The following commentary by Matt Rooney is cross-posted from the Save Jersey blog.
Rahm Emanuel’s once advised his fellow liberals to “never let a serious crisis go to waste.” And they sure haven’t for the last four years! That includes exploiting tragedies induced by mentally-ill individuals to advance their war on the Second Amendment.
Inexplicably, Bob Costas ran with the Left’s anti-gun football during last night’s weekly broadcast of Sunday Night Football on NBC. The veteran sports broadcaster should know better, but he nevertheless proceeded to read, on open air, from a controversial op-ed whose author placed the blame for Kansas City Chiefs Linebacker Jovan Belcher’s apparent murder-sucide over the weekend on “our current gun culture.”
We suffered through similarly absurd arguments after this July’s Batman movie massacre in Aurora, Colorado, and I did my best to debunk them in kind. Costas’s emotional reaction badly misses the mark for similar reasons, Save Jerseyans, having confused the actual and proximate causes of the Belcher tragedy.
Yes, the actual cause of both Belcher and his girlfriend’s death was a gun. Yet it wasn’t the proximate cause. This 6’2”, 228 lbs. linebacker could’ve easily done the grisly deed with a baseball bat, kitchen knife or his bare hands. There’s no indication that he was influenced by a gun-glorifying movie or song track of any sort. The problem here is indeed “cultural” in nature. Nevertheless, early public accounts of Belcher’s troubled personal life suggest his problems ran much deeper than the availability of firearms. We’re certain to learn more in the coming days.
Then it will be time to get “real” concerning an urban/popular/sports culture that collectively prizes “keeping it real” over traditional American values like respecting the mother of your child(ren). Just don’t expect Mr. Costas and his fellow talking heads to constructively join the conversation. It’s a lot easier to blame guns than delve into the painful, complicated, and politically incorrect catalysts for Belcher’s meltdown. America can’t hope for a substantive solution until we’re willing to do so.
Rahm Emanuel’s once advised his fellow liberals to “never let a serious crisis go to waste.” And they sure haven’t for the last four years! That includes exploiting tragedies induced by mentally-ill individuals to advance their war on the Second Amendment.
Inexplicably, Bob Costas ran with the Left’s anti-gun football during last night’s weekly broadcast of Sunday Night Football on NBC. The veteran sports broadcaster should know better, but he nevertheless proceeded to read, on open air, from a controversial op-ed whose author placed the blame for Kansas City Chiefs Linebacker Jovan Belcher’s apparent murder-sucide over the weekend on “our current gun culture.”
We suffered through similarly absurd arguments after this July’s Batman movie massacre in Aurora, Colorado, and I did my best to debunk them in kind. Costas’s emotional reaction badly misses the mark for similar reasons, Save Jerseyans, having confused the actual and proximate causes of the Belcher tragedy.
Yes, the actual cause of both Belcher and his girlfriend’s death was a gun. Yet it wasn’t the proximate cause. This 6’2”, 228 lbs. linebacker could’ve easily done the grisly deed with a baseball bat, kitchen knife or his bare hands. There’s no indication that he was influenced by a gun-glorifying movie or song track of any sort. The problem here is indeed “cultural” in nature. Nevertheless, early public accounts of Belcher’s troubled personal life suggest his problems ran much deeper than the availability of firearms. We’re certain to learn more in the coming days.
Then it will be time to get “real” concerning an urban/popular/sports culture that collectively prizes “keeping it real” over traditional American values like respecting the mother of your child(ren). Just don’t expect Mr. Costas and his fellow talking heads to constructively join the conversation. It’s a lot easier to blame guns than delve into the painful, complicated, and politically incorrect catalysts for Belcher’s meltdown. America can’t hope for a substantive solution until we’re willing to do so.
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