Bob Costas Blasted On Twitter For Gun Control Speech
Bob Costas is being criticized on Twitter and other outlets for his impassioned gun control speech delivered at halftime of the Dallas-Philadelphia game last night. Many are attacking Costas for using his position to espouse his personal views on a political issue, while others are saying that the forum was completely inappropriate.
Costas’s gun control monologue was reportedly a response to the Jovan Belcher murder-suicide that took place over the weekend. Here’s a partial transcript of his commentary:
“You want some actual perspective on this? Well a bit of it comes from the Kansas City-based writer Jason Whitlock, with whom I do not always agree, but who today said it so well that we may as well just quote or paraphrase from the end of his article. ‘Our current gun culture,’ Whitlock wrote, ‘ensures that more and more domestic disputes will end in the ultimate tragedy, and that more convenience store confrontations over loud music coming from a car will leave more teenage boys bloodied and dead. Handguns do not enhance our safety. They exacerbate our flaws, tempt us to escalate arguments, and bait us into embracing confrontation rather than avoiding it.’ “
The Whitlock article Costas references can be read here.
The AP pointed out that the “online reaction to Costas’ segment was swift, with many people criticizing the broadcaster for expressing his personal views on a program meant for entertainment.”
Matt Yoder of Awful Announcing agreed, writing: “The larger point is that Costas’ editorializing needs to be saved for a more fitting platform like Costas Tonight or Rock Center.”
The gun control speech has also elicited a very negative response from Conservative personalities on Twitter:
Hey Bob Costas we all kno that obesity is a direct result of the proliferation of spoons forks Get a clue
— Ted Nugent (@TedNugent) December 3, 2012
Bob Costas, who’s gotten rich thanks in part to a sport that destroys men’s bodies and brains, gives us a little civics lecture.
— Andy Levy (@andylevy) December 3, 2012
Firearms aren’t scary, firearm ignorance and a lack of respect for life are scary, Bob Costas.
— Dana Loesch (@DLoesch) December 3, 2012
Yes, Bob Costas, guns are the problem. Nicole Brown Simpson would be alive today if OJ hadn’t shot her with that knife.
— Todd Kincannon (@ToddKincannon) December 3, 2012
What do you think? Was Bob Costas’s gun control speech a bold move, or did he choose the wrong venue to share his perspective?
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