I'm certainly not going to defend Mel Gibson, but it would be nice if Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah was getting as much bad press for doing substantially worse than ranting drunkenly about Jews.

I'm in total agreement with you on that, Charles. Unfortunately, we live in a celebrity obsessed culture where the majority of people unforunately care more about Britney's marital status than Hezbawhatever.

Greg, If he goes through a 12 step program, i.e.. makes a moral inventory (step 4), admits to God and another person the exact nature of his wrongs(5) asks God to remove his shortcomings, (7), becomes willing to make amends (8) and makes amends to those he has harmed, the problem of Jew hating will take care of itself.

If OTOH he defines his shortcomings as "Jews," that won't work so well.

I realize that Hitler is many orders of magnitude beyond Gibson in wickedness, but the idea of Hitler going through 12 Steps to cure his anti-Semitism merits a skit on SNL, or MadTV anyway.

You continue to make the assumption that the opinions Gibson expressed while drunk show his

Why did my post get cut short?? Let's try this again. . . You continue to assume that the opinions Gibson expressed while drunk show his

Third time charm?
You continue to assume that the opinions Gibson expressed while drunk show his real feelings or views. That may be the case.

But there also seem to be clear cases in which an alcoholic when drunk is truly a different person and expresses views that he GENUINELY considers reprehensible when he is his sober self. (I'm referring to one's being appalled not just at the excesses of his behavior or form of expression, but at the views themselves.)

If Gibson is, in fact, an alcoholic, perhaps this possibility ought to be considered.

With respect to the update, it is truer than you know with so many out to cut off Mel's balls.

I do wonder about what many are now saying that Mel is beyond redemption for what he said, no matter what he does from here on out. Folowing that logic, shouldn't we drop all attempts at rehabilitation for those convicted of serious crimes? And while we are at it, shouldn't we eliminate life sentences in favor of the death penalty in all cases? Or aren't rape, murder, kidnapping and child molestation still worse than holding and expressing bigoted opinions?

These PR folks seem to think that "analysis of how Gibson and his PR team have, or have not, taken control of the situation is interesting but likely to miss the fundamental issue," which they assert is, "...a lesson here that has value well beyond the art and science of spin. It is a lesson in longer-term “reputation management,” a genus of actual, not tactical, rehabilitation that could save his soul and make the world in which he (presumably) still lives a somewhat better one as well.

Interesting.