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Lane murder: America’s gun culture has to change
My latest blog post for the Detroit News. As usual, the paper's conservative readers let me have it in the comments section. 
A lot of them skate really close to being openly racist
After the shooting death of Australian Christopher Lane, purportedly at the hands of three “bored” Oklahoma teenagers, it makes sense to reflect on the role of guns and violence in our society. But on “The Rush Limbaugh Show” this week, the conversation was all about race.
In case anybody didn’t know that Lane was white and two of his three alleged attackers are black, Limbaugh made a point of discussing it at length. At one point, he wondered aloud why others in the media would not call the murder a racial incident.
“No matter where you look in the media, it’s not a racial event,” Limbaugh said on his Aug. 21 broadcast. “Nothing about [it] is racist. This is the epitome of media irresponsibility. It’s a classic illustration of just what role the mainstream media is playing in the destruction of American culture and society.”
Limbaugh went on to criticize reporters for focusing “on the gun aspect” of the crime, instead of the respective skin tones of the victim and the accused. As usual, Limbaugh was being wrong-headed.
MORE HERE: http://blogs.detroitnews.com/politics/2013/08/23/americas-gun-culture/
In case anybody didn’t know that Lane was white and two of his three alleged attackers are black, Limbaugh made a point of discussing it at length. At one point, he wondered aloud why others in the media would not call the murder a racial incident.
“No matter where you look in the media, it’s not a racial event,” Limbaugh said on his Aug. 21 broadcast. “Nothing about [it] is racist. This is the epitome of media irresponsibility. It’s a classic illustration of just what role the mainstream media is playing in the destruction of American culture and society.”
Limbaugh went on to criticize reporters for focusing “on the gun aspect” of the crime, instead of the respective skin tones of the victim and the accused. As usual, Limbaugh was being wrong-headed.
MORE HERE: http://blogs.detroitnews.com/politics/2013/08/23/americas-gun-culture/