Outrage Of The Week! Jesse Jackson Exploiting Tragedy

This week's outrage concerns anti-gun opportunist Jesse Jackson, who exploited the tragic death of Washington Redskins star, Sean Taylor, using the occasion of Taylor's funeral as a platform for one of his now-typical gun-banning rants.  

All of us can agree that Sean Taylor's death was as senseless as it was tragic.  Cut down in his prime, we're left to wonder what greatness the future may have held for this gifted athlete.  His murder has left family, friends, teammates and fans shocked and heartbroken.  And while more information is coming to light, this case is not closed. 

Taylor's funeral was an opportunity to grieve his untimely death and celebrate his life.  It should not have been a catalyst and opportunity for Jackson to pontificate on his politically motivated anti-gun, election-year agenda.   

Not willing to lay the blame for crime on criminals, Jackson launched into a rambling, somewhat incoherent diatribe on the evils of firearms, using "weeds and flowers," "football," and  "house-on-fire-with-gun-violence" analogies to try and make his point.  Some of Jackson's ramblings at the funeral included: 

"None of us are safe, including champions, in our own house."  "We've accepted violence as the norm."  "Some people think more guns makes us safer."  "We make semiautomatic weapons legal again."  "We can buy unlimited numbers of guns."  "The street terrorist and the foreign terrorist are more armed than the police."  "We make the most guns and bombs and we shoot and drop them.  We believe in them."  "We put our faith in false security, guns."  "Sean's killers neither made nor manufactured guns, but they were easily accessible to them."  "One day it's Columbine…another it's Virginia Tech...now Sean Taylor"  "…we need soldiers to put out this fire…"  "…to put an end to the false premise that more guns make us safer." 

Aside from being inaccurate or just plain false, Jackson's statements were inappropriate and out of place.  His politically expedient rant did nothing to dispel his well-deserved reputation as a dogmatic gun ban crusader who possesses a knack for showing up any time news cameras or a microphone are present to promote his latest pet cause.