Kitty Litter

I was never a Mel Gibson fan, although I didn't dislike him. Most of his movies were guy things, larded with violence, which didn't appeal to me, although I did like Conspiracy Theory (1997). However, he was great in (2003) The Singing Detective (check out the trailer):

"The Singing Detective" tells the story of crime novelist Dan Dark (Robert Downey Jr.) who, languishing in his hospital bed, occupies his time by mapping out a screenplay in his head about a cynical private investigator who doubles as a singer in a dance band. His lead character is slowly drawn into a web of intrigue during the murder investigation of a prostitute in 1950's Los Angeles.

Heavily medicated, the border between reality and fiction starts to blur in Dark's mind. The plot is woven together with his own painful childhood memories, and soon he is living in a fevered film-noir hell constructed by his own twisted psyche, where everyone is his enemy and no one can be trusted. Mel Gibson co-stars as the enigmatic Dr. Gibbon, the hospital psychiatrist who dares to take on Dark's tortured mind.

The movie was recommended by Rodger, who is afflicted with the same severe psoriasis (plus severe arthritis) which Robert Downey Jr's character suffers in the movie. The movie is both funny and gut-wrenching as Downey's character slowly begins the healing process, both physically and emotionally: “In order to put the pieces together, he’ll have to revisit the mysteries of his past.” At one point, Dr. Gibbon (Gibson) tells Dan Dark (Downey), "It's tempting to believe that the poisons of the mind erupted onto the surface of the skin."

I'm hoping that Mel Gibson has reached his rock bottom and can find help. I wish him well. It's reassuring, not to mention about time, that some of his friends are coming forth with their support.

They Didn't See This in Gibson's Script: "I have been with Mel when he has fallen off," says producer Dean Devlin, who had spent the afternoon before the arrest with Gibson, "and he becomes a completely different person. It is pretty horrifying." … The day this happened, my wife had gotten this long letter from Mel full of congratulations [for the birth of the Devlins' first child] and talking about the joys of being a parent," Devlin said. "She's Jewish. I'm Jewish. If Mel is an anti-Semite, then he spends a lot of time with us, which makes no sense. But he is an alcoholic, and while that makes no excuse for what he said, because there is no excuse, I believe it was the disease speaking, not the man."
…
Though not known for having a wide circle of friends, Gibson is fiercely loyal to those close to him. He produced "Paparazzi," the big-screen directorial debut of Paul Abascal, Gibson's former hairstylist. Gibson jump-started Downey's career. After a jail sentence had left Downey uninsurable, Gibson cast him in "The Singing Detective" and later persuaded producer Joel Silver to give him a shot in "Gothika."
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"I just hope some good comes out this," Sherak said. "I mean, besides the fact that he didn't kill anyone, driving 85 miles per hour on PCH, which he could have. He's a smart man. I think he knows his life needs a change. I hate what he said, everyone should hate what he said, but maybe this will get him to think through whatever's in his head and work it out."

Robert Downey Jr said that he tapped into his own past troubles to portray Dan Dark, whose illness brought out a vile personality, not unlike Mel Gibson and his alcoholism.

What has always bothered me about the faux outrage over Mel Gibson's drunken tirade is the hypocrisy. He has lived 50 years without developing a rep for such language. Nor has he been known as someone who treats Jews unkindly. As I've said before, Gibson's greater sin to some people is his sobering movie "The Passion of the Christ." As Brent Bozell points out, Hollywood has been denigrating the Catholic Church for decades.

I hope Mel is able to overcome the mysteries in his own past. What he said was bad, but we all harbor vile thoughts, things we don't necessarily believe, and we even verbalize them occasionally, too.

In the meantime, watch "The Singing Detective." It's a great movie.
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God, how I would love to be on that boat!
What cooling? All of us here in this swelter pit were waiting for that cooling we were supposed to get by today. The Weather Channel's "excessive heat advisory" was lifted yesterday, and today was supposed to feel better. Yeah. Right. Last night was one of the worst ever for sleeping. Even with FOUR fans going 24/7, who could sleep? I've reached my saturation point, pun intended, of this wretched humidity, which is worse than the heat.

