The Red Pill

This is rich.

Hollywood executives are opening declaring that they will blacklist Mel Gibson because of his movie, "The Passion of the Christ". Talk about intolerance. From no less than the New York Times

Jeffrey Katzenberg and David Geffen, the principals of DreamWorks, have privately expressed anger over the film, said an executive close to the two men.

The chairmen of two other major studios said they would avoid working with Mr. Gibson because of "The Passion of the Christ" and the star's remarks surrounding its release.

Neither of the chairmen would speak for attribution, but as one explained: "It doesn't matter what I say. It'll matter what I do. I will do something. I won't hire him. I won't support anything he's part of. Personally that's all I can do."

The chairman said he was angry not just because of what he had read about the film and its portrayal of Jews in relation to the death of Jesus, but because of Mr. Gibson's remarks defending his father, Hutton Gibson.

So they didn't even WATCH the movie. Just based on what they HEARD about it and the statements from Gibson's father.

Hmmm ... Remember when Michael Moore stood up on stage with Wesely Clark and called President Bush a "deserter"? Remember how Clark refused to repudiate those remarks? And the fallout of that was ... what? Nothing. Can't hold Clark responsible for something that someone else says, even if you are on stage with them and they are supporting your candidacy.

On the otherhand, it is apparently shocking that ClearChannel would take Howard Stern off of six (yes, just 6) of it's stations. ClearChannel has only been an affiliate of the show, it does not own, produce, syndicate, or distribute it - that would be Infinity.

So how does free speech work again? Putting out a religious movie gets you blacklisted and putting out smut that is dropped from a few stations makes you a martyr?

AP News reports on Howard Stern.

The point is this. If ClearChannel as a broadcaster (affiliate) decides not to carry Howard Stern any longer causes such a stir, then shouldn't the outright blacklisting of Mel Gibson also evoke similar outrage?! Ultimately aren't they both first amendment issues? Don't forget - Mel Gibson had problems getting a distributer to carry his movie and he had to spend his own money to make the movie in the first place. Howard Stern still enjoys an employer (Infinity) that not only produces, but distributes his show itself.