Whitlock: Gang-of-function mutation terrorizes Washington Nationals Park and America

Saturday night in our nation's capital, gunshots outside Washington Nationals ballpark sent fans inside the stadium scrambling for safety, suspended a Major League Baseball game, and injured three people.

Mainstream corporate media blamed "gun violence." The more likely culprit is "gang violence." Police say the shots came from shooters in separate cars firing at each other. Maybe guns were behind the steering wheels and pulling the triggers. It's more likely gang members drove the cars and aimed the weapons.

As a country, we loathe talking about gang violence … unless we're glorifying it in music. We prefer to discuss the danger of guns and the evil of the National Rifle Association. I used to do it.

The last time "gun violence" impacted a sporting event, I argued in a column that the Second Amendment had outlived its usefulness. That was in 2012. A linebacker for the Kansas City Chiefs, Jovan Belcher, shot and killed his girlfriend, then drove to the team's practice facility and shot and killed himself in front of the team's head coach and general manager.

I wrote a piece for Fox Sports stating what I believed at the time — the proliferation of handguns makes America unsafe. The great broadcaster Bob Costas read an excerpt from my column on NBC's Sunday Night Football in America.

I've never liked guns. I still don't. But the last decade has helped me understand their value in a free society. A decade ago, I took American freedom for granted. I thought the people who argued that the political left would strip Americans of basic freedoms were crazy. Now I don't. The government and Big Tech are steadfastly censoring speech they don't like. They're dictating medical choices for all of us. They've recklessly opened our borders and relaxed immigration restrictions. They've undermined respect for and support of law enforcement to the point that many major cities feel lawless.

I live in a very nice, pricey area of midtown Nashville. There have been several shootings, including a murder, within a block of my building.

I'm going to get a gun in 2021. It's inevitable.

The gatekeepers of American culture, the super elites who live in gated communities and employ private security teams, have purposely created a culture that bows to violent gang culture.

Look at the reaction to what happened at Washington Nationals Park. A fan who left the game to catch an Uber was one of the victims. Gang violence directly impacted the sports world. Are the multimillionaire social activist athletes loudly decrying what happened? Have we heard from Colin Kaepernick or LeBron James? Has Jemele Hill tweeted a word?

They're all sitting by police scanners waiting for a white cop to shoot another unarmed black resisting criminal suspect. That happens about once a month. Gang shootings happen hourly across America. But you can't gain Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook followers by taking on the Crips, Bloods, Gangster Disciples, and MS-13.

What you can do is idolize and celebrate the rappers who normalize and celebrate gang culture and gang violence. I've long had a love-hate relationship with gangsta rap music. I consider commercial rap fast food, something that I enjoy but know is bad for my health. Dr. Dre is McDonald's, Tupac Shakur is Popeyes, and Tech N9ne is Wendy's.

You can't eat fast food forever. It's going to kill you.

The glorification of gang culture is killing America. You might think it's only killing black America. That's not true.

You have to think of the left-wing gatekeepers, the Hollywood and music executives who finance the promotion of gang culture, the same way as the scientists at the Wuhan lab in China. Gangsta rap is a gang-of-function mutation that escaped the lab and is killing us all. American culture is in crisis. We've legalized a lethal dose of immorality, dishonesty, and idolatry. Our code of conduct is driven by popularity, profit, and fear.