Sorry, Mel...

[MrMacphisto]

I don't know that I agree in the sense that I think any negative remarks or blanket statements about a minority group would stir up a log of outrage. However, if there's truth to what you say, it might be linked to history. - please excuse the grave comments I'm about to make- some people might not want to read further - There's a definite history of Jewish persecution (sometimes in the form of genocide) dating back thousands of years. And just over 60 years ago, the Nazi regime in Germany had made it a priority to eliminate all Jews, doing so in a more systematic way than previous attempts. This resulted in the reduction of the Jewish population by roughly a third, from around 18 million people to around 12 million. So it's my opinion that, sadly, a negative comment pertaining to Jewish people is tied in with a frighteningly dark history of extreme hatred and oppression, whether the person who makes the comment is familiar with that history or not. And it's understandable that those who know this history or have lived it fear that lying underneath the surface of a negative remark is the potential for something much worse.

My remarks are not intended to be caustic. I apologize if they are.

Yes, but such fears are irrational. It's not like Jews were the only minority to suffer tragedy and genocide to the toll of millions. We always focus on the Jews during the holocaust, but they made up only half of the total victims of Nazi Germany. Plus, we seem to entirely forget the Manchurians, Koreans, and Filipinos and what they had to endure from the Japanese. Persecution is surely not exclusive to Jews.

Getting back to my original point, Jews have no reason to fear anyone other than the KKK, the neo-Nazies, and Islamists in America. I think we can safely say that all of these groups are marginal in their influence here. Jews are thankfully very successful and respected in American culture, as are Israelis, so why all the paranoia?

Anyway, yeah, Mel Gibson was a dick for saying what he did, but I don't think it's worth a boycott or some media frenzy....

 

[asutickler]

Let me get this straight: Mel Gibson was caught driving drunk at nearly twice the legal speed limit, and the media focuses on what he said afterward?!? To hell with whatever bigoted crap came out of his mouth... That dumb fucker could have KILLED someone!

 

[kis123]

It would seem that being labeled as an Anti-Semite holds more weight than being called a homophobe. It seems odd to me how much more of an uproar there is when someone says something negative about Jews as opposed to saying similar things about any other minority....

Nevertheless, I'm not defending his actions, and the fact that his father is a holocaust denier doesn't make this event that surprising....

I have been waiting for someone to say this! I've been holding it in for two days and someone finally said it! Thank you Mac-we don't always agree, but occasionally even a blind squirrel finds a nut (me as the nut )

I'm not saying Gibson really didn't screw himself because he did. But I've never heard such an uproar since Jesse Jackson made the "himey" comment in the 80s-just torpedoed any chance he had in politics.

If he made the same statement about blacks (or insert minority here) the apology would have been slow if at all and we would have been told to get over it, right?

I will remember all of the Gibson responses the next time I point out racism and am told it doesn't matter, get over it, and my personal favorite-calling me a racist!

*steps off soapbox*