Milking a tragedy for all it's worth
It's an equal opportunity pastime
Milking a tragedy for all it's worth
A few years ago, just after Kermit Gosnell was arrested for murdering babies and pregnant women in his abortuary in West Philadelphia, pro-life advocates like myself went public with our outrage. After I wrote several articles decrying the type of society which gives birth (no pun intended) to such monstrous men and equally diabolical acts, I received the type of feedback you'd expect from the pro-choice crowd: I was exploiting a tragedy to advance my own agenda.
I won't deny that the Gosnell incident gave me an opportunity to talk about the dirty side of a procedure that has been sanitized in the press as a 'medical necessity' or, worse, a 'reproductive choice.' But to my knowledge, no one on my side of the argument ever said that Gosnell was the face of the pro-choice movement.
Fast forward to Sunday night. On prime-time television, smack dab between the two halves of a football game that the Eagles were destined to lose, Bob Costas pontificated about the evils of guns. Commenting on the murder-suicide of Kansas City Chief Javon Belcher and his pregnant girlfriend Kasandra Perkins, Costas noted implied that if Belcher didn't have a gun, his girlfriend would still be alive today.
I could almost hear the gun-control advocates across the nation stand up and say "Amen Brother, Bob, Hallelujah!" It was just the same kind of hyperbole used by anti-gun activists who think an inanimate albeit potentially deadly object-a firearm-has self-determination. It's as if the gun pulled its own trigger.
While there is a legitimate case to be made that the current laws are either too lax or ineffectively applied, it is ridiculous to blame the firearm for the murder of a pregnant woman. We don't know if Belcher obtained the gun legally. We don't know if he had mental problems. We don't know if that gun might have actually saved a life in the past.
The point is this: just as some people get upset when you make Kermit Gosnell the face of abortion, others are equally justified in slamming Bob Costas for his opportunistic attack on guns.
No one should have to listen to speeches over the bodies of pregnant women, no matter how they died.
- And the primary purpose of that pojectile is to kill. The key word is primary.
You can take the barrel of your rifle and shove it down the toliet in an attenpt to unclog it. That doesn't mean the purpose of the rifle, primary or otherwise, is as a toilet unclogger.— carl and sons - Reopen the abortion clinics. It will take a few years but eventually the inner city murder rate will drop.— towman
- I can't wait for her "War on Christmas" column.— Lombard Street
- costas is right. if he didn't have a gun, it more likely that they would be alive today. It's easier to kill with a gun than without. Why is that so hard to understand?— Old German
- For the same reason it's hard for some people to understand that Obama is not a Kenyan Muslim Socialist. — carl and sons
- Here is a recent news release on this sad case:
http://aol.sportingnews.com/nfl/story/2012-12-04/kansas-city-chiefs-shooting-jovan-belcher-murder-suicide-girlfriend-killed-news?icid=maing-grid10%7Chtmlws-main-bb%7Cdl1%7Csec1_lnk2%26pLid%3D241160
This was not a spontaneous killing but the result of months of bitter anger and discord between this couple. Others in the family tried to intervene to no avail.
Blaming just one cause for this tragedy is plainly short-sighted. Yes, the gun was too convenient but as emotionally disturbed and dysfunctional as this couple was, the cause of death could have been any number of ways on any given day.
I wonder if the autopsy will turn up drugs or steroids.
It is all very sad.— Gendres - All tragic events have more than one cause. To say that the availablity of guns are not part of that equation is as foolish to say that guns are 100% of the problem.
I'm glad Costas spoke out. Because here we are talking about it.— carl and sons 
Comment removed.- Comment removed.
- Let's try to look at the issues objectively and without passion. The Supreme Court has clearly decided that citizens have a right to own guns. The Court has also left the door open to reasonable laws to control the sale and ownership of guns. Unfortunately, the NRA, as a lobby controlled by gun manufacturers, will oppose any attempt to pass reasonable gun control(such as requiring the reporting of a lost or stolen gun to the police). And, a majority of our elected officials do not have the cojones to even attempt any type of control. In the tragic case at hand, I agree that the availability of guns in general did not cause the killing and suicide. I believe the gun was legally owned. But, generally our gun laws are too lenient (NY and NJ are not) as 40% of guns sold, e.g. do not require background checks. Another fallacy is that allowing citizens to own guns would diminsh violent crimes and murders. If so, why do Countrys with strict gun control have low homocide rates? My son owns guns in NJ, but before he could purchase any, he went through a rigorous check and he had to take educational instuction. Is this too much to ask of anyone who desires a gun or a rifle? I agree that defining the weopon as offensive and not necessary for legitimate hunting, or how many rounds a clip should have are difficult questions and subject to interpretation. But, to completely ignore the issues, or take immovable positions is not the answer. Just as an automobile doesn't kill people, the driver does, neither does the gun itself. But, the operator of a motor vehicle must be qualified before a license is granted. Should any less be required of a gun owner?— lport
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- Could someone explain to this writer that the victim in the Belcher murder-suicide WAS NOT PREGNANT? I know it sort of destroys her entire argument, but Kasandra Perkins, the victim, and Belcher had a 3-month child. She wasn't pregnant. Sheesh— flanny
- Chris, I see your colleague Will Bunch approves of Costas's speech about guns for its "shock value" during a football game. Maybe you can keep that in mind when others criticize you for your own strong opinions.
8-)— Gendres - Speaking of milking tragedies, how that Benghazi fiasco working out for the GOP?
Dopes, no change!— The Fundamentals of the Economy are Fine
Email Christine M. at cflowers1961@yahoo.com Reach Christine M. at cflowers1961@yahoo.com.
