I have waited for the dust to settle around Mel Gibson’s recent very public drunken rant, because I feel more strongly about how everybody reacted than about what he said and did. Wouldn’t it be equally reprehensible, disgusting, and dishonest no matter who voiced those sentiments? Why do we even expect celebrities to travel the moral high road? If we were to find out that Angelina Jolie is not a great parent or that Paul Newman makes Joanne Woodward do all the cooking even though it’s his name on the salad dressing, what right would we have to feel betrayed? They’re movie stars, not religious leaders. This is just not newsworthy. Instead, we give a pass to some of our political leaders when they misrepresent and outright lie, act out of cynicism or self-interest or ignorance on issues that affect us now and forever, and exploit our hunger for true spirituality and morality. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sonny Bono aside, let’s hope we can continue to separate entertainment from leadership and save our outrage for the times it might do some good.

This photograph of Mel Gibson is a still from the documentary Who Killed the Electric Car? .