It was probably the worst day of Alec Baldwin’s life when he accidentally shot and killed cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of the movie “Rust” on Oct. 21. It’s a time to feel terrible about a 42-year-old woman with a husband and a young son.
Then, CNN’s Jake Tapper used it in one of his commentaries to denounce the entire Republican Party for making this tragedy an occasion for jokes. “There’s something about our politics right now that is driving people away from our shared humanity.”
Tapper was upset that Rep. Lauren Boebert recalled a tweet from Dec. 5, 2014, where Baldwin wrote, “I’m going to make bright, banana yellow t-shirts that read ‘My hands are up. Please don’t shoot me.’ Who wants one?” This was about the false claim that Michael Brown said “Hands up, don’t shoot” in Ferguson, Missouri in August 2014, when, in reality, Brown was reaching for a policeman’s gun.
But Baldwin’s commentary on shootings is much worse than that. In a Feb. 17, 2006, blog post on The Huffington Post about Vice President Dick Cheney accidentally shooting his friend (nonfatally) during a hunting trip, Baldwin had no decency. “Cheney is a terrorist. He terrorizes our enemies abroad and innocent citizens here at home indiscriminately. Who ever thought Harry Whittington would be the answer to America’s prayers. (?) Finally, someone who might get that lying, thieving Cheney into a courtroom to answer some direct questions.”
That wasn’t the only passage that reads extra-terribly now. He had to make a joke about shooting Scooter Libby. “Cheney’s the guy who told Libby to out Valerie Plame. The rumor I heard is that someone yelled, ‘Look out! Shooter!’ and Cheney thought he said Scooter and fired in that general direction.”
A few days later, after hearing complaints, Baldwin insincerely apologized: “How about something more measured, then? How about… a lying, thieving Oil Whore. Or, a murderer of the U.S. Constitution?”
In our decency, we would hope Baldwin doesn’t have to go to court for this shooting. But the subtitle of Baldwin’s 2006 opus was, “Will Cheney and Whittington go to court? I would imagine if a guy with a few beers in him shoots you in the face… ”
This isn’t the only Cheney-and-death “humor” Baldwin composed for Arianna Huffington. On the Fourth of July, 2006, Baldwin cooked up a double-murder fantasy in which he dispatched Osama bin Laden with a box-cutter: “I gather up the body of the world’s most notorious terrorist and hurl it over the balcony. Then, in the final stroke of luck, bin Laden lands on Dick Cheney. God bless America.”
(Weird note: The byline on these articles now is “zak plus 1 from MT,” as is every Alec Baldwin article in today’s HuffPost archive.)
Tapper made almost no attempt to factor in Baldwin’s well-known penchant for hate speech beyond this: “Baldwin is, of course, not only a progressive but very aggressive and outspoken about liberal issues, including gun control.”
He even brought up Liz Cheney as the example of the “decency Republican” in contrast to bomb-throwing Marjorie Taylor Greene. But he couldn’t recall 2006!
Tapper’s thunderous editorial concluded with some anonymous Republican messaging him that “being a horrible person is now actually a job requirement in this party,” and added, “I hope to God that that Republican official was wrong.”
Does Baldwin deserve decency now? In the spirit of Christian charity or “shared humanity,” yes. But armed with the memory of Baldwin’s long record of indecency, that would be extremely kind and merciful.
Tim Graham is director of media analysis at the Media Research Center and executive editor of the blog NewsBusters.org. To find out more about Tim Graham and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.
Does anyone understand how difficult it is to shoot two people with one bullet intentionally or unintentionally without practicing for hours. My retired police uncle saw several occasions of panic gun assaults between police and perp or perp on perp where both unloaded their guns from a distance of 6 feet with nobody getting hit. This suggests the possibility there is more than meets the eye here and Baldwin’s tears are crocodile., and the shooting possibly retributive for some implied insult or female personal rejection.. Baldwin’s history of using and violently abusing women, including his own daughter, and violently attacking people who offend him is legion. This from the guy who berated Dick Cheney, only to become the shoot from the hip loose canon of the Democrat Party himself. Baldwin is culpable for this homicide because it was Baldwin who pulled the trigger. Its just a matter of what degree and how many months or years to be served. Baldwin the actor might have dodged the jail time bullet, but it is Baldwin the Producer and his deep pockets that will not get away Scott free. When handed the gun someone shouted “Baldwin’s a progressive” and everyone ran or all ducked but two, because what they heard and knew was “Baldwin’s Pro Aggressive.” His days as an actor, producer, director or political immitator/comentator are over.
Even as big of a jackass as Baldwin is, and he is a big one, this whole thing smells like a set up. He ticked someone off bad enough for them to pull something like this as payback. Let’s see how this plays out.
Gus,
I have no clue why you don’t have 5 stars on your post. First, the revolver is a single action Colt 45, which means you have to cock the hammer to chamber the next round in the cylinder. Which means, SOMEONE put the live round in the perfect position to fire. The odds are not great hat this was an accident. And, as a very well trained firearms instructor and range officer, there ARE NO ACCIDENTS INVOLVING FIREARMS, THERE is only NEGLIGENCE! This was a terrible tragedy, but, NOT an accident! Baldwin is indeed a total ***-hat however, I think he was setup. IMHO
If Baldwin was the setup target he would have been the one receiving the bullet, placed into a gun scripted to be shot at him. No, Bladwin alone is responsible and should pay the penalty. Never put a loaded gun into a child’s hand, or in this case, a Liberal child inside an adult’s body.
