# Adam Baldwin is a member of the Tea Party **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 23, 2010, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adam-baldwin-is-a-member-of-the-tea-party/537152 "2010-04-23T20:48:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2010, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adam-baldwin-is-a-member-of-the-tea-party/537152/41 "2010-04-24T18:41:25Z")
For all my cringing in this thread, I do concur. I don’t like hearing that someone I like has beliefs or aligns themselves with a group I’m not fond of, but I really only care about how well entertainers entertain me. The only time beliefs really start to annoy me is if they start creeping into the entertainment. Some of the creators of webcomics I follow regularly are hardcore conservative Christians, and for the most part I don’t care…except when they use the comic as a platform to preach. As long as Adam Baldwin just keeps doing what he’s always done on screen, it’s all good. ---
**Author:** ![Gustav](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/919ad9/32.png) [@Gustav](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gustav)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2010, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adam-baldwin-is-a-member-of-the-tea-party/537152/42 "2010-04-24T18:44:58Z")
If the guy was a painter, or even a musician, I could probably get past it. But for an actor, it’s REALLY hard to see the character he plays without also seeing the actor behind it. It always seeps through, especially for an actor like Baldwin who tend to play pretty similar characters in everything he’s in. ---
**Author:** ![Eonwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eonwe/32/240_2.png) [@Eonwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eonwe)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2010, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adam-baldwin-is-a-member-of-the-tea-party/537152/43 "2010-04-24T20:24:51Z")
> [@Sam\_Stone](#): > > You guys have to lighten up. If those of us on the right refused to like any entertainers who were on the left, we’d have nothing to watch or listen to. > > As amazing as this may seem, Adam Baldwin’s politics do not make him a bad person, or a bad actor, or in any way diminish your reasons for having liked him in the first place. > > If you’re going to shun people you previously liked just because of their politics, you’re simply shallow and close-minded. Quoted for truth. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2010, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adam-baldwin-is-a-member-of-the-tea-party/537152/44 "2010-04-24T20:28:04Z")
> [@Sam\_Stone](#): > > If you’re going to shun people you previously liked just because of their politics, you’re simply shallow and close-minded. I agree with the rest of your post, but only because Baldwin’s beliefs aren’t beyond the pale. Contrast this against Mel Gibson’s, for example, whose are (IMO); or if you like, imagine someone even worse, say someone who actively supports the Real IRA or some other terrorist organization. It’s perfectly possible for someone’s real-world behavior to taint my enjoyment of their art. That can include participation in exceptionally loathsome political movements. The Tea Party movement is loathsome, IMO, but only unexceptionally so. ---
**Author:** ![Archergal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c89c15/32.png) [@Archergal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Archergal)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2010, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adam-baldwin-is-a-member-of-the-tea-party/537152/45 "2010-04-24T20:41:04Z")
Well crap. I always liked Adam Baldwin. Now I’ll have to think “I like him, but…” Same with Robert Duvall. I adore him, but he’s a Republican. ---
**Author:** ![eleanorigby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2010, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adam-baldwin-is-a-member-of-the-tea-party/537152/46 "2010-04-24T20:58:21Z")
> [@alphaboi867](#): > > Is he the blond one that played Barney Rubble? 😕 No worries. I had no idea who he was either. And I’ve never seen Firefly. ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2010, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adam-baldwin-is-a-member-of-the-tea-party/537152/47 "2010-04-24T23:08:22Z")
Wow, he’s even more awesome than I used to think he was. ---
**Author:** ![Ston\_Col](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Ston\_Col](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ston_Col)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2010, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adam-baldwin-is-a-member-of-the-tea-party/537152/48 "2010-04-25T04:28:28Z")
At least this puts the net political viewpoint of acting Baldwins somewhere in the middle. And if an actor being conservative really taints your viewpoint on an actor, I hope you don’t like Robert Downey, Jr. ---
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2010, 7:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adam-baldwin-is-a-member-of-the-tea-party/537152/49 "2010-04-25T07:16:17Z")
We gotta go to the crappy political rally where I’m a hero! ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2010, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adam-baldwin-is-a-member-of-the-tea-party/537152/50 "2010-04-27T01:25:42Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > I agree with the rest of your post, but only because Baldwin’s beliefs aren’t beyond the pale. Contrast this against Mel Gibson’s, for example, whose are (IMO); or if you like, imagine someone even worse, say someone who actively supports the Real IRA or some other terrorist organization. > > It’s perfectly possible for someone’s real-world behavior to taint my enjoyment of their art. That can include participation in exceptionally loathsome political movements. The Tea Party movement is loathsome, IMO, but only unexceptionally so. I still don’t think it should, though. The reason we don’t enjoy it is because that person has done something wrong. But our dislike is not going to do anything to stop that. So all we’re doing is letting someone else’s actions keep us from enjoying something. Our instinct to shun people who have done wrong is not always useful. ---
**Author:** ![RikWriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/49beb7/32.png) [@RikWriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RikWriter)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2010, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adam-baldwin-is-a-member-of-the-tea-party/537152/51 "2010-04-27T02:39:50Z")
> [@Mr.Excellent](#): > > Well, this is profoundly disappointing: Not to me. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2010, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adam-baldwin-is-a-member-of-the-tea-party/537152/52 "2010-04-27T04:37:45Z")
> [@Sam Stone](#): > > You guys have to lighten up. If those of us on the right refused to like any entertainers who were on the left, we’d have nothing to watch or listen to. > > As amazing as this may seem, Adam Baldwin’s politics do not make him a bad person, or a bad actor, or in any way diminish your reasons for having liked him in the first place. > > If you’re going to shun people you previously liked just because of their politics, you’re simply shallow and close-minded. Funny thing, **Sam** , but [you seemed more sympathetic to people shunning artists because of their politics](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=3147595&postcount=37) back when folks were mad at the Dixie Chicks for criticizing President Bush: > [@Sam Stone on 3-17-2003](#): > > Look, people buy the Dixie Chicks’ music to be entertained. If the performers say things that make the fans really angry, then the fans will no longer be entertained by listening to them. Then they will stop buying their music. That’s just life. […] > > And this isn’t a redneck thing, and her fans aren’t ‘retarded’. Let’s face it - you liberals sneering at her fans would probably do the same thing if a musical artist you listened to came out and said, “Liberals are all stupid, bigoted jerks.” And I wouldn’t blame you. Why should you pay money to listen to someone who sneers at your values? > > Some people can separate the art from the politics of the artist. I love lots of downright leftist radical musical artists - Joan Baez, Billy Bragg, Wilco, etc. […] > > Other people can’t make that separation, and when they hear the music their enjoyment is clouded by their constant reminder that the artist sneers at their beliefs. C’est la vie. […] > > I draw the line at art which is offensive to my values, such as Nazi art, or songs that glorify communism, etc. So for consistency’s sake, **Sam** , you might want to back off on your gibes about people on the left being “shallow and close-minded” if this revelation about Baldwin’s politics happens to diminish their appreciation of Baldwin’s art. (Me personally, I never heard of the guy and don’t know and don’t care what _Firefly_ is, so I won’t be making any changes in my life over this.) ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2010, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adam-baldwin-is-a-member-of-the-tea-party/537152/53 "2010-04-27T04:51:48Z")
You’ve got a reasonable point, if you don’t draw a distinction between merely holding a set of beliefs and specific actions you think are wrong. No one had a problem with the Dixie Chicks until they criticized the president overseas. But I recognize that everyone draws the line in a different place, and I’ve got no right to tell them where it is. So consider my comment retracted. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adam-baldwin-is-a-member-of-the-tea-party/537152.md?page=2)