I agree with pretty much all you say in this post. What caused me to lose my temper was that I was beginning to get the impression you were continually implying that I was in favor of all the things you are currently speaking out against when I never said anything to indicate that. So let me just make myself perfectly clear.

First off, I didn't even mean to get involved in this thread in the first place. In general, I agree with C3PX's paraphrasing of the Firefly quote that everyone is some kind of son of a bitch. Everybody's going to say or do things they're not proud of, but most people have the good fortune to not have their poor judgment exposed and analyzed on an international level. So I have no idea about Mel Gibson. I admit I didn't listen to the tapes or keep up because, honestly, I don't care. I honestly care more about the general actions he may or may not have committed than what he specifically did.

I long ago stated that I miswrote what I intended earlier in positing the question if violence against what is essentially a thief could be considered justifiable, not that it was. So, without futher ado, here is what I think. Legally and rationally speaking, you're right, a person shouldn't "take the law into their own hands" and physically punish someone. But I have to admit, if I heard that a known manipulator and swindler was caught by someone he/she had swindled and received a massive beatdown in response, I would have absolutely no sympathy, shrug, and say, "Well, that person got what he/she deserved."