NOW IT'S LIKE BOTH JACK AND ENNIS DIED
I know this is normally a humor column and I promise it won't be all about Heath, but like a lot of folks, I still haven't stopped pondering Heath's tragic death. Obviously the true tragedy lay with those who loved and knew him best — his family and friends. But for millions of gay men, Heath's death hit surprisingly close to home. TVGuide.com's Michael Ausiello writes about his reaction upon watching Brokeback Mountain the night Heath died and on Thursday I went on Michelangelo Signorile's radio show to discuss the news which has been a hot topic of conversation there.

And I already said most of what I had to say about why Heath's death hit me like a body blow, but then it occurred to me I was still missing something. Even though I am nothing like Jack and Ennis, having been born into very different circumstances, I strongly identified with those characters. And when Jack died, it hurt so much it was a physical pain. And seeing Ennis mourning Jack at the film's end managed to be even more devastating. So even though it makes no sense, Heath's death makes me feel like Ennis died as well, and a movie that was already nearly unbearable to watch feels like it will be downright impossible.

HOW MANY JOHN GIBSON JACKASSES CAN YOU FIND IN THIS WEEK'S COLUMN?

We've already covered what an ugly human being Fox's John Gibson revealed himself to be when he mocked Heath Ledger's death saying things like:

I wish I knew how to quit you. Well, he found out how to quit you.

Oh, and he was laughing while he said it. Kudos to MSNBC's Keith Olbermann for naming Gibson the "World's Worst Person" and Dan Abrams for calling Gibson out for his comments.

Why not let Fox know what you think of their having a homophobic bigot like Gibson on the air. Oh, right — that's most everyone on Fox, isn't it? Still, drop them a line anyway at comments@foxnews.com.

And why not thank the good guys while you're at it? You can email Abrams at abrams@msnbc.com or leave a comment for Olbermann at (212) 664-2333.

Finally, to liven things up a bit, I'm going to sprinkle the column with tiny Gibson jackasses throughout the column just like this one:

See if you can spot them all!

EDITOR'S UPDATE: Gibson apologized late Thursday to anyone offended by his comments and he swears he isn't anti-gay. In other news, the moon issued a statement denying all involvement with the tides.