Vote Them Out

Warning to politicians who fail to act on gun control: "Get your resumes ready." -- David Hogg.

   The president of the United States today tweeted his "thoughts and prayers" to the people of France in the wake of a terrorist shooting in that country.
   This is good. He said nothing, however, about the million or more people gathered in his front yard, Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, led by American people who will soon be able to vote. Nor was there any mention of the dozens of other rallies held throughout the nation and around the world in support of those demanding change.
   The organizers of the Washington rally against gun violence were survivors of the school shooting in Parkland, Florida, where 17 people were shot to death in six minutes and 20 seconds by a former student armed with an AR-15 assault rifle. The shooting happened Feb. 14, otherwise known as Valentine's Day, a day of love.
   Today, however, was a day of warning to politicians, as speakers -- many of them student survivors of mass shootings -- noted that they will soon be of voting age, and together with their parents and other adults sympathetic to the cause of gun control, will vote them out of office if they ignore the issue.
   Meanwhile, volunteers along the line of march at the Washington gathering offered voter registration for most of the 50 states.
   David Hogg, a survivor of the Florida shooting and one of the organizers of the rally, pointed out that gun control is going to a voting issue, and warned politicians that "inaction is no longer safe."
   "Let's put the U.S.A. over the NRA," he said, as the crowd chanted, "Vote them out!"
   Another student speaker called for teachers to be "armed with pencils and a living wage, not with guns."
   And an 11-year old girl reminded listeners that while she was not old enough to vote, she would be in another seven years.
   Meanwhile, one wonders why the rally was limited to Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington and not held on the National Mall, where other major rallies have been held. Is it possible there was White House pressure to keep it off the Mall, so the crowd would not be compared to the one on Inauguration Day?