Suffer The Children

    After all the deaths by gunshot wound in this country, all the mass shootings, all the school shootings,

...all the children murdered with assault rifles by unhinged men in possession of an arsenal of military weapons because in the United States of America anyone can get their hands on any kind of gun and as many guns as they desire;

...after episode upon episode of a mass shooting followed by our lawmakers responding by spouting phony pious platitudes and other assorted nonsense,

... instead of by taking action to curb gun violence because they don't dare cross the gun lobbies,

...in whose pockets they are,

...nor do they dare cross  their fearsome gun-voter base;

...after all the years of Americans existing in a seemingly hopeless cycle of mass shootings followed by inaction followed by more mass shootings followed by more inaction, there appears to be, at last, some green spouts of hope that a change may be coming.
      It took another school shooting, another mass murder of children  by a young male sociopath with an assault rifle, this one last Wednesday, February 14, at the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School  in the affluent town of Parkland, Florida. 
      Just another horrific American blood bath,

 ...just 15 more young lives and two adults bled out from gunshot wounds, just 17 more families shattered, just another community traumatized and grieving,

....just the same callous politicians offering the same hackneyed, meaningless thoughts and prayers, 

...with Donald and Melania stopping by Parkland for their own meaningless gesture, a thumbs-up photo op on their way to Mar-a-Lago.

     But this time it's different. Maybe this was one mass murder too many, the carnage event that has finally pushed our country over the edge.
     From the devastated young survivors of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting has sprung up a grass roots movement,

...that began with a candle light vigil by Parkland students and parents to the chant of "No more guns,"

...followed by a speech at a gun control rally by Stoneman Douglas survivor Emma Gonzales,

...in which she eloquently shredded lawmakers who take money from the National Rifle Association, shredded their excuses for doing nothing, and vowed to lead the charge for gun reform in this country.
    From that rally has arisen the voices of those Parkland, Florida students and others, calling out NRA-funded lawmakers, calling for change, calling for an end to the glut of guns, especially assault rifles, that plagues our country. 
    Within days of the murder of their classmates these students have started an anti-gun movement they call "Never Again." They are using social media and making the rounds of cable news networks.
They seek to pin a badge of shame on lawmakers who accept money from the National Rifle Association. On the wings of their nascent activism, marches walk-outs, and sit-ins are being planned in the coming months all over the country by youngsters and adults alike,

...beginning with a lie-in this afternoon in front of the White House by a group of Washington D.C. teenagers who call themselves Teens For Gun Reform.

     May the children lead us all.

References

https://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/no-more-guns-chant-at-vigil

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/student-survivors-launch-gun-control-movement-vent-rage-at-trump-nra-backed-lawmakers-2018-02-18

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-43105699

https://www.cnn.com/2018/02/19/us/florida-parkland-shooting-marches/index.html

https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/students-just-held-apos-lie-201904038.html

https://www.yahoo.com/news/teenagers-stage-lie-outside-white-house-support-parkland-shooting-victims-190930758.html