I wasn't going to comment on the murder-suicide committed by Kansas City Chiefs linebacker Jovan Belcher. But Bob Costas' tone-deaf commentary on the incident set off my hypocrite alarm.
Bob blamed some kind of "gun culture" in the NFL for the incident, and claimed a belief that if Belcher hadn't had a gun, he and his girlfriend would still be alive.
So Bob seems to be saying that NFL football players, who are overwhelmingly black, should be denied their second amendment rights. For the race-hypersensitive Left, isn't that blatant racism? Certainly if conservatives can be called racist for pointing out that the family is the best solution for our problems. The racist charge comes because the highest percentage of unmarried mothers is found among black people. Consequently, shouldn't Costas be held to the same standard?
Where's the NAACP, marching on NBC and demanding Costas be fired for his racist comments? Where's the outrage over suggesting rather overtly that young black athletes are irresponsible young men who should not be allowed to own firearms?
Men killing their wives and girlfriends in fits of jealous rage is an unfortunate event that happens far too often among people of all colors. They don't need a gun to commit that crime. It's certainly not unique to NFL players, unless one wants to make the case that they are more prone to 'Roid Rage than the general population.
Incidents like this go beyond a sports commentator pretending to be some sort of sage that is somehow smarter and wiser than the rest of us. This is not just about an idiot sportscaster trying to jump into the arena of politics in the middle of a football game. We football fans don't like being dragged into another Left-Right debate on our entertainment time. Is there no longer any refuge from the constant political bickering?
Repealing the second amendment won't stop people from becoming murderously jealous of their romatic partners. Following Bob's logic, if Belcher didn't have access to a gun, would he have killed his girlfriend? I don't think there's a definitive answer to that question.
Can we all at least agree to keep sportscasters away from politics? As Laura Ingraham suggested in "Shut up and Sing", we don't want our politics and entertainment to mix. And just because somebody's pretty good at singing or acting or sportscasting doesn't mean we care to hear their political opinions.
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