American Students vs The NRA (And Trumpanzee... Birdbrain)

Listen to the kids in the CBS video above.

Sunday night, the NY Times published a piece explaining that Trump's sleazy lawyer, Michael Cohen, protected his self-entitled, loathsome client by "relying on intimidation tactics, hush money and the nation’s leading tabloid news business, American Media Inc., whose top executives include close Trump allies… He maneuvered in the pay-to-play gossip world-- populated by porn stars and centerfold models, tabloid editors and lawyers with B- and C-list entertainment clients." That probably won't work against Trump's newest adversaries, America's enraged, activated students, starting with the survivors of the NRA/GOP massacre of the students at Parkland, Florida;s Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. "The students," reported CNN Monday morning, "promised action. They're headed to Tallahassee, Florida, to speak to legislators about school safety and gun control this week, and they have school walkouts and a march scheduled in the coming months.

I have no idea what Cohen is up to or if he'll go after the Parkland students but another sleazy Trump apologist already has-- Rush Limbaugh.

While speaking to Fox News Sunday, Limbaugh was asked by host Chris Wallace if a planned march by students could get lawmakers to act to prevent school shootings.

“Chris, I have to ask if anybody is really serious about solving this because none of this-- by the way, I couldn’t care less about the gun angle of this,” Limbaugh replied, referring to a group of students from Parkland that Wallace had just spoken to. “None of this is going to solve-- prayers and condolences don’t solve it and marches aren’t going to solve it. Chris, the next shooter is out there.”

“It’s not the fault of the NRA. It’s not the fault of any-- it’s the fault of the people doing this and our inability to deal with that and stop them,” he insisted. “Until we’re willing to get serious about where we are and how do we they stop this from happening and marches aren’t going to do it, saying no more guns isn’t going to do it, bashing the NRA isn’t going to do it.”

You know about March for Our Lives, right? March 24 is the day. It's not partisan, but it's very political. This is the mission statement:

Not one more. We cannot allow one more child to be shot at school. We cannot allow one more teacher to make a choice to jump in front of a firing assault rifle to save the lives of students. We cannot allow one more family to wait for a call or text that never comes. Our schools are unsafe. Our children and teachers are dying. We must make it our top priority to save these lives.

March For Our Lives is created by, inspired by, and led by students across the country who will no longer risk their lives waiting for someone else to take action to stop the epidemic of mass school shootings that has become all too familiar. In the tragic wake of the seventeen lives brutally cut short in Florida, politicians are telling us that now is not the time to talk about guns. March For Our Lives believes the time is now.

On March 24, the kids and families of March For Our Lives will take to the streets of Washington, DC to demand that their lives and safety become a priority. The collective voices of the March For Our Lives movement will be heard.

School safety is not a political issue. There cannot be two sides to doing everything in our power to ensure the lives and futures of children who are at risk of dying when they should be learning, playing, and growing. The mission and focus of March For Our Lives is to demand that a comprehensive and effective bill be immediately brought before Congress to address these gun issues. No special interest group, no political agenda is more critical than timely passage of legislation to effectively address the gun violence issues that are rampant in our country.

Every kid in this country now goes to school wondering if this day might be their last. We live in fear.

It doesn’t have to be this way. Change is coming. And it starts now, inspired by and led by the kids who are our hope for the future. Their young voices will be heard.

Stand with us on March 24. Refuse to allow one more needless death.

And they're serious. Over the weekend On Saturday, senior Emma Gonzalez, from the video above, spoke at a Fort Lauderdale rally, calling out the fake, illegitimate president for accepting $30 million in NRA bribes, leading a "shame on you," directed not just towards Señor Trumpanzee but towards all his enablers and all the NRA whores of both parties. "We are going to be the kids you read about in textbooks,” she said. "Not because we’re going to be another statistic about mass shooting in America, but because... we are going to be the last mass shooting." I have a feeling this is going to be very big, very fast.

"My message for the people in office is: you're either with us or against us," said Cameron Kasky, a junior at Stoneman Douglas. "We are losing our lives while the adults are playing around."

Emma Gonzalez, who has become the stunned face of her fellow Stoneman Douglas students, declared, "Because of these gun laws, people that I know-- people that I love-- have died."

At a gathering this weekend, she led a chant of "We call Bullshit" aimed at politicians silent on potential action.

Classmate David Hogg chimed in, "Thank you for your prayers and condolences, but that is not enough."

...[A]s with the #MeToo movement, and perhaps because of it, the Stoneman Douglas students may have the country's mounting social awareness on their side.

This time, it isn't grownups speaking to other grownups. It's teenagers, speaking without filters, to lawmakers who someday will need their votes, not to mention their expertise in every field.

These students don't have the money that the NRA can throw at Washington, but they wield something more important: the country's future.

Is it enough to erode decades of power by the gun lobby?

Well, student activism has been a force to be reckoned with through the past 60 some years of American history.

They encountered mob violence in Alabama and were themselves accused of provoking unrest.

But their protests are credited for inspiring other, broader protests that culminated in the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, led by Martin Luther King in 1963, where he delivered his famed I Have a Dream speech.

In what became known as a decade of student protests, nearly 100,000 people gathered again in Washington in 1967 to protest the Vietnam War, while students led other protests the following year in Paris and across Germany.

It is impossible to think of Vietnam protests now, without thinking of the students.

And, soon, it may be impossible to think of America's reaction to gun violence without thinking of the students who stood up against it.

These high school students are among a new generation, born from 1996 onward, that is alternatively called Generation Z, or the Centennials.

They've seen their older counterparts across the US experience school shootings. They can see the impact those incidents have had on their younger siblings and friends, who are terrified that something will happen to them.

They feel that the responsibility falls to them to act. Make no mistake, they know they are up against a formidable political force.

During the 2016 election cycle, the NRA spent $1 million on direct contributions to candidates, paid out another $3.1 million on lobbying and another $54 million on outside activities, such as television ads and communication to voters and members, according to OpenSecrets.org, which tracks campaign spending.

But, students have shown before that they can affect history. "She was going to change the world," said the family of Carmen Schentrup, one of the 17 people who died.

Perhaps now, her classmates will.

Oh... and happy fucking Presidents Day: