单项选择题

Recently, I was struck by Eric Holder’s comment on the George Zimmerman versus Trayvon Martin case in Florida. Talking about his son and the fears of African-American fathers for their teenage sons, Holder said: "I am his father and it is my responsibility, not to burden him with the baggage of eras long gone, but to make him aware of the world he must still confront. This is a sad reality in a nation that is changing for the better in so many ways."
I also agree with the commentary of Lawrence Bobo:
"The most essential facts of this case will never change. A teenager went out to buy iced tea. At some point, he was confronted by a man with a gun who killed him. There is no universe I understand where this can be declared a noncriminal act. Not in a sound, just and racism-free universe."
What happened was a crime and the released shooter, Zimmerman, is no role model for anyone. He was aggressively stupid.
But for me, the mentally-retarded killer is not the issue. I think this story is about guns and television. Florida is a swampy place and so are its laws. It is absurd to permit a civilian like Zimmerman to legally go around with a concealed weapon, following or pursuing anyone he decides or imagines is a danger to his community. Circumstances like that are the reason we have laws, courts and police.
And television. I know a bit about television in courtrooms, which I thought was a bad idea from the start. In 1978, I wrote about what I believe was the first televised trial—in Miami. The defendant was a kid named Ronny Zamora, who killed an 83-year-old neighbor in an unskilled burglary in her home. He was sentenced to life imprisonment.
The Zamora case, like the Zimmerman case, was a big story, not because it was an unusual trial, but because of cameras in the courtroom. The television press could not ignore it. The video feed was a real reality show. It was irresistible and dangerous television wallpaper, guaranteed to fan the ever-withering racial coals of the nation.
Back to guns. My father was for gun control because, as he told me many times, in disputes that escalate into violence, someone inevitably reaches for the deadliest weapon available. If there’s a gun and someone uses it, death is likely. He was right, then and now. Television is blamed for its ______.