I’m sorry, but this is a case where we’ve had two different experiences; maybe we come from two different socioeconmic groups, whatever, but several of my friends while growing up had their parents beat the hell of them physically with belts, fists, and with one of my friends, the shaft of a garden hoe. This stuff happens, okay, and I am addressing you as somebody who may find that an alien concept. I, in no way, am trying to belittle your childhood. My own father never got physical with me, for which I am grateful. Words? I’m sorry, but words don’t mean anything compared to getting you ass beat up like a man when you’re only 13, becoming deathly afraid of your own father, or being a girl and having your father fondle and rape you on a regular basis from the time your eleven years old until you get married when you’re sixteen. I personally know of people who have gone through that. “You’re an ungrateful little pig” doesn’t seem to have the impact that “Kiss Daddy right here” does, now does it? Why don’t you forget Baldwin’s politics for a minute and try to imagine this other stuff going on, because I can assure you that it does. Thanks.
You just described my childhood. The verbal abuse was just as damaging and damning as the physical and sexual.
What didn’t damage my body, wrecked my soul, my spirit and my sanity. Guess you would call it a multipronged assault.
Today, everything I have and everything I’ve gained, every shred of sanity, every bit of spirit, every accomplishment, every micron of self worth I’ve struggled to build against the constant litany of words that still repeat in my head like a broken record.
And you know what, I still have moments when I don’t think I have the right to breath air.
Again,
Baldwin is hurting his child.
If Balddwin didn’t have a history of becoming physically violent, this one incident may not be so disturbing to me. But, he does.
Because he has not demonstrated that he is beating or raping the child his outrageous verbal abuse of her is okay?
Sorry but I think your childhood experiences have warped your sense of right and wrong.
NO abuse of a child is okay, and Baldwin’s behavior is way out of line. This wasn’t a recorded conversation, it was a phone message and he demonstrated what a narcissistic jack@$$ he is (as if we didn’t already know) with absolutely no idea of how to raise a child. If I was Kim Basinger that man would NEVER see my daughter again!
Well, I grew up next to dirt poor, we had it real rough. Without a garden we would have gone hungry many days. Dad & Mom hauled out the hardware when we got out of line. Yes I am talking about wooden handles & hairbrushes and the classic switch at times. This was never an every day occurance mind you. What they never did was try to demean us and belittle us like that. There is no excuse for calling your child names like that. It shows what a bitter turd he is. Looking back us kids & especially me, deserved the physical punishment we got. We always got the hugs at the end of the day. THAT is what it is all about.
So you think abuse to a certain extent is okay?
ALL ABUSE IS WRONG.
Please say you have no children.
Verbally abusive hateful people like Alec Baldwin usually also do physical abuse.
He is abusive, I think that’s what we are saying. He’s telling her that she deserves to be treated this way and that no one will love her unconditionally.
And every word he said was all about him.
Poor kid.
The other thought that occurred to me is that he was clear that he was angry with her mother and that he had to hurt his daughter as much as he felt hurt.
Parents make mistakes. A huge range of mistakes are fixable. This one could be, but based on her mother’s decision to air the onslaught, it’s not looking too good.
I think we can stake a middle ground here.
1. Verbally berating a child is probably not the best course of action, even in discipline. I know of a Republican judge in my county, actually, who almost lost his primary because he would “lose his temper” on the bench against his defendants. While the judge probably had good intentions in what he was doing, judges should only use the methods legally given in the penal code and code of criminal procedure in asessing “discipline” against criminals. If that means a criminal gets more jail time in lieu of a berating in court, so be it, but I would contend that such a punishment would be more beneficial for society, the victim, and the defendant in the long run. This same logic can be applied to parenting.
2. However, verbal abuse is not a crime and to equate it at the same level as a rape or as physical abuse feeds into this liberal utopian ideal that we are not responsible for our own lot in life, but rather our upbringing is solely responsible for how we turn out. This is not beneficial for Ireland to buy into, nor is it beneficial for society to buy into. There was this one guy who is homeless that I’ve met through church who was asking me if I’ve ever been beaten, threatened, and/or abused by my father like he was. Needless to say, he was surprised when I answered his questions in the affirmative.