Category: The Dish

Not very. A reader comments:

I just thought I would also observe that according to the Fox New story in your link:

"A breath test indicated Gibson’s blood-alcohol level was 0.12 percent, Whitmore said. The legal limit in California is 0.08 percent."

0.12 is certainly over the line for impaired driving skills, but it is not so very high that Mel would be ‘speaking in tongues,’ with no connection between his statements and his own internal thought process. At that level of intoxication he simply would be a little freer of social inhibitions, and I suspect that his statements would reliably reflect his thought processes, perhaps even especially so.
The only thing with which I disagree with you is that his career will be over.  One highly publicized week in a rehab clinic, a Larry King interview, and he‚Äôll be back, bigger than before, with his Christianist fans more in love with their hero than ever.  There really is no such thing as bad publicity in the 21st Century.

I wonder whether Christianism as a movement can tolerate a drunk, rabid anti-Semite as one of its cultural icons? We’ll see.

Here’s Kathryn Jean Lopez criticizing someone or other:

It must be helpful to have your own t-word that works to dismiss anything folks you sometimes (or often) disagree with say.
Meanwhile, one can deeply deplore the anti-Semitic reflex and still know one of his movies was a worthwhile — even important — contribution.

I think she must be referring to my recent post. I use the word "theocon" to describe a group of Catholic conservative intellectuals who believe that Thomistic natural law should be our guide to public policy, and that there should be as little separation of civil law from religious law as possible. I know Gibson and his movie are not the same thing. But surely this revelation tells us something about the possible motivations behind someone reviving a medieval anti-Semitic art-form. I wonder, in particular, what Michael Medved is feeling right now. Here’s Medved not so long ago, assuring us that anti-Semitism was the last thing motivating Gibson:

Certainly, Gibson’s account of the story ‚Äî in which the Judean priests and the Judean mob force Pilate’s hand in ordering the death of Christ ‚Äî falls well within the Christian mainstream and corresponds to numerous references in the Gospels. Gibson’s critics may resent these elements of the drama, but they must blame Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John rather than Mel.

So the Gospels are anti-Semitic but Gibson is not? He continues:

The film seemed to me so obviously free of anti-Semitic intent that I urged Gibson to show the rough cut to some of his Jewish critics as a means of reassuring them… In more than a half dozen conversations with Gibson, I heard him express his passionate desire to avoid hurting the Jewish community or its members… Concerning the issue of blaming contemporary Jews for the crucifixion of Christ, Gibson has made clear in private conversation and in several on-the-record public statements that his personal thinking is far more closely aligned with contemporary church teaching than with the older doctrine that led to so much persecution of European Jewish communities.

How sadly eager Medved was to believe Gibson’s pledges of non-bigotry.

An Israeli pilot manages to fly and land an F-15 after losing one of its wings. I have a feeling his country is going to need soldiers like him in the coming days and months.

A reader writes:

Shut up Sodomite. Gibson got drunk and said some vile things. Big deal. Marlon Brando called Jews kikes on National TV, Larry King show. and survived, Gibson will too. All the anti-Christian crap that comes out of Hollywood is much worse than anything Gibson said. And yes, Jews do run Hollywood. I’m making no excuses for anything Gibson said. Just pointing out the hypocrisy. Gibson has apologized and needs to get help for his drinking problem. You on the other hand are still the laughing stock of the blogosphere.

… and apologizes. Money quote:

"Gibson also apologized for what he said were "despicable" statements he made to the deputies who arrested him early Friday morning on Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu. "I acted like a person completely out of control when I was arrested,"he said in a statement issued by his publicist. "I disgraced myself and my family with my behavior and for that I am truly sorry. I have battled with the disease of alcoholism for all of my adult life and profoundly regret my horrific relapse."

So the question now is: how many drunks immediately start ranting about Jews when they are arrested for DUI? What conceivable relevance does the statement

"F*****g Jews… The Jews are responsible for all the wars in the world."

have to do with anything? The only rational inference is that Gibson is an extreme anti-Semite, as his porn movie demonstrated, and as his refusal to disown his own father’s deranged anti-Semitism proved.

He enlists in the Marines. The family tradition continues …

According to Nikki Finke, Malibu’s sheriff has confirmed that "the contents seem to be similar" between the posted police reports of Mel Gibson’s DUI incident and the real thing. Anyone who saw "The Passion of the Christ" with open eyes cannot be surprised. The theocons, who touted the anti-Semitic sado-masochistic movie, have been extremely quick to insist no connection. Natch.

Here’s a round-up of responses from around the world to Peter Galbraith’s recent proposal.

The CDC just issued a report on the scare of last year when a New York man was believed to have contracted a new and virulent strain of HIV. He’s doing fine. So are the two men with a similar strain.

Playing the anti-gay card against a promising Democratic candidate in Ohio … because he and his wife have no children. What do you expect from the party of Rove?