Posted on 07/30/2006 7:20:40 PM PDT by Aussie Dasher
It is a maxim: Bigotry is wrong.
It is an evil whether it is expressed by world leaders or inebriated actors.
Unlike some who have made untoward statements without regret, the day after his arrest in Malibu on suspicion of DUI Mel Gibson issued what amounted to a comprehensive and humble apology.
Predictably the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) deemed insufficient Gibson's sorrowful and blanket apology.
With the apparent ability to peer into the human soul, National Director of the (ADL) Abraham Foxman proclaimed the following: "His [Gibson's] tirade finally reveals his true self and shows that his protestations during the debate over his film "The Passion of the Christ," that he is such a tolerant, loving person, were a sham."
The ADL is apparently trying to use the incident to alter the results of its past failed effort to characterize Gibson's film "The Passion of the Christ" as bigoted.
It appears as though some apologies are more equal than others. Demands for another, and another, and another more remorseful apology invariably keep on coming when it comes to those whom the Left disdains.
Remember when on the occasion of the late Sen. Strom Thurmond's 100th birthday Republican Sen. Trent Lott made some regrettable remarks? Lott's words were construed as meaning that the nation would have been better off if a segregationist's presidential campaign had been successful.
Eight days after making the remarks Lott apologized, saying, "A poor choice of words conveyed to some the impression that I embraced the discarded policies of the past. ... Nothing could be further from the truth, and I apologize to anyone who was offended by my statement."
Lott's critics on the Left claimed the apology was inadequate. Lott proceeded to issue apology after apology, each time expressing more and more contrition. But no matter how sorrowful Lott's expressions were, they were never good enough for his critics. Ultimately, he stepped down from his position as Senate majority Leader.
At the time one of Lott's most outspoken critics was Democratic Sen. Christopher Dodd. Dodd said, "If a Democratic leader had made [Lott's] statements, we would have to call for his stepping aside, without any question whatsoever."
Fast forward to April 2004. Dodd took to the senate floor to praise the work of Democratic Sen. Robert Byrd, saying, "I do not think it is an exaggeration at all to say to my friend from West Virginia that he would have been a great senator at any moment. Some were right for the time. Robert C. Byrd, in my view, would have been right at any time.... I cannot think of a single moment in this nation's 220-plus year history where [Robert Byrd] would not have been a valuable asset to this country."
This is the same Byrd who once donned the white sheets and hood of the KKK, voted against the 1964 Civil Rights Act and as recently as March 2001 used the "N" word on national television. Absent were myriad calls for a more contrite version after Dodd issued a generic apology.
When he ran for president as a Democrat in 1984, the Rev. Jesse Jackson referred to Jews as "Hymies" and to New York City as "Hymietown." One apology for the foul verbiage sufficed.
In June 2005 Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin intentionally placed the following into the Congressional Record: "If I read this to you and did not tell you that it was an FBI agent describing what Americans had done to prisoners in their control, you would most certainly believe this must have been done by Nazis, Soviets in their gulags, or some mad regime -- Pol Pot or others -- that had no concern for human beings. Sadly, that is not the case. This was the action of Americans in the treatment of their prisoners."
After initially refusing to do so, Durbin offered an apology of sorts for his Nazi, Soviet and Pol Pot comparisons. However, his office did not classify his expression as an apology but rather referred to it as a "Statement of Regret." The senator was not required to show further regret.
Democratic Sen. Joseph Biden recently said, "You cannot go to a 7-Eleven or Dunkin Donuts unless you have a slight Indian accent. I'm not joking." Biden did not apologize for his remarks but instead claimed that he was misconstrued. Calls for clarification were scant as were cries for an apology. A statement issued by the ADL's Foxman labeled Gibson's recent apology as "unremorseful and insufficient."
What did Gibson say in his public apology that was lacking in contrition or fullness?
Gibson described his actions as "very wrong and for which I am ashamed."
Saying that one is ashamed is a clear expression of remorse but Gibson did not stop there. He stated that when arrested he "acted like a person completely out of control."
Regarding his statements, Gibson acknowledged, "I said things that I do not believe to be true and which are despicable."
Referring to one's statements as despicable is strong, unequivocal language. Still, Gibson went even further.
Adding to his expression of sorrow over his outbursts, he said that he was "deeply ashamed of everything" he had said and categorically apologized to anyone who was offended.
He summed things up by saying, "I disgraced myself and my family with my behavior and for that I am truly sorry."
According to the Left's parameters, Gibson has exceeded that which is expected. According to human standards, he has exceeded that which is sufferable.
No further apologies needed.
From my Internet search, there are suppressed reports, rewritten reports, earwitinesses, and lawyers enough to guarantee that a jury will be required to determine if this is factual.
DUI is also against the law and very dangerous.
As I indicated, this is Gibson's offense.
His virulent anti-semitic remarks are disgusting
And are responsible for hurt feelings.
free speech doesn't allow you to yell FIRE, when there is none
Free speech doesn't give you immunity from the legal consequences.
Yelling fire does not correspond to blaming Jews for all the world's troubles UNLESS there is an exhortation to take violent action against them, only then would it be comparable.
Gibson should be punished for his crime, DUI.
He's an actor, he would have been more likely to yell "Theater!" in a crowded fire.
"He's an actor, he would have been more likely to yell "Theater!" in a crowded fire."
Toooooooooo funny!
I know a couple of the "just add alcohol" types and I think you just about summed it up.
Big money turns heads big time. Little actors in little local theaters don't seem to have notorious troubles.
You mean community theater? No, they don't. But they haven't made the same kind of commitment to the thing.
It isn't the money. I know and have known plenty of broke actors who are just crazy as hell.
Acting is one of those high risk professions. The skill set is extraordinarily difficult to master and the odds against hitting it big outrageously long.
And if you do manage to master the "craft," it changes your perception of such fundamental things as your own body and even personality.
Actors are very, very special people. They should be admired to some degree, but not counted on for anything approaching "normal behavior."
You just don't know about it, is all. LOL
Oh good grief....get someone to help you to understand simple English prose. :-)
Yes, local productions of Our Town have caused tens of thousands of divorces in communities across the country. The play is a menace I tell ya!
From time immemorial actors were looked upon with contempt; as thieves and crooks and mountebanks, and whores. In the late 19th century a few became almost acceptable. By the 1920s, they became somewhat more so, with film stars being less so, but still more admired and "admirable" than once they were. Publicity and the studio system made the public feel much more favorable to them, until, by mid 20th century, the millennia of stigma was more or less removed,
But obviously there are still the stupid and the gullible who imagine that they know and/or understand them, from their parts/movies/publicity....until something like this happens.
Good one! LOL
Too, too funny for words! But it's a DREADFUL play!
However, there are and have been a few exceptions; a very few.
"He's a bigot. He should be shunned. "
Thank you,Mr. God, since you were there to hear what he
said.
"He will also be turned into a running joke."
Don't bet your 700 million on it..hateful jealous, spiteful, dude.
" That's his own stupid fault. "
You never had one too many, and said something stupid.
No? Well, then all others must die!
It's a tough job. It's a credit to their talent that they make it look easy.
I stopped playing "pin the neurosis on the actor" a long time ago. But there are quite a few that came from uh, difficult circumstances.
Yes and yes it is, when they do. But today, there are hardly any that have the talent and expertise to do it even vaguely well.
Well, Thorton Wilder had a few things going for him that ain't present here .......he was more humble, more successful, and more human than 98% of the Gomers posting on this thread : )
Gay agenda ping?
Wilder was gay.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.