In the midst about all the debate over whether Mel Gibson is anti-Semitic — or whether he just becomes that way when drunk — everyone seems to be forgetting one very important fact: The man was arrested for and has admitted to drunk-driving.
Being a racist swine is bad. Getting behind the wheel of a car when you're intoxicated isn't all that much better.
This is one of my admitted areas of prejudice. I've had several close friends killed by drunk drivers and I have very little sympathy for anyone who does drive while under the influence. If I were making the laws, a first offense would carry a mandatory prison sentence of a year and permanent loss of license, a second offense would be five years…and then three strikes and you're out. This was at least Mr. Gibson's second offense and some reports suggest he'd been stopped several other times.
I doubt he will ever convince much of the population that he isn't a Jew-hater but everyone can make up their own mind about that. What I'd like is for a judge to toss his Lethal Weapon ass behind bars in spite of the army of high-priced lawyers Gibson is able to hire and in spite of the fact that he will doubtlessly emerge from Rehab "totally cured" of his drinking problems and very contrite. He may even come up with some important film project that will celebrate Zionism, qualify as Community Service and give those already inclined to overlook his bigotry an excuse to say, "He's suffered enough." None of that will change the fact that doing 80 on Pacific Coast Highway while full of tequila, he could easily have killed somebody.
We probably won't see him do hard time. This is California and he is, after all, a celebrity. But I hope people remember: Thinking that Jews are the cause of all wars is not against the law. Driving with a blood alcohol content of 0.12 is. There's no excuse for either.