Bigotheart

Don't drink and drive is only the most obvious message that comes out of the recent arrest and humiliation of Mel Gibson. (With the half-billion he made off the "Passion," he couldn't hire a limo for the night and drink to his heart's content?)

With all that grog in his system the former "Road Warrior" could have killed someone doing 80 mph+ on the Pacific Coast Highway. If you're drunk enough not to be thinking about what's coming out of your mouth while you're ranting against war-hungry Jews, it's hard to imagine you can judge the space between yourself and the semi in the next lane very well, or slow down enough on a sharp turn so as not to jump the divider.

Mel faces community service, license suspension, a 12-step program and (gasp!) a steep fine for the drunk driving rap. But getting out of the bigger predicament will take some doing. With Ken Lay dead, Bush jokes getting tired, Britney Spears now using the proper child-seat in her car and Michael Jackson laying low in that Arab country, the late-night TV writers are looking for a new foil. Before this happened Jay Leno was down to making fun of gas-remedy commercials.

Now, expect a good 4-6 weeks of Mel jokes. More when his next movie comes out.

But as anyone's Jewish uncle might say, couldn't happen to a nicer guy. I honestly wasn't convinced during the whole Passion of the Christ affair that Mel was an anti-Semite, or just someone who used anti-Semitism to make a buck, get popular with people who are anti-Semites, or to please his anti-Semitic dad, any of which are just as bad.

But Mel does indeed appear to have been poisoned by his Holocaust-denying Dad. If so, it's sad to know that the seeds someone plants in the mind of an innocent child so long ago can continue to sprout so many years later (Mel's in his 50s). Having lived his life to the fullest, Mel has surely had enough experiences and met enough people to have overwritten those damaged circuits with better ones that teach you not to judge people collectively or buy into sterotypes. Mel works in Hollywood, and let's face it: Jews have tremendous influence there, although it's individually and not as part of the nefarious cabal imagined by Jew-phobic conspiracy theorists. Mel's career has undoubtedly benefitted from personal and professional relationships with Jews that have contributed to his enormous success as an actor, director and producer. That makes us wonder: What's he so upset about? Is his animus about Jews based on personal experience?

Does he know something the rest of the world doesn't? If he does, instead of an apology, why not offer an explanation, and let the rest of the world judge him not by the late-night jokes but by what's in his heart. Not that there's any excuse for bigotry, but it would be enlightening to know the backstory of how Mel got to this place in his life, lest we assume he's nothing more than a shallow, loudmouthed jerk.