[AKidsRight.Org] In defense of Mr. Alec Baldwin and other parents.

jmurtari@akidsright.org

Good People & People of Faith,

I just heard about this one. Mr. Alec Baldwin's voice mail to his
little 11 year old daughter:

    "You are a rude, thoughtless little pig. You don't have the brains
    or the decency as a human being," he says, apparently upset that
    she did not answer her phone for a planned call.

    "I don't give a damn that you're 12 years old, or 11 years old, or
    that you're a child, or that your mother is a thoughtless pain in
    the ass who doesn't care about what you do as far as I'm
    concerned. You have humiliated me for the last time with this
    phone."

    He goes on to say that he plans to fly from New York to Los
    Angeles "for the day just to straighten you out on this issue."

This may sound surprising but my sympathy goes our to Mr. Baldwin for
having a private family moment aired to the world.  My respect goes
out to him for trying to be a parent to his child.  Why?

I don't normally follow the 'fortunes of the stars', but this
monologue of parent to child is appropriate in our discussion of
whether a court should decide the "child's best interest" -- could any
reasonable person stand up in court to defend what this 'boorish
brute' has said to his little daughter?!  Do you expect a court to
just ignore this type of 'explosive' and 'threatening' behavior!?

YES I COULD and YES I DO.  How about you?
-----------------------------------------
I heard this story on a local radio show as I was eating my cereal. It
made my stomach churn for the personal memories it brought back -- not
what Mr. Baldwin said, but the way it was smirked upon by the DJs, a
man and woman. Making remarks like he 'ought to have his head
examined', or what a 'stupid thing to say', or my personal favorite,
'he should learn to keep the interests of his kid ahead of his own'.

Do any of us have private moments with our loved ones we would prefer
not to see on Entertainment Tonight?  As I said from my personal
background, I had a mother who loved me very much and would do
anything for me -- but what if I played a nice HD video in surround
sound of her holding on to a struggling 5 year old (me), who is crying
and trying to get away as she repeatedly hits him with a razor strap?

Family is private and should remain private -- even through divorce or
separation.  Anyone care to share a similar outburst they had like
Mr. Baldwin's -- or perhaps share a time when they came very close to
such an outburst?

Perhaps it would serve us all well to remember the saying,

            "There, but for the Grace of God, go I."

Air Force Pilots can be an arrogant bunch, but I can tell you from my
experience, after someone else crashes a plane -- the wise ones are
circumspect.  Haven't had a no $hit in-flight emergency, a
snap-decision-hit-the-wrong-switch-and-everybody-dies few seconds --
you keep your mouth shut and just be thankful it wasn't you.

BEING MADE a 'lesser' PARENT IS A GROSS INDIGNITY
-------------------------------------------------
My stomach churned as I heard him talk about feeling "humiliated". I
think many of us know that one -- 'supervised visitation', not being
trusted to have an 'overnight', having your child left in daycare with
strangers instead of with you, having a child taken to foster care?

It is hard to deal with that pain.  Some of us 'heal' by rationalizing
and forgetting. Obviously Mr. Baldwin loves his daughter very much,
has not forgotten the pain, and is still living with the indignity of
being a 'lesser' parent.  He is still willing to try and go through
all that pain... I have to admire him for that.  You have to walk a
'tight-rope' when it comes to your child.....it's like crossing a mine
field without a detector.

The 'system' runs the TRAINS TOGETHER
-------------------------------------
For all the hunter-gatherers out there, what about 'her'?  Here is
a little more from the CNN story.

      "The mother and her lawyer leaked this sealed material in
      violation of a court order," [said Baldwin's lawyer]. "Although
      Alec acknowledges that he should have used different language in
      parenting his child, everyone who knows him privately knows what
      he has been put through for the past six years."

      "The voice mail speaks for itself," Basinger's spokeswoman said.

Leaked the material -- we are talking about our kids here.  Don't the
ends justify the means?  Be honest, many of us have been through the
battle -- if you had your former spouse on tape like that, wouldn't
you use it?  Don't we want what's best?

What an awful family law system we have.  Mr. Baldwin and Ms. Basinger
should be FIT & EQUAL parents with their child according to our
standards (http://www.AKidsRight.Org/approach.htm).  In front of a jury
neither would be a proven demonstrated serious threat to the safety
of their daughter -- but that's not what this is about, is it?

As long as it's about "what's best" -- this is what we get, trying to
prove what's best.  It plays out on a grand scale in Hollywood, but we
have all been through it.  It is just unfortunate for the whole
family.

   Original story can be found at CNN.  Notice the weblink is under
   SHOWBIZ -- just a little more entertainment for all of us!

   http://www.cnn.com/2007/SHOWBIZ/Movies/04/19/baldwin.bassinger.ap/index.html

As always, your thoughts and FEEDBACK are welcome.
Best regards!
-- 
                                       John Murtari
____________________________________________________________________
Coordinator                            AKidsRight.Org
jmurtari@AKidsRight.Org                "A Kid's Right to BOTH parents"
Toll Free (877) 635-1968(x-211)        http://www.AKidsRight.Org/

=======================================
Newsletter mailing list
Newsletter@kids-right.org  subscribe/unsubscribe info below:
http://kids-right.org/mailman/listinfo/newsletter