However, It could be worse: You could be in Baghdad, where it'll hit 116 degrees today - and where the heat wave lasts all summer.
Work clothes for a soldier or Marine in Iraq comprise: a Kevlar helmet; a thick camouflage uniform; an IBA (heavy flak vest); "sappy" plates on the back and chest (to protect against AK-47 fire), Kevlar crotch protector, kneepads, elbow pads and neck guards - plus a personal weapon and a full load-out of ammo and assorted utilities like water, rations, a medical kit and a radio or other electronic gear.
That adds up to in excess of 75 pounds of dead weight - and it doesn't stop there.
Some, like Marines, carry even more. Operating on the move with no hum- vees in which to stash equipment, Marines carry extra water, ammo and other essentials, reports Sgt. Jeremy Pitcher, a press officer at the Multi- National Force base in Baghdad.

8 Don’t forget Operation AC: It’s not just about air conditioners anymore!

In no particular order, Thursday's Interblogatory Roundup ...

8 DogMan was in the Big Red One in Vietnam (’65 – ’67) – I didn’t meet him until ’68 -- so this story holds a special interest for me. Big Red One back at Fort Riley 1st Infantry honors frontier roots: Officially, Tuesday was the homecoming for the 1st Infantry Division, as its soldiers and leaders returned to their traditional Kansas quarters.
But for dozens of veterans of the Big Red One, it was also a bittersweet family reunion.
They marveled at the sight of hundreds of young soldiers and the appearance of the post, founded in 1853 on the Western frontier. They reunited with fellow alumni of the nation's oldest Army division and remembered those no longer living.
…
"The joke was, the Army was the Big Red One and 500,000 replacements."
h/t Lucianne

8 This could be good news, if … Just one more reason for the GOP to keep the House, but will Rangel keep his word?

8 Yet another Colbert piece. Stephen Colbert Causes Chaos on Wikipedia, Gets Blocked from Site

8 “Unelected interlopers,” hoi polloi – same diff. Senators-Only Elevator: Mr. Lautenberg, a Democrat who has served more than two decades in the Senate, said he had never seen the Capitol so packed with unelected interlopers.
h/t Spook 86

8 First CBS uses eggs to advertise and now this (hilariously written) news. Idiot-proof eggs: Centuries of inbreeding and binge drinking have left the British too slow-witted to tell time. Unable to use a simple stopwatch, most folks in the U.K. are unable to boil an egg.

8 For those who are too cheap to rent movies, How'd they know I downloaded Meet the Fockers?

8 I hope he got it on video! Boatjacked by a bear: When Descoteaux reached rocks he looked back and was shocked to see his 5-metre aluminum boat speed past. While the bear was exploring the boat, it had hit the throttle. "The bear was fishing with my boat," with the baited line dragging behind it, Descoteaux said.

8 Just because it really bugs the S outta B that these pictures were even taken at all, I give you (ta-da!) Malibu Babs' Estate !!
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Rush talked about how stunned Anderson Cooper was to realize that Hezbollah are very open and frank about their hatred of Jews. Rush said that people like Cooper seem "fascinated" by their anti-Semitism, that Nasrallah, who has made his life’s work to kill Jews, is "studied intellectually" by these people. And then, bless his ample heart, Rush compared this tolerant approach to the intolerant hyperventilating being heaped upon Mel Gibson. Thank you, Rush!, as that has been one of my points all along. Nobody is defending Mel here, but I loathe the hypocrisy of all these politically motivated blowhards. Plus, I'm not certain just how Mel Gibson feels about Jews. Hassan Nasrallah openly call for the annihilation of Jews. As far as I know, Mel has not.

Anderson Cooper transcript:
COOPER: I think what's been lost in a lot of this coverage is just how anti-Semitic Hezbollah is in the rhetoric.

