Alec Baldwin, famous liberal actor (and public-radio talk show host at WNYC-FM), started a Twitter battle with fellow liberals about traffic-blocking protests in mid-town Manhattan on behalf of the "Fight for $15" minimum-wage demands. Occupy somewhere else, he seemed to proclaim to more than a million followers at his foundation's Twitter account.
Protestors have blocked off a huge quadrant of midtown traffic in support of a higher minimum wage. I support their goal, not their method.
— ABFoundation (@ABFalecbaldwin) April 15, 2015
Life in NY is hard enough as is. The goal is to not make it more so. How does clogging rush hour traffic from 59th St to 42 do any good?
— ABFoundation (@ABFalecbaldwin) April 15, 2015
NY's ethos dissolves every day that individuals or groups put their needs/goals ahead of everyone else's
— ABFoundation (@ABFalecbaldwin) April 15, 2015
There are ways to rally people to your cause without inconveniencing an entire City.
— ABFoundation (@ABFalecbaldwin) April 15, 2015
In a Baldwinesque turn, he called one critic a "class-ist nitwit." He concluded, "I must say that blocking kneejerk liberal ne'er-do-wells is every bit as gratifying as blocking right-wing ones."
The blog Gothamist captured the anti-Baldwin angle for the lefties who dearly love their publicity stunts: "In summation, indigent protesters must stop dissolving this great city's ethos by putting their needs for a living wage ahead of Alec Baldwin, whose life is hard enough. Please disperse to Brooklyn at once before he's forced to start tweeting again."
Perhaps when you live in a city that elected ultraliberal Bill de Blasio, there aren't that many centrists around that you have to worry about annoying with traffic problems.
