Madness and Mel

Jer is back at his cottage - lucky bastard - and tagged me to step in for a post. Why me - a 'finance guy' with occasional dabblings in sports? No clue. But here goes...
One can't flip through a newspaper, turn on a TV or surf the net without somehow tuning into the Mel Gibson arrest. Apparently 'mad Mel' - who has a history of alcohol abuse and even got pinched for a DUI while filming a movie in Toronto almost 20 years ago - got drunk, hopped into his car, was pulled over by police, and made an ass of himself while being arrested. End of story, right? Wrong.
Like your worst hangover fears come to life, Mel woke up the next day - presumably after being released from the drunk tank - to discover news of the arrest had leaked out over the wires, making his bad day so much worse. Word then started to leak about his anti-Semitic remarks - as well as degrading comments he made to a female arresting officer. Could it get any worse? Yes.
The media was over this like a fat kid on chocolate. This was their oasis in the desert. What they'd been waiting for all summer.. "Mel is through," many rejoiced. Others simply said his career was merely on life-support.
Maybe so - but who cares? I've been shaking my head since the story broke stunned at the vitriol - the unadulterated passion - with which people have been attacking the guy. I'm not about to defend what he said - how could one defend the indefensible anyway? But the glee with which bloggers - Perez Hilton comes to mind - have been sharpening their knives is frightening.
Why?
Wanting to take the high road - I thought maybe they focused on the anti-Semitic remarks as a means of somehow digesting what was happening in the Middle East. Understandable. But somehow I think this misses the mark. The online media also attacks phenomenon like 'Starzilla', 'TomKat' and Britney with similar zeal.
Mel might be guilty of hatred. But couldn't the same be said of others?
I for one am tuning out.