You know, when I see pictures of Cindy Sheehan or any of the Code Pink crowd smiling and laughing while they're being arrested, I'm more disgusted by their demeanor than that of Mel's. I don't believe they really give a hoot about what they claim to care about; it's pure narcissism as I see it.
Gibson, I believe, is basically a good and honorable person. Does anyone seriously think he would gas six million Jews given the chance? Maybe he would, but I certainly don't sense that sort of evil in him. Given his bizarre behaviour upon his arrest, it is obvious he's been wrestling with the demons his father instilled in him, and that night they burst out in all their ugliness.
As has been said, .12 is hardly roaring drunk, and the fact that he was driving twice the speed limit tells me he was dealing with something else that night that had put him in a wreckless state of mind; a fight with his father, maybe...or an exceptionally ugly bit of fan mail. Really, who can say?
Have you ever been repeatedly and unjustly accused of being something you know you're not? Maybe with Mel having the monkey of his father's beliefs on his back, combined with all the anti-semite accusations leveled at him, drove him to believe he really was anti-semite, or drove him to throw it back in everyone's teeth. We all have our breaking point.
Granted, all the above is pure conjecture, but we're all human and wrestle with our own personal demons. Even the most well-adjusted of us have our issues.
Though I come off as a Gibson apologist, I'm not one of the "Passion Crowd". I haven't even seen the movie, to be honest.