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Whether Gibson or Richards hold racist views or not, quite frankly I could care less. I've been aware for a long, long, long time that quite a few high-profile entertainers who, in addition to having delusions of godhood, belong to a particularly odious, craven variety of bigots while maintaining the façade of ambassadors for universal brotherhood.

What interested me was the difference in the effect of the two incidents on the careers of these men -- and, more importantly, why the difference.

There was a time not too long ago where Gibson's antics might quickly and easily have done him in. When I was a kid, knocking Jews was something one simply did not do. I mean, I knew Holocaust survivors. The prevailing wisdom at the time was that the Jewish people had earned a good, long break from racist oppression, thank you very much.

Although the following statement often raises accusations of racism, the fact is that an inordinate number of power players in the American entertainment industry have always been Jewish. The odd aspect of this is that they've seldom been religious Jews, but secular liberals. As more and more drifted away from their religion and younger ones, wholly unschooled in their traditional faith, came on the scene, they ceased to identify with being Jewish at all.

One has to remember that those at the top of the Hollywood food chain breathe the same rarified, hallucinogen-laced air as do the entertainers themselves. Thus, as international socialist thought insinuated itself into mainstream American liberalism, Hollywood and the media's support for Israel and Jewish causes in general began to erode, to be replaced by animas toward Jews, Israel and Jewish causes in general. At this juncture, the biggest advocates for Israel in America today are Christians -- another group the entertainment industry at large considers profoundly dangerous.

The moviegoing public can forgive a guy who gets blotto and mouths off about Jews (his blotto-ness being no guarantee that he actually dislikes Jews), especially when he apologizes with class -- and makes truly excellent films. Indeed, there are millions of Americans who can identify with having said or done stupid and damaging things while intoxicated.

In much of Hollywood, however, there's nothing to forgive. Many of those in the industry likely agree with that which came out during Gibson's rant -- and it shows in their politics: What are we wasting so much blood and treasure in the Middle East for anyway? Why do we even need a foothold there? Look how many enemies supporting Israel has made us. They're a large part of the reason we are where we are. If we'd just bought the Arabs' oil and let them have their way in the region, we'd all be friends.

Of course, there would be no Israel, and probably several million less Jews on earth; obviously, you and I can readily see the bunker-buster missile-sized holes in this logic.

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