Is there a bigger hack in American journalism than Jason Whitlock? A well-compensated Foxsports.com columnist, Whitlock is an awful thinker and writer, given to jaw-dropping generalizations and lazy connections which don’t cohere. In his latest piece, about the Aaron Hernandez murder case, he throws a grab bag of societal ills at the NFL star’s behavior, hoping some of the shit will stick. He blames Hernandez’s criminality on the American penal society, the war on drugs, gangster rap, and, um, reality TV and the Sopranos. It’s not that I favor widespread incarceration or the prohibition of drugs, and you couldn’t pay me to watch any so-called real housewives, but this article is an example of a dull hammer treating every last thing in its reach like a nail. It’s stupid beyond belief.

Oh, and since the beginning of all this pop culture he derides, the U.S. crime rate has actually seen a marked decrease. But facts don’t get in the way of a Whitlock narrative–nothing of intelligence does. An excerpt from his brain droppings:

“This is what a 40-year drug war, mass incarceration, a steady stream of Mafia movies, three decades of gangster rap and two decades of reality TV have wrought: athletes who covet the rebellious and marketable gangster persona.

Hernandez is the most extreme example. He apparently moonlighted as a professional football player while perfecting his role as Christopher Moltisanti, Tony Soprano’s boneheaded nephew.

But we should not be shocked that a professional athlete possibly crossed the line into sociopathic killer. The unhealthy side effects of drug prohibition and popular culture have made murderous drug dealers respected members of American society. Random, murderous violence and the people who commit those crimes have been normalized in America, thanks in large part to popular culture.

We all loved and respected Tony Soprano. This is why James Gandolfini’s death was such a big story. We did not know Gandolfini. We knew Tony. To some degree, we all wanted to be Big T.

I am not surprised to learn that a 23-year-old professional athlete covered in tattoos is linked to several violent acts, including ‘accidently’ shooting a man in the face. Modern athletes carry guns. They do drugs. They mimic rappers and gangster pop-culture icons.

Athletes want street cred, and they costume themselves in whatever is necessary to get it. Nike, Reebok, Adidas, etc., were the first to recognize the importance of authentic street cred when it came selling product to American youth.

There was a financial incentive for Allen Iverson not to evolve beyond his Tupac Shakur imitation.

It was only a matter of time before some athlete was accused of imitating Tony Soprano. The gangster influence in our society is that strong.”