Chattanooga Times Free Press

STANDING BEHIND BALDWIN (JUST IN CASE)

- Contact Ron Hart, a syndicated op-ed satirist, author and TV/radio commentato­r, at Ron@RonaldHart.com or Twitter @ RonaldHart.

Beware of actors with guns. The first to realize this, too late, was President Abraham Lincoln.

According to the Los Angeles Times, “Hours before actor Alec Baldwin fatally shot a cinematogr­apher on the New Mexico set of ‘Rust’ with a prop gun, a half-dozen camera crew workers walked off the set to protest working conditions. The camera operators and their assistants were frustrated by the conditions surroundin­g the low-budget film, including complaints about long hours, long commutes and waiting for their paychecks.”

So, actor and the producer of this movie, liberal icon Alec Baldwin (who complains about the treatment of workers by Trump or corporate America), does the same or worse to his employees.

The same can be said of Harvey Weinstein, Jeff Epstein and Matt Lauer. Espouse one thing, then do exactly what you accuse others of doing. It is a classic case of deflection, and no one does that better than liberal Hollywood.

The key thing to remember about Alec Baldwin and his ilk is that liberals pretend to protect others from everyone except themselves.

If you believe that these leftist actors, who claim they support workers’ rights, not smoking and gun control, are genuine, then you believe this is really the Rolling Stones’ farewell tour.

In every “gritty” movie that wins awards in Hollywood, there is smoking (it makes their characters gritty and “believable”), guns and violence.

All over the movies and the violent video games the entertainm­ent industry produces are the oily fingerprin­ts of the liberal Hollywood elite.

Somehow these stars, who are protected by well-armed security guards but who want to defund the police who protect us, reason that we should not have our Second Amendment right and that we Southern males are the real root cause of violence in America. Guns in your hands: bad; guns in their hands: good.

Back when entertaine­rs were entertaini­ng, Dean Martin said it best. He was arrested carrying a gun. A reporter asked him if he thought everyone should have a gun, and he said, “No, in a perfect world, just me.”

It might be a sweet irony if Donald Trump played Alec Baldwin on “Saturday Night Live.” In a case of art imitating life, it would be funny if Baldwin refused to concede his “presidenti­al” role to Jim Carrey when Biden was elected. I am surprised that SNL producers chose Carrey to play Biden when Gary Busey was right there under their noses.

When Obama was president, the left was silent; humor accelerate­d its PC death spiral. The rule? You could make fun of a Republican but not a Democrat. Those of us who wrote humor were silenced for eight years. While America was fighting radical Islam, we could only tell anti-Christiani­ty and Jesus jokes. If we told an Obama joke, we’d get beheaded.

I actually think Alec Baldwin is a great comedic actor. His work in “30 Rock” and “Will and Grace” is fantastic.

And in his defense, between postTrump notoriety for his work in bashing the president on SNL and being relegated to the low-budget movie “Rust,” Baldwin’s ego had to be deflated. Then throw in COVID last year, when he had to wear a mask. You know it kills narcissist­ic actors when people can’t recognize them on the streets.

All that said, accidents happen. I stand behind Alec Baldwin on this shooting. There is no way I’d be willing to stand in front of him.

In the wake of the shooting, he might have a hard time in Hollywood now. It won’t be long before California politician­s enact a new law requiring a 10-day waiting period before a producer can hire Alec Baldwin.

 ?? ?? Ron Hart
Ron Hart

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