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I think maybe the movie moguls and entertainment media should think twice before isolating and ostracising Mr. Gibson. Would you really want Braveheart going and joining hands with these nutbags?

Am I the only person alive who is sick and tired of hearing about the bad behavior of entertainers and athletes? This Mel Gibson thing has been almost dominating the news when there are direly important things happening not only in the US and the Middle East but worldwide. And yet the Mel Gibson drunken farce is discussed again and again and again. Of course, this is the point you are making here Doug. And I thank you for being one sane human voice in the media mob.

Brenda, I'll have to differ with you.

In light of Israel again under attack by a terrorist organization whose sole purpose is to eradicate a sovereign Jewish nation, and then along comes a prominent US filmmaker/movie star spewing his venom against a people who are fighting for their very existence, I say let Mel sweat a little longer.

His drunkeness wasn't so much the issue as is his anti-semitic rants against a people who for centuries have struggled to survive against, at times, terrible odds.

Mel and his father need a lot of help.

Mel is hardly the first person to try and blame somebody else when he screwed himself. It's only natural to try and blame another group when something untoward happens to one. (witness the recent Willie Best controversy).

One would expect the Jews to be used to it by now since they have been blamed for most of the worlds problems by many different peoples, Christian and Muslim, for the last two thousand years.

Not to defend Mel, but he's hardly the first man to go on a drunken rant about the Jews. You could look at many other media superstars who, unlike Adolph Hitler, were considered sane and as mainstream as you can get, including probably the first and biggest Charlie Lindburgh and probably too numerous to count Popes, Presidents, Masons and Knight's templar etc who went on similar rants but were not caught on tape.

You don't think there's ever been Jews go on drunken rants about how the Rockefellars and the Morgan's and Vanderbilts were keeping them down?

It's just silly drunken blather. I agree with Brenda. It's time to move on.

It is silly drunken blather until someone with a gun walks into the Seattle Jewish Federation building and opens fire.

Hate-speech is evil, regardless whether it is alcohol-induced, and should be met with a harsh, quick response.

Johann, then the world is going to be an endless sucession of quick harsh responses, which is exactly what we have.

I'm not excusing Mel Gibson, as my earlier post makes clear. I don't think he's going to shoot anyone, however. It's also ironic that his rant has generated much more media coverage than did the shootings in Seattle.

Diego,

You are right that the Seattle shootings were much more news-worthy (and disturbing). That said, Mel's comments were nevertheless much more important than the drunken tirades of other celebrities because of the anti-semitic allegations against both he and his dad.

Skeet,

Here's my point: when hate speech isn't met with clear, unequivocal responses, the message sent is that hate speech is acceptable. This has nothing to do with free speech; in this instance, we know where the line is, and Mel clearly crossed it.

I'm not excusing Mel Gibson, as my earlier post makes clear. I don't think he's going to shoot anyone, * Doug

Neither am I, but Barbara Walters has said she would never,never, never watch a Gibson production ever. It was reported that Mel's response was that he wouldn't miss the 3 dollars senior citizen afternoon show discount ticket from Ms Walters.

The only thing Mel might shoot is his lawyers and PR firm to make it go away.

Amen, Doug