Posted on 07/31/2006 12:29:38 PM PDT by veronica
Edited on 07/31/2006 1:43:28 PM PDT by Admin Moderator. [history]
I was just in the middle of writing a long and tedious essay, about how to tell a real anti-Semite from a person who too-loudly rejects the charge of anti-Semitism, when a near-perfect real-life example came to hand. That bad actor and worse director Mel Gibson, pulled over for the alleged offense of speeding and the further alleged offense of speeding under the influence, decided that he needed to demand of the arresting officer whether he was or was not Jewish and that he furthermore needed to impart the information that all the world's wars are begun by those of Semitic extraction.
Call me thin-skinned if you must, but I think that this qualifies. I also think that the difference between the blood-alcohol levels—and indeed the speed limits—that occasioned the booking are insufficient to explain the expletives (as Gibson has since claimed in a typically self-pitying and verbose statement put out by his publicist). One does not abruptly decide, between the first and second vodka, or the ticks of the indicator of velocity, that the Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion are valid after all.
There's a lot to dislike about Gibson. He is given to furious tirades against homosexuals of the sort that make one wonder if he has some kind of subliminal or "unaddressed" problem. His vulgar and nasty movies, which also feature this prejudice, are additionally replete with the cheapest caricatures of the English.
That is beside the point.
I did not truly believe they were communists, when I was sober.
In other words, I just said a whole bunch of stupid crap that I didn't really believe because I was drunk.
That's just one example of hundreds. It's one of the few I remember. :)
"Are you serious? He attacked Mother Teresa? That would be like.....like.....I can't even think of a worthy comparison."
I had a female Catholic friend who went all the way to India to meet Mother Teresa. She was really disappointed. I think the funniest thing she said when she told her story was that, "Mother Teresa was not a people person."
Another story I read by a volunteer at her hospice was that people with easily treated problems were brought there to die and did die without any effort to treat them. Specifically mentioned was a man with a gangrenous wound in his foot. Some antibiotics and treatment could have saved this guy. Instead he was allowed to die.
Not at all.
I didn't really believe they were communists. I could have accused them of being fairies from the planet Zordan sent by their benevolent King Xdaronth on a mission to fluff all the pillows in America and the result is the same.
Drunks say all kinds of things. To think they mean every word that spews from their piehole when the alcohol takes effect is lunacy.
Wow. I'm speechless.
Mel traveled the world over to promote his movie and most of us cheered him on.
I do think Mel harbors great resentment toward the ADL for the misery they caused him then and now..but "NO" I don't think what Gibson said was called for. It was awful.
When Passion came out, Gibson commented on his movie and said "The wounds of Christ are what heal my wounds."
I hope the public lets him find comfort in those words today..
sw
I've only seen 2 MG flicks: The Passion, and Ransom. Didn't care for them. (He's no Orson Welles. He's no Glenn Ford either.)
Nevertheless, his detractors can't match his accomplishments and so they're delighted by this expose of Gibson's feet of clay.
Not to excuse him, but something must have set him off and he has acknowledged his behavior was despicable. Whereas the ugliness of his enemies...
Good fortune has a way of bringing out the devils---including one's own. Gibson has much to be thankful for, and much to be bitter about.
And there are worse things than disgrace, that could have happened to him that night. By the grace of God, he was stopped before someone in his path died.
You could save your typing fingers and just say "Scientologists."
Oops . . . Braveheart is one of my all-time favorite movies
I'll try for the third and last time. It's not weather or not you "truly believed they were communists". That's totally irrelevant.
The point is that you had a very negative opinion of communists and that's why you chose that term. You didn't accuse them of being Australians. You accused them of being communists.
Mel wouldn't say, drunk or not, "Hungarians are the cause of all the world's problems" because he doesn't have a problem with Hungarians.
There is no evidence of that whatsoever.
But as you state your belief, whether you acknowledge it or not, you agree with my proposition.
There was no reason for him to go off on Jews.
He blamed Jews for wars. That war was on his mind is possible. That Israel was on his mind was possible. And like for all anti Semites, so was the usual scapegoat on his mind.
There was no slur involved. Only a demented bigotry freed of the usual social constrains by the alcohol he had consumed.
Which is why he will now become a large hero to the usual haters. A hero for speaking the "truth".
"and he talks like Stewie."
I never thought about that, but you know...
"now pick it up!"
Did you see the Patriot? It was baaaaaad! Brave Heart is one long big torture scene that proves that "Mel can take it like a man!". He has not made a decent film in years.
I recognized that in post 168. You don’t think your neighbors were communist, but calling them such while drunk illuminated your anger at communists, probably stemmed from it. That’s like what happened with Mel. He doesn’t think that cop he called an F-ing Jew was Jewish, but he did give away his anger at Jews. If you had been denying your suspected issues with communist for whatever reason, it would have been over. Same with Mel now.
There is obviously a hidden agenda with the attacks on Gibson and this is the perfect pretext to carry it out. We have Dem politicians calling Bush the world's biggest terrorist and calling for his impeachment. Kanye West said that, "George Bush doesn't care about black people! and he was lionized for it. Belafonte compares Rice and Powell to house slaves and Uncle Toms and his stature rises among the Dem elites and blacks. Political correctness applies only to certain people and views.
Mel was born in the United States and grew up in Australia and got his film career started there. He became a big movie star some 25 years ago and I suspect he moved to the LA area around then. I am not sure if he has dual citizenship but I would be surprised if doesn't consider himself American.
When we are drunk, we may say what we feel. What we feel may have precious little to do with reality. It is what we do that is important.
The only thing that I would be certain in saying is that Mel has issues with Jews. I have no idea what those issues are, or how they affect his thinking and behaving.
The other thing I can safely say, is that he has a problem with alcohol.
Did syou see "What Women Want"? The worst!
Oh, for crying out loud.
You are seeing something that isn't there and ignoring something that is.
Drunks say stupid crap they don't mean. That's the point.
I presented an example of my drunken days when I drunkenly said drunken stupid crap that I didn't mean.
If you wish to continue under the delusion that alcohol is a truth serum and under its influence no one can say anything unless they believe it to the core of their being, go ahead. But, you err if you think you can use my drunken tirade from 1983 as supporting evidence.
Anybody want to start a pool on the date of Pat Buchanan's Gibson-apologia column?
However, he defends regime change in Iraq and has debated David Galloway, that wacko Brit who was involved in the oil for food scandal. I give Hitchins credit for that. And also for standing up to the Clintons.
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