JEFFREY GOLDBERG, "THE NEW YORKER": Yes, it's absolutely fascinating, Anderson. The anti-Semitism -- there's two things that are fascinating, rather. One is how embedded in the core of Hezbollah ideology, anti-Semitism is. And I don't mean anti-Israel thinking or anti-Zionism. I mean frank anti-Semitism.
The other thing that's so interesting about it is how blunt they are and how frank they are about their anti-Semitism. They don't hide it. They don't try to mask it in any way. They state very openly to you when you ask their exact feelings about Jews, which are quite extreme.

COOPER: It's interesting because I talked to a representative news editor from al-Manar TV, and I asked him, you know, does Hezbollah still want to destroy the state of Israel? And I know Larry King has asked him that same question, and he rarely -- he basically doesn't answer that question. He sort of seems to avoid it. Which is so at odds because I mean Nasrallah himself is very point blank and matter of fact and open about his hatred of Jews.

GOLDBERG: Well, you know, al-Manar is an interesting place. They are slightly more schooled in let's say obfuscation or public relations. The leadership -- I mean, one of the things about Nasrallah that's so interesting is how straightforward he is. And you see that in all of his statements on Israel. And even his statements on America. There's no attempt to soften the language.
And the other thing about it that's so shocking, I think, when you first hear it -- is I always notice this -- and one of the first things I noticed, was the use of epidemiological metaphors to describe the role of Jews in the world. Not just Israel, but Jews. Talking about Jews as a cancer, talking about Jews as a parasite on society. And they generally are very forward about this.

8 UPDATE: Linked to Rush's site ...
Anderson Cooper Discovers Hezbollah's Anti-Semitism: They are a little perplexed at [Hassan Nasrallah’s] anti-Semitism and even more stunned how open he is about it. How more open can you be when you have been kidnapping and killing and attempting to kill Israelis and Jews for how many years now? How much more open can you be? Where is the shock? Where is the surprise? Mel Gibson, an actor, happening to be partying a little too hearty. Speeding. Pulled over. Spewed some epitaphs. Why, you'd think the world was coming to an end. Not defending Gibson, I'm just saying the lack of proportion, not only the proportion of the response and so forth, but a guy that has made his life's work killing Jews is studied intellectually, academically and interestingly. Why is he this way? Why is he so open about it? In one sense, folks, this is just absurd and it is outrageous. But that is just who the Drive-By Media is.

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Most of us have read The Diary of Ann Frank, and here's a similar book (fiction). When Nurse G was in grade school, I bought her a book called When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit, about a 9-tear-old girl who was Jewish living in 1933 Germany. Before I gave it to her, I read the first page and didn't give it to her until I had finished. Even though it was written for a young girl, the story will hold an adult's attention.
When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit: Anna looked at the staring eyes, the grim expression. She said, “It’s not a bit like Charlie Chaplin except for the mustache.”
They spelled out the name under the photograph.
Adolf Hitler.
“He wants everybody to vote for him in the elections and then he’s going to stop the Jews,” said Elsbeth. “Do you think he’s going to stop Rachel Lowenstein?”
“Nobody can stop Rachel Lowenstein,” said Anna. “She’s form captain. Perhaps he’ll stop me. I’m Jewish.”

