Sure, he's a hot-headed arrogant prick. But today, Alec Baldwin became a messiah of truth when he called out the NYPD for its over-the-top reaction to (wait for it) him riding his bike the wrong way.
The "offense" landed Baldwin in the precinct house, which in turn inspired this glorious quote:
New York City is a mismanaged carnival of stupidity that is desperate for revenue and anxious to criminalize behavior once thought benign.
OK, so according to officers, Baldwin was being an obnoxious toolbag, and the matter would've been settled quietly had he not pulled a, well, Alec Baldwin. Still, his words ring with a certain deafening truth.
Indeed, "mismanaged carnival" applies to a host of controversies that have plagued the NYPD of late.
Just today, we wrote about how the police force only recently stopped accusing women of prostitution when they were found . . . carrying condoms (because safe sex is for hookers?) The department has also come under fire for its controversial "stop and frisk" policy—aka "Oh you're black? I need to frisk you!"
Then there was the force's recent sobering/hilarious Twitter backfire: when it attempted to elicit positive stories of public servitude with an "#MyNYPD" hashtag, the meme was appropriated to share stories of harrowing police abuse.
These sexist, trans-phobic, racist, abusive shenanigans do indeed reek of a mismanaged carnival, with officers desperate for revenue and arrests, principles be damned. We have no doubt Alec was being a rude douchehat during this whole sordid biking affair. But his words do resonate. And it's a sad day indeed when in a battle between the police force and Alec Baldwin, it's not Alec Baldwinn who ends up looking like the biggest asshole.
Image: Wikimedia Commons
