Letters to the Editor
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Having your child ripped away from you is devastating to fathers
Contrary to Broadsheet, and to Salon guest columnists like Amanda Marcotte, having your children torn away from you is devastating to fathers.
The vast majority of fathers were and are good fathers and divorce should have a rebuttable presumption of joint shared custody. Doing so would provide children the fathers they grew up with, provide children the fathers that research show is needed to reduce crime and drug use, and permit fathers to be the parent they were and want to be.
For a Feminism that claims that no one recognizes their sacrifices and that husbands don't do their share, it is completely illogical to strive to take away the father's access to their children. And yet, feminists are never in favor of joint custody, which is why there are ex-feminists like Karen DeCrow, former President of NOW who allies herself with fathers.
How come Salon is not talking to Karen DeCrow?
Making a rebuttable presumption of joint custody the norm would eliminate a lot of strife over divorce, and a lot of strife in the child's life, and make it much easier for former spouses to get along.
For more information, you must visit Glenn Sacks, a proponent of fathers. Glenn knows the facts, cites studies, and discusses the arguments pro and con fairly, something that Broadsheet, Pandagon, Feministing, and Feministe just don't think is a requirement.
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Oh Hell YES!
Baldwin's been my imaginary boyfriend for years. I have loved him for decades, and weight gain or no, he is one of the handsomest beings I have ever beheld.
Still...What I love him FOR is his acting, and the fact that he is smart and funny and articulate and makes a great guest on "Real Time". I don't give two shits about his personal life
Methinks he wont quit....he's just pissed...and who wouldn't be?
Man, is this little episode with his daughter none of my fucking business or what...?
Stephanie....I agree with you, girl.
Good on ya.
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URL to Glenn Sacks
http://glensacks.com/blog
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Well said, Stephanie
Thank you for summing up so beautifully what I would dare to say is the majority opinion. Yeah, so what Baldwin did was not very wise or thoughtful. In fact, it was downright mean. And what Bassinger did was worse--made public their dispute and put their daughter in the middle. I hope Ireland will rebound from her two crazy parents. I am sure she will, as many of us grew up with very similiar drama.
But aren't we paying money to see actors (and directors, writers, set designers, etc.) do their job? Maybe none of us are going to befriend someone like Baldwin due to his outburst but does this mean we boycott him? If we applied that same rule to all of Hollywood, there would be no industry because there would be no audience. We would all be in silent protest, expecting our celebrities to be well-behaved and perfect at all times.
I, too, like Baldwin as an actor. I will mourn his loss from the business and I will continue to see what little movies he will remain to be in. I will just make sure I don't have a kid by him.
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Give me a break!
I know human beings doing stupid things, including Alec Baldwin. What he did (it must be so horrible as so many hypocrite have claimed) is so human and so ordinary that I don't give a dime. As a grownup, I know my parents are not perfect just like I am. They could say something stupid too in my formative years. That doesn't mean they are bad people or they don't love me. Since this insignificant incident happened, every report, including this one, I read, all tried to give Baldwin a spank. It seems like that's the way to demonstrate how decent the writers/reporters themselves are. Give me a break. They all are hypocrites. We should all agree that nobody is perfect, especially in our private moment when camera is not ready. We all can act stupidly and we all are emotional animals. For Baldwin's case, I think he may be a little bit spoiled. This almost comes with the territory--in our celebrity culture, shouldn't we know that celebrities are supposed to be spoiled?
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She IS a rude thoughtless little pig
Clearly from the message it sounds like she blows her dad off all the time and mom encourages that behavior. That her father is pissed as hell because his daughter isn't available for planned conversations is his right as a parent. And that she would post her dad's message online is beyond the pale -- the ultimate f-you to a parent that says "you will get no respect."
If I were Alec I wouldn't apologize and I'd never talk to her again, unless she comes back to apologize. If she doesn't want a father, then she can live without one until her mom's permissiveness leaves her in deep shit.
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Don't go, Alec!
The amount of coverage given to this phone call nonsense is absolutely ridiculous; I certainly wouldn't blame Mr. Baldwin if he decides to say "the hell with it" and retire from acting. But, as Stephanie says, movie fans sure would be the lesser for it. I don't care how bad the movie is, when he shows up, it's like an oasis in the desert. Though he's done his share of leading man roles, he's really come into his own as one of the top-notch character actors in modern movies; he brings excitement to even the smallest roles (look at Glengarry Glen Ross). Personally I don't care if he's an asshole to his kid; that's none of our business anyway, and reading that he appeared with those washed-up harridans on "The View" to try to explain it to Middle America was awful. In the end, though, it's his choice, and if he wants to retire, more power to him.
But there's a lot of yet-to-be-made movies that are going to be a hell of a lot duller when he's gone.
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Take a break
Oh come on, he's not going to quit for good. He's only 49 years old. He may take a break, but he'll be back. How many celeb types have "retired" from whatever they're famous for only to come back? Retirement can be pretty boring for people accustomed to a lot of attention.
And whoever released that tape should be held accountable...possibly in jail for a few days. That was a nasty evil thing to do to those involved. Not to mention that I didn't want or need to know about it.