The political world was rocked today, when prominent and influential blogger Sean Gleeson retracted his endorsement of actor Mel Gibson in the 2008 United States presidential election.

The retraction is seen as a setback for Gibson, who never showed any inclination to run for the office anyway, and had garnered no other supporters since landing Gleeson’s endorsement more than a year ago, on April 6, 2005.

Coming on the heels of Gibson’s disgraceful Malibu DUI arrest and alleged profane outbursts, Gleeson’s retraction will doom the actor’s political prospects, say most experts contacted for this story. “Yup, that’s right,” they all said. Gibson could not be reached for comment.

AND MY FOLLOW-UP POST: Bad boy, good guy, antisemite.