SINCE he’s supposedly shot before on many other film sets, HOW HE DIDN’T know to check the damn gun, is beyond me. SO IN answer to the headline of this article, HELL NO he doesn’t deserve ANYONE’s decency or sympathy…
I’ve heard much (recently) of CHARGES being filed in this shooting…
Now, I think SOMEONE should face consequences for the death and injury of these two people, but I don’t see how U.S. Law was violated.
Correct me (if I’m wrong), but didn’t this shooting happen in MEXICO?
How, exactly, does U.S. Law apply to a crime committed in Mexico?
The were shooting the film in NEW MEXICO which is very much under the jurisdiction of US law seeing that it is one of the 50 states that comprise the USA.
thought it was New Mexico! one of our 50 states. sometimes we jump to conclusions for reasons
This is a tragedy. Sadly Baldwin will not change his view on others even when he has a similar situation happen to him. For him it will be a terrible accident. For others he’ll claim it was their irresponsible and bad behavior.
I sincerely hope that it WAS a terrible accident and not a preconceived desire by someone to scare, injure, or kill anyone. It does sound like there was lax care for guns on set. Apparently no one was following the ‘don’t point a gun at anyone you don’t want to kill’ and ‘make sure you know, personally, what is in the gun’s chamber’ rules of guns. Gun safety is something people who actually know and respect arms understand and practice.
My thoughts were, these people that were shot were not actors, they are behind the cameras people, so how did they get shot? Why would a gun be aimed at them? This whole thing smells!
From what I have read thus far, they were filming him from the perspective of a person getting shot so it was a “full frontal” action scene. Now it might be argued that the scene could have been “shot” without a person directly behind the camera, perhaps remotely but that is something I can only speculate about. What we are hearing is that this gun was loaded on the set with live ammunition by unidentified individuals who used it for some target shooting. Even if an actor needs to know how the gun will feel when firing it with live ammunition the place to do that is on a range and not on a movie set. Live ammunition should never imho be on the set. A number of years ago I ran into Ernie Hudson of Ghostbusters fame on a shooting range in San Bernardino. He was learning how to handle a hand gun for a new television role which if I recall correctly involved him portraying a law enforcement officer. Really nice guy btw but that is the only way an actor should be learning about what it
is like using live ammunition.
My guess is that he was performing his FAST DRAW techniques .
Even if it was an accident, if i accidentally crash my car into you and kill you, I STILL CAN BE CHARGED with negligent homicide.. SO TOO should baldwin.
Part 1—This is an emotionally charged incident that is especially so because it involves a celebrity loudmouth who is noted for his confrontational manner. Let me be clear—I am not a fan of Alec Baldwin at all. Nothing I say here is in his defense, but I am not going to be a part of mob hysteria either.
As noted in the article, he has made his smartass remarks in the past regarding situations of gun mishaps—particularly with people he doesn’t like. It came back to bite him—big time. As the old saying goes—pride comes before a fall.
The movie set incident raises a lot of questions: There were several checkpoints before the gun was handed to Baldwin. Why was the live bullet not discovered—or was it? Was it intentionally or unintentionally left there? Yes, Baldwin could have checked the weapon one more time, but does that excuse the sloppiness of the several people who supposedly checked before he got it?
Part 2—If it was a scene where he was supposed to be firing at a bad guy, why was the gun discharged in the direction of two crew members? Was there bad blood there we don’t know about? Was the gun even a prop gun? There was a lot of mishandling prior to this scene on the set—there is a lot of fault to go around.
So, does Baldwin deserve decency? He deserves fairness. Was he set up or was this an intentional act on his part? On the scale of political justice, he reaped what he sowed. He has to live with the consequences of what happened—that is a helluva weight to carry around. Will he learn from it? That remains to be seen. With the memories of his past remarks coupled with the set mishap, he will be squirming.
Baldwin shot off his mouth about guns in complete ignorance for years while handling them as movie props. Since the props are real guns, safety training should have been obligatory. No. 1 lesson would have been that prop guns can fire and do damage and anyone picking one up must do his OWN due diligence checking that it’s unloaded, not trust someone else. Gun owners whom Baldwin savaged are far more responsible than gun-user-for-entertainment Baldwin. A poor workman blames his tools or the person who handed them to him!
IT seems MANY pervywood idiots, are anti gun, and besmirch them, but LOVE MAKING money OFF OF FILMS glorifying guns..
They love playing the part of an all powerful creature who like a god can just point a finger and puff, your dead. Many battle experienced warriors speak of the feeling when in battle, and get so adicted they continue to return to the situations that pathologically empower them, even at the cost of their lives.
Only a complete moron would not check a gun before firing it at a person under those circumstances. There is no excuse. Baldwin uses the guns to make money but didn’t even know the first rule of gun safety.
The first rule of gun safety: ALWAYS assume every gun within your sight is loaded with live rounds until you have PERSONALLY checked them.
may not agree with most of his rhetoric that being said he should be assured that we are to be treated equaly in every situation. mayb,being on the other side of the fecne he won’t be so quick to criticize others. the far left hollywood elites tend to do that and makes it bad for all
THat is some big wishful thinking, to think he WON”T still be an anti-gun rabid leftist libtard…
No!
I repeat, There are NO ACCIDENTS involving firearms, there is only NEGLIGENCE. There must be charges of homicide, albeit negligent homicide. “Prop” guns (hand guns or rifles) are made t fire blanks, and real ammunition cartridges will not fit in the chamber of a true prop firearm. IE a prop revolver has a shortened chamber and only a small hole through the barrel. A cartridge with a bullet will not fit and a projectile can’t exit the barrel with any momentum. However, the high velocity gas from a blank round that does exit can be very dangerous to anyone or anything very close to the exit of the barrel.
The only thing “decent” about Alec is… he keeps his pants zipped up in public!!!