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Mel Gibson

• June 1 -- Frank Rich's Pornographic Hypocrisy
Editor Frank Rich contemptuously dismisses conservatives who dare link the prisoner abuse of Abu Ghraib to pornography: "The hypocrisy of those pushing this line knows few bounds." Yet the left-wing essayist Susan Sontag, so admired by Rich, made precisely the same argument in the cover story of the NYT magazine.

• April 5 -- "Passion" Corrected With Help From "Tolerant" Calvin Butts
TV critic Alessandra Stanley sees tonight's ABC documentary "Jesus and Paul" as a welcome corrective to "The Passion of Christ," and singles out the "more tolerant views" of the Rev. Calvin Butts. But what does the "tolerant" Butts thinks of Republicans?

• March 8 -- Gibson's Movie a "Joy Ride for Sadomasochists"
Frank Rich sees "The Passion of Christ," a movie on which he has expended thousands of harsh words over the last several months. But that's nothing compared to the vitriol unleashed in his "review."

• March 1 -- Hope He Didn't Bet on the Oscars
Frank Rich's poor box office insight on "The Passion."

• February 26 -- Not Mad About Mel
Laurie Goodstein relays some thumbs-down reviews from an interfaith panel who watched "The Passion." "They said the movie…deviated in bizarre ways from the Gospel accounts, fell flat emotionally and was numbingly violent."

• February 26 -- Scold Mountain
A.O. Scott dislikes Mel Gibson's new movie on the Passion of Christ. Comparing Gibson's violent filmmaking to Quentin Tarantino, Scott notes: "It will be amusing to see some of the same scolds who condemned Mr. Tarantino's 'Kill Bill: Vol. 1' sing the praises of 'The Passion of the Christ.'" Scolds like…A.O. Scott, perhaps?

• February 20 -- The Religious Right Is Rising (Again)
TV critic Alessandra Stanley sees a rising of the religious right in the release of Mel Gibson's new movie.

• January 19 -- Pope "Unwittingly Hawks" Mel Gibson Movie?
Editor Frank Rich spins a conspiracy theory about the Pope giving Gibson's movie on Jesus a thumbs-up: "The ailing pontiff has been recruited, however unwittingly, to help hawk 'The Passion of the Christ.'"

• September 22 -- Frank Rich’s Mel Gibson-baiting
Times Arts editor Frank Rich resurrects his charge that Mel Gibson is guilty of “Jew-baiting.”

• August 6 -- Frank Rich’s Persecution Complex
Times editor Frank Rich attacks as anti-Semitic Mel Gibson’s upcoming movie on the last hours of the life of Christ, claiming its “real tinder-box effect could be abroad, where anti-Semitism has metastasized since 9/11.” But in the past liberal Rich has ridiculed the idea that movies cause violence. And his criticism is particularly hypocritical considering his discussion of 1995’s pro-gay, anti-Catholic Church movie “Priest.”