I consider myself the world's slowest reader, so when I can slog through a 616-page book, not once but TWICE, it must be a good read. Anya, by Susan Fromberg Schaeffer is the story of a young Jewish woman, who trained to be a doctor, who lived through Hitler's wrath. I was, and still am, fascinated by how people survive perilous times, especially people with children. That picture is my paperback copy, which I bought and read in 1976 or 1977. The story was so compelling, so vividly written, that I was certain it was true. I did learn that it's not the author's bio. Then I found this info, which has been eliminated from the sites but can be found in the cached pages: This is an autobiography not a novel. I'm still not certain if it's true or not, but it is worth reading.
Anya: "They are two lights, my mother and father. Very often I dream about them."
They were well-to-do Russian Jews living in Poland, a world more like Tolstoy's than our own, a world of piano lessons, elaborate meals, and story-teling, a world swept away in the fire storm of the Holocaust.”
…
From the sudden shock of the first bombing of Warsaw, the violence unleashed by the Nazis swelled to a flood of destruction and despair. Bewildered and numbed, the Jewish community struggled with the growing nightmare--invasion, occupation, and chaos; ghettos, cattle cars, and finally Kaiserwald, where "the living come to envy the dead." With cold, raw audacity, Anya runs, hides and fights to save herself and her child. "Lucky in everything but her mind," Anya survives, only to find that, as time passes, the wounds grow deeper. And now it takes an act of courage to remember just how it was.

I found the book Haven in a drug store -- back when pharmacies were known as that -- while I was stuck in a hotel room in Buffalo, in January, while DogMan was attending business meetings. The picture is of my paperback. The story is true. You might have seen the 2001 TV adaptation -- I did not -- but don't overlook this excellent firsthand account of Ruth Gruber's fight to help save 1,000 refugees in 1944.
Haven: The Dramatic Story of 1,000 World War II Refugees and How They Came to America: The words leaped at me from The Washington Post.
“I have decided,” President Franklin Delano Roosevelt announced, “that approximately 1,000 refugees should be immediately brought from Italy to this country.”
One thousand refugees.
Europe was burning. It was June, 1944, the middle of the war.
For years, refugees knocking on doors of American consulates abroad had been told, “You cannot enter America. The quotas are filled.” And while the quotas remained untouchable, like tablets of stone, millions died.
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I've been a dittohead since April, 1992, and I've rarely missed a day.

Luv ya, Rush!

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Hi, Mel.
Mel Gibson has always seemed a decent guy who loves his wife and family. Many believe he's conservative, and he may be, but I've never heard him say he was. When Patrick Kennedy crashed into a police car last May, while driving drunk, he wasn't breathalized and he was driven home by a cop. On the other hand, Mel, who was stopped for speeding, was hauled into the Police Station where his BAC was determined and noted. No special treatment so far. Like Kennedy, Gibson has entered rehab. Most of us can appreciate the gravity of alcoholism, and its effects upon the loved ones, so we wished Kennedy well without consideration to politics. How sad that Mel gibson is not being afforded the same consideration. The hypocrisy between the two cases is astounding.

I know, I know, Mel said some vile things. But does he have a history of saying them while sober? Just like I don't know his politics, neither do I know what's in his heart. Many of us harbor despicable thoughts which we may never voice or act upon, at least while sober. Does that make us awful people?
I'm not defending Mel, but I don't automatically buy the idea that he's anti-Semitic, either. As I said yesterday, if spouting anti-Semitic slurs means you hate Jews, then Hillary must hate Jews, too, and she was sober. Mel Gibson's real sin, at least in the eyes of the Left, wasn't his drunken tirade but his sobering movie "The Passion of the Christ."

This article by Clinton Taylor expresses it best. Read the whole thing.
Braveheart's Tequila Sunset: I have a feeling the kind of people who tend to ignore and excuse the anti-Semitic screeds coming out of Hezbollah will also be the kind of people who regard every awful word Mel Gibson said while plastered as a true expression of what he really, secretly believes.
There is an overly large group of people out there willing to look for nuance in the fanatically eliminationist rhetoric of Iran's President. His statements are never made under the influence of alcohol, and yet his stone-cold sober rantings about the destruction of Israel and his hints about nuclear weapons are parsed away and ascribed to the particular nuances of his culture. But Mel Gibson? Let's all pretend we know exactly what he thinks when he's sober, based on the balderdash he roars with a bottle of Tequila under his belt.

