Adults weaponized the Parkland kids, who will ‘lead’ only so long as they’re useful.

By: David French – nationalreview.com – April 2, 2018

Let’s begin by stating the obvious. There is not a single American corporation, media entity, or adult activist who actually takes direction from David Hogg or any other Parkland victim. Every single thing they do in response to Hogg’s public comments is done willingly — gleefully, even — because Hogg is their tool. He’s their sword and their shield. He is their excuse for doing exactly what they want to do.

By now we know how this pitiful game works. Hogg, egged on by cheering adults, says vicious, cruel, and often false things about their political opponents, and they cheer all the louder. They love it. They quite obviously can’t get enough of it. In this way, Hogg is an expression of the liberal id, a person who “destroys” the opposition in ways that are far more savage and intended far more personally than anything you’ll see from late-night television.

That’s the sword. The shield comes when a conservative takes the bait. All the slicing and dicing and insulting and trolling causes an inevitable backlash. You get the unhinged backlash (“crisis actor”), the mean backlash (laughing at Hogg’s college-admissions struggles), and the thoughtful backlash (he’s got a right to his rage and pain, but he’s still wrong on substance). Yet for all too many activists any criticism is “attacking the Parkland kids.”

Thus David Hogg becomes the unassailable Stephen Colbert, the untouchable John Oliver.

The Laura Ingraham advertiser boycott is the perfect example of the process at work. Ingraham tweeted an ungracious and ridiculous insult at Hogg — accusing him of whining about his college rejections — and Hogg responded by calling for an advertiser boycott of Ingraham’s show. Ingraham apologized, Hogg rejected her apology, and by today more than a dozen companies had pulled their advertisements from Ingraham’s show.

So, here we are, once again. While advertisers of course have every legal right to boycott, the response to offensive speech in the marketplace of ideas isn’t better speech but rather an effort to use raw economic power to punish your political enemies. Transgress one of the ever-shifting lines of public discourse (even if you apologize), and you’re instantly fighting for your job.

Hogg isn’t the bully here. His powerful adult allies are. They built this culture. This is the culture of the progressive corporate boardroom, the progressive academy, and all too many sectors of media and the arts. In this culture, Hogg is a weapon to wield so long as he’s useful. He’s the latest in a long line of victims/activists who spend their time as the “face” of an immense movement, pushed forward by the media until that moment when the news cycle moves on, other victims emerge, and other outrages inflame the masses.

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Source: David Hogg Not the Bully, His Adult Allies Are