lethal weapon

Although I haven't read much more than the initial articles that appeared immediately after Mel Gibson's arrest, I have become amused and entertained by the "public outcry" in the wake of Mel Gibson's DWI arrest last weekend. As a person who spends hour upon hour reviewing police reports of people who make stupid, arrogant and vile remarks while they're intoxicated, I've found it incredibly humorous how the media has responded to the comments Gibson made when he was arrested. I certainly don't condone them and I certainly don't agree with the tone of the comments, but for Hollywood and the "drive-by" media to crucify Gibson because of things he said while he was intoxicated is ludicrous.
I, myself, spent time intoxicated in college. I used to go to O'Malley's, a bar a mere 1/4 mile from my apartment at the University of Illinois. Quarter beers was a regular special, and even with that cheap price, I couldn't calculate the hundreds of dollars that I spent there. I have no doubt that I uttered some stupid things in a drunken stupor on an occaision or two.
The difference between my drunken brawl, and the drunken stupor that Mel was in last weekend is not so much the fact that he uttered anti-Semetic comments, but the fact that after he got plowed, he jumped in a loaded missle and drove 90 mph. Somehow, the fact that he put innocent lives at stake has been completely overlooked by the fact that he made a couple of drunken comments that offend a sector of our society. Where is the anguish and dissappointment over the fact that any number of lives were in jeopordy because he drank and drove?
This column from LA Weekly does an excellent job clarifying those two contradictory issues.
the final thing is that above and beyond the comments, above and beyond the crime, there is a person here - a person who is a confessed addict. I don't believe this is the first time that we've seen addiction in Holloywood, and it's not the first time we've seen the addict do the brave thing of confessing a relapse. One only needs look back a little ways to see example of Robert Downey, Jr. to see another high-profile addict. In Downey's case, there certainly seemed to be an outpouring of support and encouragement, but because of the comments made while Gibson was under the influence, people have become vicdictive - vowing never to work with Gibson.
Where is the greater evil here? Are the drunken comments made a greater evil than the actions of Gibson? Or, is the greater evil the fact that we, as a people, are unable to look beyond both, and find another person, struggling with sin, and somehow, in our menial way, support and encourage him so that this all doesn't happen again?