Neal,

With all respect;

When you presume much, the logic that you build on can be very tenuous and the conclusion dangerous. This is the case in your article. And as a result you have become the straw man that you have created. You are just as responsible of spreading hatred as Mel Gibson is. Do you have any awareness of this? Can you take a breath, settle into a little humility and consider that you may be very similar to Mel? For those of us who stand outside of this hate cycle, it is very difficult to see the difference between you and Mel. You both label a group of people, assume the worst, and then vilify them. To label evangelicals as tolerant of hate then to take Mel's hateful words and then to conclued that Mel will be lauded as a martyr by people of strong Christian faith is as damaging as Mel's words against Jews. I am not sure why I am bothering to write this, it will just be viewed by your supporters as hate deserving hate. Your life is worth so much more than this, so much that Jesus died to give you sight, to give you love, to give you grace. Take Jesus up on his offer, it will get you out of this hate cycle that is consuming so many people of strong intellect in our time.

This era's meanness started with Al Gore's loss - and the Left's reluctance to accept it. Sorry, but I'm a Dem, and an athiest, and, I think, other Lefties can't admit when they're wrong: this pic of GB's America is a cartoon - as corrosive as anything the Right says but even stupider (Oh - "stupid" - was that a mean word?) The writer needs to grow up.

We knew Mel Gibson was an asshole. I think this writer is too. An asshole unfairly baiting people for not agreeing with him. Just like Mel. What's the dif? Blame the Jews, blame the Christians, blame whoever - why not blame yourselves? For not trying to engage. For not knowing that "open-minded" means accepting a mean word, now and again? (The speaker might be trying to help you, you freak. What are we? Yes Men?) Blame yourselves for not challenging your own ideas - or rising above your smallness - or even trying.

Salon did a positive article on (silly) Homeopathy a while back - did you get upset about that? Did you demand a retraction - or some common sense on the subject? No, of course not, because it's belief systems on the Right that offend you. The "magic water" in every health food store is fine. (Just don't call it Holy water, right?) Like I said, grow up:

'Cause, if you ask me, politics was a lot more fun when it was taken seriously.

The Crack Emcee

San Francisco

You make it sound like evangelical Christians are secretly conspiring against Jews. Instead of reading E.L. Doctorow or concentrating on the eccentric beliefs of a few hardcore evangelical leaders why don't you talk to some of the members of Evangelical churches? I guarantee you their support for Jews and for Israel is pure. It almost sounds as if you hate Christians and the President so much that you are spreading conspiracy theories about them. But keep selling it; I'm sure someone somewhere will buy it. And then they will oppose the President! Where that logic comes from I don’t know, but at least you state your agenda. Just so you know Evangelical Christians are not taking over the country regardless of the chatter you hear in New York intellectual circles.

Hong Kong Based writer Yahuda Bangs obtained this copy of a statement written by Mel Gibson during his brief incarceration in an LA County jail following his recent arrest for drunk driving. The document, written in Aramaic on toilet paper, provides a fascinating insight into the mind of the troubled Hollywood star on the night of the incident.

...I was somewhere between my eighteenth and twenty-second vodka tonic when I saw the flashing lights in the rearview mirror. They were blinking from point to point. I didn’t even need to take my travel copy of “protocols” from the glove box to see it was a Star of David. They were after me again.

There were six of them, all hook nosed and greasy pored. They were closing in fast. It reminded me of that scene in Road Warrior, with the motorcycle punks. One of them was a fag, the handsome blonde one. He took a shot at me with a crossbow but missed. God damned homosexuals. I could have taken the shot. I wasn’t scared then or now. I saw the kike cop’s beady eyes staring at me through the window, so I asked the lord for guidance. “Be a man,” the lord said. “Be a man.” So I slugged down my sixteenth shot of Absolute straight out of the bottle and got out of the car. The Jew called me /Mr. Gibson/, real polite like, then asked me to put down my bible. Leave it to a Jew to try to separate a man from the lord. I wasn’t even holding a bible. Damned Christ-killer!

The other cops started to circle around the car, so I let them all have a blast from the old Mel hole. I invited the yids to a little man-to-man action, but they acted like they didn’t understand men. Typical Jews, resorting to egghead tricks when the chips are down. I think one of them might have mentioned liking "Ransom." I baited them a bit more, telling them what my pa says about the “holocaust”. This always sets them off. The Jews have always hated my pa. I wanted to put pa in The Patriot, but the studio wouldn’t let me. God damned Christ Killers and their money. One of the cops said he liked Braveheart, then he asked me if I was speaking Mexican. I took another slug of Jack then took a swing at his greasy beak…

…Toilet paper runs out