Given all the goings-on in the media on Monday, I thought I’d toss in the latest tripe from the geniuses of ABC’s “The View.” In this episode, noted criminologist [sarc] Sunny Hostin idiotically reveals the fundamental cause behind so-called gun violence — “white men.” I know— who knew?
Except for the ladies of “The View,” I mean.
For those unfamiliar with the overarching theme of “The View,” Joy Behar, Whoopi Goldberg, and Sunny Hostin — with an occasional assist from various other lunatic co-hosts — can connect virtually anything to “racism,” “white supremacy,” or “systemic racism” with no more than two dots. Toss in “gun violence” and anything connected to Second Amendment rights, and we’re talking, immediately or sooner.
With no explanation necessary, here’s Ms. Hostin:
I honestly think, um, certainly we know that America is the only country in the world that has more guns than people — and those guns are owned by about 30 percent of the population — 33 percent of the population, and largely, they’re men, and they’re largely white men.
And I think what you are seeing, um, happening is that people are being radicalized — by Fox News; they’re being radicalized by other right-wing media, and they’re being taught to fear people who don’t look like them.
For the love of (fill in the blank as you choose), give me a break.
While Hostin’s first comment (relative to the number of firearms in the U.S. and the population percentage of gun owners) was largely correct, it was irrelevant to her argument — and her second comment was pure conjecture based solely on her delusionally predisposed beliefs.
Before we hit the silly “radicalized by Fox News” nonsense — particularly as it relates to “gun violence” — let’s first get to the 800-pound gorilla in the room: Hostin’s suggestion that “white men” are largely responsible for killing “people who don’t look like them.”
As even reported by USA Today — not exactly a right-wing media outlet — in late 2020, a vast majority of homicides in the U.S. are intraracial, meaning white-on-white and black-on-black. Moreover, the percentages are similar in both groups — long-term and in individual years.
Between 1980-2008, the U.S. Department of Justice found that 84% of white victims were killed by white offenders and 93% of Black victims were killed by Black offenders.
In 2018, the Federal Bureau of Investigation reported that 81% of white victims were killed by white offenders, and 89% of Black victims were killed by Black offenders.
In 2017, the FBI reported almost identical figures — 80% of white victims were killed by white offenders, and 88% of Black victims were killed by Black offenders.
Care to respond, Sunny? [Cue the crickets.]
She continued with what I surmise she considered a proof source to back up her unsubstantiated claims:
We have a clip — and this is not just speculation, now, for me, because Ralph Yarl, the 16-year-old boy that [sic] was shot on someone’s porch. Andrew Lester, who is the defendant — his grandson said the same thing.
Before we continue with Hostin’s schtick, Kansas City resident Andrew Lester, 84, as reported by Fox News, was recently charged with first-degree assault and armed criminal action for allegedly shooting 16-year-old Ralph Yarl after the teenager mistakenly rang the man’s doorbell, believing he was at another house. So here’s Lester’s grandson — on CNN, of course —in the clip shown by Hostin:
I feel like a lot of people of that generation are caught up in this 24-hour news cycle of fear and paranoia, perpetuated by some other news stations, and he was fully into that. He watched Fox News all day, every day … and I think that stuff kinda reinforces this negative view of minority groups and … reinforces and galvanizes racist people.
In other words, prior to airing the clip, Hostin parroted everything the grandson previously said —every word of it nonsense.
Fox News in 2022 averaged 2.3 million viewers during primetime hours, and 1.5 million total “day viewers,” crushing all competition for the seventh straight year. Chances are, you’re one of them — or were.
I stopped watching Fox several years ago, albeit for reasons likely different than those who were apoplectic on Monday after Fox announced that it has parted company with Tucker Carlson, but here’s my point: Raise your hand if you’ve been “radicalized” by Fox, particularly to the point of shooting a person of color. Hmm — no hands. You don’t ‘spose Sunny Hostin is completely full of crap, do you? Nonetheless, she concluded, melodramatically, after playing the clip:
This is his grandson, who obviously loves him, explaining the motivation behind at least that shooting.
Not to nitpick, but a braided pony-tail-wearing dude sharing his own thoughts on CNN of what he thinks was behind his grandfather’s motivation was less than anecdotal, at best.
The Bottom Line
While “The View” and its race-baiting hosts remain a bad cartoon, gun grabbers are gonna gun-grab. And in the case of Sunny Hostin, why not lie yourself silly and imply racism is to blame for pretend “gun violence,” just to look even more ridiculous?
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