The Patriot Post® · Left Hijacking a Tragedy

Wednesday marked the first of two big protests for gun control. Students walked out of class for 17 minutes in more than 3,000 demonstrations across the country. The protest was billed as a memorial of sorts for the 17 teachers and students killed in the Parkland shooting. Certainly many students participated for exactly that reason.

But it is obvious that this protest was driven by left-wing organizations that were not memorializing innocent children. Instead, they were exploiting other children to advance a radical, anti-Second Amendment agenda. 

Groups like the Women’s March Youth Empower, who paraded their daughters through Washington with obscene hats, played a big role. By the way, the Women’s March, which is already in trouble for its leader’s affinity for anti-Semite Louis Farrakhan, celebrated a cop killer last year.

Major left-wing groups like MoveOn.org, Michael Bloomberg’s gun control organizations and Hollywood elites acted quickly to hijack the Parkland tragedy. The left-wing pacifists of Code Pink used Wednesday’s student walkout to demand an end to the Junior ROTC program on high school campuses.

As usual, the Left has it exactly backwards. At least three of Parkland’s JROTC students were heroes last month. One of whom, Peter Wang, died protecting his classmates. America should be encouraging more participation in JROTC programs, not less.

Schools Split

Reaction to the protests split school districts across the country. Some promoted the protests, while others insisted students remain in class. 

In Sayreville, New Jersey, School Board President Kevin Ciak was clear — students who left the building would be suspended. “Schools do not have the ability to pick political issues,” Ciak insisted. Good for him!

Here in Washington, DC, students from area high schools headed to Capitol Hill for what was obviously a preplanned political rally. Well-known youthful reformers like Bernie Sanders, Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi were waiting to join the demonstration against the Second Amendment. 

And of course, Bernie was protected by heavily armed guards.

Having watched video of that event, I assure you it was in no way a memorial to anything. There was raucous laughter and celebration. About what exactly? Seventeen children and teachers are dead largely because of the malfeasance of adults in local government and at the FBI, which received two warnings about the killer.

I have also seen multiple videos from all over the country showing students not mourning but gleefully holding anti-Trump signs. At a school in Tennessee, students tore down the American flag and attacked a police car.

I would be interested in hearing from you. How was this handled in your area? Did local schools promote the walkouts or did they insist students stay in class? 

There is also a certain irony in all of this. Student organizers are quick to tell critics that they have a constitutional right to speak up. But, of course, they are speaking up to do away with the constitutional rights that the rest of us have to own firearms to defend ourselves and our families.

Here’s an interesting mental exercise. Imagine that there were a major religious group with as much money as George Soros. Suppose it announced that it was asking schools all over America to release students for 17 minutes to pray for the victims of the Parkland shooting.

Does anyone think for a second that the entire left-wing establishment would have embraced such a request for students to pray?

Round Two

Another round of tax cuts may be coming. For example, one of the Left’s major attacks against the Trump tax cuts was that reductions in the corporate tax rate were made permanent while tax cuts for families were not. 

Rep. Kevin Brady (R-TX), chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, said this week, “While the tax cuts for families were long-term, they’re not yet permanent. So we’re going to address issues like that." 

That would be a good idea. Nancy Pelosi has already vowed to repeal major portions of the Trump tax cuts if her party gains power. Republicans should force Democrats to go on the record for or against tax cuts for families as many times as they can. 

Larry Kudlow, who has agreed to serve as White House economic adviser, has also suggested lowering the capital gains tax rate.

I am all for those things. But I believe Republican leaders will be making a huge mistake if they think they can maintain the majority on tax cuts alone. If the party is AWOL on values issues, immigration and border security, they will be letting down many Trump voters, the very people they need to turnout "bigly” in November.

The United Left

Saturday is St. Patrick’s Day. In keeping with tradition, Leo Varadkar, the prime minister of Ireland, is in the United States promoting common interests. But there is something else on his mind. 

Mr. Varadkar is a liberal homosexual. He met with President Trump yesterday and has been invited to have breakfast with Vice President Pence today. 

Unfortunately, speaking with reporters, the Irish prime minister promised to lecture Vice President Pence about “the wider issue of equal rights and freedoms for LGBT citizens.” You will recall that then-Gov. Pence got into a major battle with the LGBT community when he tried to defend religious liberty in Indiana. 

If the prime minister were in meetings in Iran, would he dare lecture the ayatollah on LGBT issues? As you may know, that evil regime actually has a death penalty for homosexual conduct. 

Meanwhile, President Trump and Vice President Pence are trying to stop the ayatollah from developing nuclear weapons. But I suspect Prime Minister Varadkar, like most of the Left, isn’t particularly supportive of President Trump’s approach toward Iran.

My friends, this is another reminder that the Left not only hates Donald Trump’s populism, it also despises Vice President Pence’s commitment to conservative Christian values. It’s also a reminder that the political Left all over the world stands together against Judeo-Christian values.

Old-School Parenting

Did you hear about the father who posted a video of his son running to school because he was kicked off the school bus for bullying? The video went viral. And, predictably, the progressive crowd did not react well to his example of old-school parenting. 

Unfortunately, our country has bigger problems than fathers with old-school parenting styles. Our country is facing a crisis of broken homes and fatherless families. Read more in my latest opinion piece in The Hill.