The survivors of the Valentine’s Day massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida haven’t shown any qualms about sticking it to elected officials. But they’ve reserved particular scorn for one of their own Senators, Marco Rubio. For those who don’t know, Rubio lives in Miami, practically next door to Parkland.
That scorn was on full display as the main March for Our Lives stepped off in Washington on Saturday. When David Hogg took the stage, he was wearing a big orange price tag with “$1.05” on it. Watch here, via NBC.
Hogg started by taking the price tag and putting it on the lectern, saying it represented “just how much Marco Rubio took for every student’s life in Florida” from the NRA. His younger sister, Lauren, told CNN’s Lauren Gallagher how they arrived at that figure.
“We took the amount of money that Marco Rubio took from the NRA, and we divided it by every single student in the state of Florida. So, this is how much we’re worth to the Florida government. It’s our price tag.”
Specifically, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, the NRA’s donations to Rubio, as well as all the money the NRA has spent on ads and mail pieces supporting him, amount to just over $3.3 million. The Hoggs and their friends divided that figure by the 3.1 million public and private school students in Florida. The total–$1.05.
MSD student @Sarahchadwickk with a $1.05 price tag, which are being passed out at #MarchForOurLives. The price represents the number of students in Florida divided by the amount of money Marco Rubio has taken from the NRA. pic.twitter.com/8tDCVMHXq4
— marilyn (@marilynicsman) March 24, 2018
I wore an orange price tag today to represent what Marco Rubio and those who take money from the NRA think is the worth of my little brothers life a mere $1.05. Students in Florida and across the nation deserve better. #MarchForOurLives pic.twitter.com/6pNnTHtBzk
— Emma Evans (@emmaevansxoxo) March 25, 2018
So they responded in what has become typical fashion for them. They created a mock “$1.05” price tag, and encouraged kids at the other marches around the country to wear them. The message: “Don’t put a price on our lives.”
Fellow Stoneman Douglas student Sarah Chadwick–best known for burning down Donald Trump and Mark Dice for their tone-deaf responses to the shooting–drove the point home further in her speech. Watch here.
By Chadwick’s math, the kids who died that day only cost Rubio a total of $17.85. It led her to wonder if that was all Rubio saw.
“Was $17.85 all it cost you that day, Mr. Rubio? Well I say, one life is worth more than all the guns in America.”
I was on hand for the Charlotte march, and didn’t see any price tags there. However, a number of other kids around the country took up the cry.
How much is a student life worth… apparently $1.05 so I decided to wear a price tag on my wrist with my fellow class mates today at the #MarchForOurLivesNYC pic.twitter.com/0GOpnMm8bi
— Direct-Her (@LinditaKulla) March 24, 2018
Oriana Dunn, who will be 15 on Monday, wearing a $1.05 price tag on her pigtails. She’s a student at McCallum HS in Austin. The Parkland students designed the tag to say that $1.05 was the price of a student life to Marco Rubio. pic.twitter.com/in0k2BlubE
— Blake Montgomery ? (@blakersdozen) March 24, 2018
Obviously, the Stoneman Douglas kids have very long memories. They were probably thinking about how Cameron Kasky ran Rubio all over the BB&T Center over the money he took from the NRA. In case you missed that lovely moment, watch it here.
Apparently Rubio didn’t get the hint, judging by his official statement on the march.
My full statement on today's marches: pic.twitter.com/ZpRNotSbyP
— Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) March 24, 2018
Rubio posted a similar message on his Facebook page.
You’re hoping for common ground on this matter, Marco? Well, here’s a news flash. According to an Associated Press-NORC poll released on Friday, a whopping 69 percent of Americans want stricter gun laws. That includes half of Republicans, and 54 percent of gun owners. Moreover, 60 percent of Americans want military-grade rifles taken off the market. That’s not just common ground, folks. That’s consensus.
Those figures make Rubio’s response as craven as Donald Trump’s backpedaling on his initial support for tougher gun laws.
….On 18 to 21 Age Limits, watching court cases and rulings before acting. States are making this decision. Things are moving rapidly on this, but not much political support (to put it mildly).
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 12, 2018
How much “common ground” and “political support” do Rubio and Trump want? Or do they want to make sure the faceless men who pull Wayne LaPierre and Dana Loesch’s strings approve?
Rubio got pounded hard on both Facebook and Twitter, and the pounding continued over the weekend. It’s well deserved. After all, it’s clear that he either doesn’t know, doesn’t understand, or refuses to understand that people are getting fed up with the NRA-imposed inertia on our gun laws.
If he doesn’t come to his senses soon, he will not only be remembered for his failed presidential run in 2016. He will also be remembered for thinking faceless men count more than his youngest constituents.
(featured image courtesy Jesse Costa, WBUR)
