Mad Mel

Mel Gibson's mug shot has been released. It's actually pretty good.

And what about his anti-Semitic comments? I don't know. As the director of the Anti-Defamation League says, alcohol loosens the tongue and reveals what's in a person's heart ("In wine, truth," is the old saying--by Cicero, if I'm not mistaken). But that's simply not always the case. I remember drinking too much at a friend's wedding years ago and air-fiddling The Devil Went Down to Georgia--with no one else on the dance floor. I also remember a story about a friend (and ex-Marine) who got real drunk, got his foot caught in a sled, and started crying, saying that he'd have to wear this "f*****in' sled" around the rest of his life. I remember a college friend getting real plowed and claiming repeatedly and seriously, "You have no upper lip" (a statement as obviously false as the lip on my face).

Bottom line: stupid stuff happens when a person gets drunk. You can't read into it and think you're onto a deeper truth. If that were the case, lamp shades would be everyday wearing apparel by now.