8 Today's account in the NY Post: The bleary-eyed star was spotted at celeb-studded Moonshadows restaurant with a babe on each arm and a beer bottle in his right hand late Thursday and into the wee hours Friday. Revelers said Gibson admitted that he had been downing wine at a dinner party earlier Thursday. He then readily chatted with fans about everything from his movies to religion to his seven kids - and even called his wife of 26 years, Robyn, "a saint."
…
"We all offered him rides, and he shrugged it off," Lesak said.
Hausberger said he urged the star, who lives a few miles away, not to drive, but that Gibson responded:
"No, I'm fine. I'll take care of myself."
A Los Angeles Sheriff's deputy busted the Road Warrior in his 2006 Lexus going 87 mph in a 45 mph zone, shortly after 2:30 a.m. Friday. A bottle of tequila was found in his car.

8 On a lighter note, Doug Powers noticed that Mel Gibson's Mugshot Not a Hollywood Hall-of-Famer

I wish Mel Gibson well, and his family, too.

UPDATE: Mel Gibson Was 'Really On The Verge Of Suicide' Before His DUI Arrest; 'This Was A Death Wish': I'm told by a source intimate with his situation tonight that Mel Gibson "was really on the verge of suicide because he felt he was helpless to alcohol and didn't know what to do about it." Sure, my reaction was: sounds like spin. But the source here is someone I've known closely for years.
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I will not defend Mel Gibson's anti-Semitic slurs. Nor does his drunken state give him a pass. But alcohol does cause people to say and do things they would never say or do when sober. Does the mere fact that he said such things make Gibson anti-Semitic? Because if that's the standard, then Hillary Clinton is anti-Semtic, and she wasn't even drunk at the time.
Hillary Clinton denies using anti-Semitic slur: In his book, Oppenheimer alleges that Hillary Rodham -- then Bill Clinton's girlfriend -- called adviser Paul Fray a "Jew bastard" to his face on election night. … Paul Fray told CNN that Rodham had indeed uttered the slur.
(Apparently both Clintons have a history of being foulmouthed liars.)

Using that same standard, Hillary is racist, too, and displayed her racism in public -- while sober.
Public Exhibit #1) Hillary Clinton's Gandhi 'Joke' is clearly racist: A seasoned politician and a fine lawyer, Hillary Rodham Clinton, is not that dumb to make a sick joke about Mahatma Gandhi working at a gas station in St. Louis. … After Clinton made that sick remark there was laughter. Nobody from the Democratic group objected. Nobody frowned at Hillary Clinton. Nobody protested. There were 200 Democrats, but apparently all were as sick and dumb as the speaker. Hillary must have realized that it was a sick joke but did not apologize. She only added: "No, Mahatma Gandhi was a great leader of the 20th century." The regret also came days later.

Public Exhibit #2) Hillary's "plantation crack": This past January, in her Martin Luther King Day speech, she said, “When you look at the way the House of Representatives has been run, it has been run like a plantation and you know what I'm talking about…..”

8 Speaking of anti-Semitic slurs, don't forget Jesse Jackson’s Hymietown slur.

8 Don Surber's perspective ... Mel Gibson pulls a Ramsey Clark: Gibson's drunken remarks are stupid. I used to say stupid things when I was drunk back when I was in my 20s. That's part of why I gave up drinking. But Clark is a mean-spirited, hateful man who has represented every anti-American dictator and genocidal maniac. He is the danger, not some guy whose biggest threat to humanity is to make another bad picture.

Special treatment?
Did Gibson Get a Break After Arrest?: The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department's civilian oversight office said Saturday that it will investigate whether authorities gave Mel Gibson preferential treatment when he was arrested on suspicion of drunk driving and tried to cover up alleged offensive comments and behavior by one of Hollywood's most powerful figures. …"People say stupid things when they are drunk, and they later regret it," [Sheriff Lee] Baca said. "You don't convict him on what he said. People aren't convicted for saying stupid things."

