Andrew Sullivan (rightly) calls out Alec Baldwin AND Maddow, et al at BSDNC

[Adam]

Alec Baldwin Is A Homophobic Bigot

Look: Baldwin’s anger in both cases was thoroughly merited. But he continually resorts to this kind of homophobic poison when he’s angry. Just as Mel Gibson revealed his true feelings about Jews in his drunken rant, so Baldwin keeps revealing his own anti-gay bigotry. These outbursts reveal who he actually is.

I should add that this is a free country and he has an inviolable right to use these words. But he has no right to pretend in any way to be a tolerant liberal when he is anything but, when it comes to gay people.

So many liberals, of course, give him a pass when they would never dream of doing so with anyone who was conservative or Republican. Even after his bigotry was on full display, MSNBC hired him for a new show as a liberal pundit. For too many of them – especially gay establishment liberals, like the tools at GLAAD or the terminally naive like Hilary Rosen – there is a glaring double standard here. It seems to me that this double standard cannot stand any more. And this raging, violent bigot cannot be defended any longer.

Rare is the day that I'm going to agree with Andrew Sullivan, and I think that the pendulum has swung a bit too far into hypersensitivity toward all things gay, but he's dead-on right in the last paragraph. Alec Baldwin gets a complete pass for his repeated childish outbursts because he's "in the club:" he parrots the Leftist talking points, so that buys him a pass for saying things for which the usual suspects would absolutely eviscerate anyone to the right of Mao. If James Woods had said something like "Rachel Maddow is a confused lesbian," the Left would have pitchforks and torches at the ready in a millisecond. But Alec Baldwin, in just one of many circumstances, calls someone a "cocksucking fag" and Maddow just smiles and looks, doe-eyed, into the camera. It's a double-standard about as subtle as a hand-grenade.

I think that Baldwin probably does have a problem with gay people; he probably actually is homophobic, indeed one of the relatively rare cases of this, despite the accusation being thrown out about as often as "racism." His bigger problem, though, is that he's a spoiled brat. He's a drama queen who really needs to be taken down about seven notches to get a dose of reality.

[Adam]

Alec Baldwin is apparently really coming off the rails.

[daveman]

One thing I've noticed on political message boards is progressives are fast and loose with homophobic terms...but other progressives never call them out for it.

[Adam]

Well, they shitcanned him. I guess he'll have to make it on Capital One endorsements now.

[Lanie]

Alec Baldwin has been off the rails for years. I've always considered him
to be an embarrassment to the left.

[Lanie]

One thing I've noticed on political message boards is progressives are fast and loose with homophobic terms...but other progressives never call them out for it.

See how far you get when you say it in a gay bar. They probably won't ask your
poltics first.

[Adam]

Rare is the day that I'm going to agree with Andrew Sullivan....

It's another rare day:

The guy who had the gall to express his First Amendment rights and favor Prop 8 in California by donating $1,000 has just been scalped by some gay activists.

[....]

If this is the gay rights movement today – hounding our opponents with a fanaticism more like the religious right than anyone else – then count me out. If we are about intimidating the free speech of others, we are no better than the anti-gay bullies who came before us.

[Lanie]

Rare is the day that I'm going to agree with Andrew Sullivan, and I think that the pendulum has swung a bit too far into hypersensitivity toward all things gay, but he's dead-on right in the last paragraph. Alec Baldwin gets a complete pass for his repeated childish outbursts because he's "in the club:" he parrots the Leftist talking points, so that buys him a pass for saying things for which the usual suspects would absolutely eviscerate anyone to the right of Mao. If James Woods had said something like "Rachel Maddow is a confused lesbian," the Left would have pitchforks and torches at the ready in a millisecond. But Alec Baldwin, in just one of many circumstances, calls someone a "cocksucking fag" and Maddow just smiles and looks, doe-eyed, into the camera. It's a double-standard about as subtle as a hand-grenade.

I think that Baldwin probably does have a problem with gay people; he probably actually is homophobic, indeed one of the relatively rare cases of this, despite the accusation being thrown out about as often as "racism." His bigger problem, though, is that he's a spoiled brat. He's a drama queen who really needs to be taken down about seven notches to get a dose of reality.

Thank you. Brat doesn't even begin to describe that guy. Everytime I hear about him, he's a total jerk.

Two problems. People confused not agreeing with one's politics as hatred. The second problem is that people will sometimes take whoever they can get in their movement, including those who can't smell their own crap.

[Celeste Chalfonte]

Alec Baldwin is apparently really coming off the rails.

COMING off the rails? Isn't he the raging drunk who left a vicious message for his own daughter a while ago?

Being a talented actor 1) never equaled being a decent human and 2) is no guarantee of any sort of genuine political awareness.

Is it just possible nobody argues with him because arguing with out-of-control jerks is a fool's game?

[Celeste Chalfonte]

OTOH, I call BS on the Eich piece. The First Amendment protects people from government action. If people want to boycott Disney for having gay days or Mozilla for hiring an anti-equality putz, that's a legitimate way of expressing their beliefs. It's putting your money where your mouth is. Then Disney gets to decide if the Holy Roller dollar or the gay dollar is a bigger market share, and Mozilla gets to decide what faction is better for their market position. Marketplace of ideas.

I don't have to patronize Chick-fil-A and you don't have to buy Ben'n'Jerry's. That's voting with your wallet.

[phillygirl]

Remember when people used to scoff at the idea of a gay mafia?

[scott]

Remember when people used to scoff at the idea of a gay mafia?

Funny.

People protest the idea that someone can be fired for being gay but then want people to be fired for not supporting gay marriage. The equality movement has become a racket.

[Adam]

Remember when people used to scoff at the idea of a gay mafia?

Yeah. Last week is so ... well, last week.

[Billy Jingo]

"Just so you know, we're on the good side with y'all. We do not want this war, this violence, and we're ashamed that the President of the United States is from Texas."

[Lanie]

It's another rare day:

I know. I read that. Eich had sent out a letter encouraging the idea that he welcomed everybody in his company. That was return with discrimination against him in the work place.