Victor Davis Hanson
"Recently, there has been a spate of horrific murders.
"The killers, whether committing mass shootings or single homicides, are hard to stereotype.
"They can be clearly either mentally ill or simply innately evil. They can kill for revenge, for ideological purposes, out of hatred, for notoriety — or for no known reason at all.
"They are probably left-wing and right-wing, white, Black, and brown, young, and old. While their weapons of choice are semi-automatic rifles, there are plenty of killers who favor handguns and even knives.
"Unfortunately, these tragedies have increasingly become politicized.
"Yet our media and politicians do not apply a common standard of reporting about either the victims, the killers, or the apparent motives and circumstances of the violence.
"Instead, each horror is quickly analyzed for its political usefulness. Then its details are selectively downplayed or emphasized, depending upon the political agenda at work.
"A sad example was the terrible murder spree at the private Christian Covenant School in Nashville, Tennessee. A transgender male shot and killed six people, including three 9-year-old children.
"Almost immediately, three media narratives emerged.
"One, semi-automatic weapons, not the killer Audrey Hale, were mostly responsible for the massacre.
"Two, the shooter’s transgender identity profile played no role in the killing whatsoever."
"Three, the public had no need to know of the contents of the shooter’s “manifesto.”
"Why?" . . .