The charge of special treatment is really rich, considering that back in May Patrick Kennedy was treated with kid gloves: Kennedy appeared to be intoxicated when he crashed his car into a barrier on Capitol Hill early Thursday morning, said Louis P. Cannon, president of the Washington chapter of the Fraternal Order of Police. Cannon, who was not there, said the officers involved in the accident were instructed by an official "above the rank of patrolman" to take Kennedy home.
No sobriety tests were conducted at the scene.

8 Officers Claim Brass Interfered in Investigation of Rep. Kennedy Incident: Police labor union officials asked acting Chief Christopher McGaffin this afternoon to allow a Capitol Police officer to complete his investigation into an early-morning car crash involving Rep. Patrick Kennedy (D-R.I).

Most people on the right wished Rep. Kennedy well when he entered yet another brief stint in rehab. He received a slap on the wrist, and then he was back to work in DC.

This sudden concern for Jews' feelings, primarily from the left, rings hollow. It always has. After all, many of these same people who brand Gibson as anti-Semitic are demanding that Israel stop defending itself against the Hezbollahs. They've proven that they're more concerned with the terrorists' rights than those of the victims. These people, who are now outraged at Gibson, have been silent for decades as rampant anti-Semitism has plagued Europe.

8 In today's TAS, Ben Stein writes that We are in real serious trouble, and I'll tell you how and why I know it: Because the Hezbollah -- as has been well reported -- launches missiles at purely civilian targets in Israel as a matter of course, and no one in Europe or in the American left says "boo" about it. It's considered the Hezbollah's "right" to kill Israelis and when they do, they boast about it and promise to do more.

Mel Gibson said some vile, stupid things, which is his right. But is he an anti-Semite? If all you have are words as proof, then I'd say maybe not. Nixon can be heard on tape making derogatory remarks about Jews. Yet Ben Stein not only worked for Nixon, he loved him and mourned him when he died and has never considered Nixon to be anti-Semitic. But let's be candid: These people don't care one way or the other about Jews. They're just mining this incident for their own political ends. So spare me the moral indignation.

8 QUOTE OF THE DAY...: “If a drunken Mel Gibson did indeed call out, “Jews are responsible for all the wars in the world,” then there can be only one possible place for a man who believes such things: as the next Secretary General of the United Nations.”
—David Frum

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- Kitty, 7/30/2006 08:25:00 PM

8 Kerry just can't help himself. A chronic showboating pathological liar, he nevers misses an opportunity to look stupid.
That's Gonna Leave a Mark…: THWACK! Kerry gets his from Bolton, and Texas Rainmaker has the VIDEO to prove it.
h/t Rik (who lives in Germany – check out the X Man!)

8 A golden oldie I posted two years ago: I'M TALKIN' 'BOUT MEN

8 Here’s one explanation of why testosterone was found in Landis’ blood.

8 UPDATE on the Brinkley/Cook marriage meltdown: While she allows Cook cellphone contact with their children, a friend of the Cover Girl model says she's "keeping him in the dark" about their location.
While the Brinkley clan laid low, Bianchi has been anything but scarce.
She drove herself to a former school pal's Southampton kegger last weekend in the very Nissan Maxima that Cook purchased for her during their alleged fling.

8 Y'know, maybe a bit of male primping might not be so bad in this case. Hells Angels gathering starts to fill Cody: Anticipating as many as 1,500 Hells Angels in Cody this week, law enforcement has enlisted help from the Department of Homeland Security and National Guard.

8 Here’s one guy who may look at blue-hairs with more caution in the future. Don't mess with this granny: The terrified pensioner managed to run downstairs where she grabbed a 14-inch carving knife from the kitchen and shouted at the thug: "That's not a knife, this is a knife".

8 Hillary's Dreams: That's the name of Hillary Clinton's 2008 domestic policy initiative that she rolled out this week. After all of her hard work to trick people into thinking she has moved to the center, this initiative shows her true colors. … God help us all if this communist ever becomes President. A'hem, about that Hillary Bust ...

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