfish SOB. And he professes to care about other's plights, when all he cares about is himself in a relationship with his daughter. The utter gall of this incident is mind numbing. Sorry I get mad at my daughter but there is no doubt in my mind, or my brother's that our daughters are far more important to us than ourselves.

"You selfish pig, you made me look bad" WTF KIND OF CRAP IS THAT? IT IS INDEFENSIBLE.

kim and alec are the ones who are getting the divorce, it's a shame the child ends up paying the price, and getting the grief, when the two 'adults' can't seem to act like that very thing! regardless of what is going on behind closed doors (i doubt either parent would ever get nominated for sainthood) it's a damn shame that an 11 year old is the one getting all the grief. bad enough she has a parent living on the opposite coast, but it's worse that whatever contact degenerates into tirades from the absent parent.

i do know that basinger is up on charges for not allowing court ordered visits between father and child--but one has to wonder if she doesn't have a valid reason after hearing his eruption. all three should have counseling, and both parents should have their rights, as long as there has been nothing done to cause the loss of any parental rights.

I was 16 years old when I figured out my real name wasn't Stupid.

really? i've told my kids they were lazy before--but aren't all kids?? but pigs? only if they inferred that by me saying their room was a pigpen!!:D

Well, I remember my mom telling me (at age nine- me, not my mom) how much something I had done had mortified her, and it's one of the rants at me that I still remember to this day- it really affected me. And it wasn't how what I had done was bad for me- it was how it shamed her. And it made me feel terrible about what I'd done. So I can't say, though I do in fact think Baldwin is self-centered, that this rant in particular was evil because it was about how his daughter's behavior affected him-- keep everything in a kid's life about how it affects the kid and I think you wind up with an adult who is only interested in how anything in his or her life affects said adult. Sorry, pgardn, we'll have to agree to disagree on this one. I just don't see anything different from what lots of parents do.

I, for one, am shocked that an actor would be so self-centered. HOWEVER, I don't see what the big deal is. It's been known for quite some time that Baldwin and Basinger are batschit insane. Now if the girl was really fat then there would be a problem. She might end up anorexic and/or bulemic but as of right now that's all the rage in Hollywood. She'll be ok.

I missed you, PP. Where ever have you been? :p

I guess I see a whole bunch of diff. types of parents than you. My sister stayed out late one night and my Dad said he was worried sick. That he had paced the hallway all night because he was worried about HER. It made a huge impression on my sister because she realized how much she was loved, she in turn was worried about him worrying so much. Its Love.
I have listened to the Baldwin rant well over 10 times now, and if this is how the majority of parents reason with their 11 year olds (you make ME look bad, this is the last time you will humiliate ME) we are in trouble as a nation.

This 11 year old, I wish the best for her. Her parents have put her in a world of deprivation of a whole different kind.

I agree that the kid will come out the worst in this (as many kids of divorce do- my husband has had his own issues from his parents' divorce when he was 13), but again, we don't know what she did or didn't do in this- whether she made the choice to avoid his call and for what reason. A court order is a court order. And I say again, kids can be jerks too. (Some of them grow out of it and some grow into jerky adults.) We just don't know the dynamics of their relationship.

Really, in the end, I was most alarmed that he didn't seem to know how old his kid was. Though I remember my grandfather randomly calling out the names of his sons until the one he wanted would turn his head. ;)

Pgardn,
Lots of interesting ideas are in this thread. I've avoided saying mine.
You're correct on this, about letting children know how much they are loved.
And, right...parents worry.
Now, my take that I heard somewhere, and needed to be reminded during a very bitter divorce with my ex (thank God!), "Divorcing parents are allowed to hate each other as much as they feel the need, but putting that on the child (children) is not the appropriate target."
Some might be better off showing their hatred a little less, and their love a little more.

You've got that right. I remember when my wife got her first teaching job. She used to come home mortified at the 1st grader's mouths and attitude. Zero respect for adults and a trashy mouth to back it up. She'd tell the parents in their conferences and the parents would just shrug it off and act like it was no big deal that their kid was cursing at the teacher in 1st grade.

It all starts at the top, this girl probably has no chance at a normal life. Her whackadoo parents are going to make sure of that, but let's not assume the child is 100% innocent in this deal. Kids her age are perfectly capable of being quite cruel to their parents.

I missed you too, Cajun. Had a 3 day vacation and now i'm making moves in lewlville. Crazy time of year. :D

Alec is going to be on The View tomorrow. Supposedly to express himself and talk about parental rights, etc...

It will be interesting to see what he has to say.

well, he oughtta fit right in. can't believe that bitch-fest is still on the air.