...or didn't everyone know that Mel Gibson was an antisemite.

There are only be two types of people here:

People who saw "The Passion of the Christ" and pegged old Mel as the biggest Jew-hater in Hollywood

or...

Those who have taken another look at TPOTC since last weekend's episode and, banging the heel of their right hand into their forehead, exclaimed, "Oh wow! How did I miss that?"

The death of Christ happened long ago in a galaxy far, far away. There's a reason they call it ancient history. There seems no more to be gained by nailing (sorry!) the Jews for the execution of Jesus than blaming the Founding Fathers for slavery. Does the phrase "get over it" sound familar?

Anyway, back to the event of Friday night in Los Angeles County.

When you live in a big city and you are thrown in to subway cars, ball parks, and movie lines with many racial and ethnic groups you learn two things: everyone has a prejudice or two, and, if you want to keep all your teeth you keep your prejudices to yourself. I have been in situations where someone (not me) has said something he wished he hadn't. It changes everything. Having betrayed a dirty little part of yourself, you are marked forever. If you slip in the wrong place that mark could be a rearranged nose.

Long after Jay and Dave get tired of shooting arrows into Mr Gibson, the stigma will remain. No amount of sackcloth and ashes will save poor Mel. Every news story for the next ten years will remind us, "...In Hollywood today, Oscar-winning actor, director (and jew-hater) Mel Gibson announced that he is paying to have Jerusalem's wailing wall spackled and repainted. " Forget it, Mel. You can eat Hebrew National franks and be seen schmoozing with everyone from Speilberg to Jackie Mason and you'll still be marked, 'putz'."

I guess it could have been worse. Had Mr. Gibson expressed similar feelings about black people, he would need to change his name and move to Mars. Al Sharpton would have immediately told the cameras that he knew about Mel along. "I knew that Gibson was a racist as soon as I saw Braveheart. Where were the black actors in that one?"

The undeniable truth of this story is that, when booze is involved, truth will out. Alcohol has the nasty habit of eroding the little filters between your brain and your mouth. The floral industry in America owes its prosperity to the millions of bouquets purchased to atone for beer-induced invictives made by HUI (Hunbands Under the Influence). What sober guy ever told his wife that her mother looked like Mr. Ed or defiantly bragged about boinking her sister? Guys may exaggerate their income and the size of their tool but no one makes-up bigotry.

Mel Gibson is in the sales business: his product is him. It doesn't do to run around alienating large segments of the movie-going public. When it comes to public figures, people can be funny. Tom Cruise has managed to take a wonderful film career and send it swirling toward the drain. Mel is about to learn the real meaning of "Apocalypto."