Since I've been a little bit of comment fairy on this story, I'll go ahead and post on it.
If Mel Gibson's choice of words during an alcoholic tirade is supposed to push my buttons, it doesn't. A schizophrenic off his medication acts crazy; an alcoholic on booze does the same. It doesn't have anything to do with who they are, it's the disease in the driver's seat at that moment.
In some quirk of demographics, a lot of you here seem to have up-close experience with the alcoholic mind. About how many episodes of crazed rantings have you seen? One, five, or too many to count?
Posted by floridacracker at July 31, 2006 11:35 AMToo many to count. That's for sure. And this was exactly what I was going to post on.
When they hit "the wall", and it doesn't matter how much it takes for them to hit that limit (he was 1.12 I think) it's just bad.
But I will also say I am sick to death of the excuse "It was the booze talkin'".....
Posted by: Tammi at July 31, 2006 01:52 PMNot too many to count, but certainly more than I can remember. Throw it all under "diminished capacity."
Posted by: ChrisB. at July 31, 2006 01:52 PMWhen you're dealing with it on a personal level, "the booze talking" gets old pretty quick.
But just like you can tell a Down's Syndrome kid by his facial features, I know an alcoholic rant when I hear one.
My grandma used to say, "What's in you when you're sober comes out when you're drunk." Is Gibson an alcoholic or just an obnoxious drunk? The question to ask is does he do this all the time/frequently/regularly? If so, he needs help of a specific kind. If no, he's just an ordinary sinner like everybody else.
Posted by: JackONeill at July 31, 2006 02:23 PMJack, your granma was a wise woman, I bet you knew that already.
Posted by: eltoroviejo at July 31, 2006 03:21 PMFrom what I've read, he is an alcoholic and is in AA. A drinking alcoholic is quite a bit different than a regular person who's drunk.
Posted by: Donnah at July 31, 2006 06:46 PMGibson's Dad is an unrepentant anti Semite.
It has been said many times, but no less the truth for repetition:
"the acorn does not fall far from the tree"
When I get hammered, I volley obscene rants about your boy, Gregg Allman. But I mean them.
Posted by: Bill from INDC at August 1, 2006 11:59 AMThere's a difference between alchoholic blithering and plain schnockered bithering. But, then again, I never get mad at anyone or ever have anything bad to say.
Whatever his excuse, he could've hired a 24/7 driver and missed this publicity trip completely. Done a Howard Hughes without the fingernails. Not such a genius on that one.
Meanwhile, back at the ranch, poor Mrs. Gibson and the huge brood get to watch Daddy implode while the world watches. That should make for some serious scarring.
Posted by: tree hugging sister at August 1, 2006 03:11 PMCracker -
Apologies. I was drunk when I authored the previous comment. It was the alcohol's fault.
Well that, and the Jews.
Posted by: Bill from INDC at August 1, 2006 06:08 PM