Parkland shooting survivor David Hogg has no doubt been through more emotional trauma than most of us will face in a lifetime. But lately, his crusade has been less about justice for the dead than it’s been about self-promotion and being a glorified mouthpiece for the gun control movement.
He’s spent the past several days making the rounds on the media circuit — and getting his facts colossally wrong in the process. His media admirers have thus far been pretty reluctant to set him straight. But National Review’s Charles C.W. Cooke doesn’t have that problem. Today, he called Hogg out for spouting dishonest — not to mention incoherent — talking points. With the utmost class, of course:
David Hogg: Gov. Rick Scott Should Be ‘Held Accountable’ For Sheriff’s Deputies That Didn’t Confront Shooter https://t.co/TDicgpJi3l pic.twitter.com/aqlUPl7x1p
— Mediaite (@Mediaite) February 26, 2018
This talking point, like most of Hogg’s contributions during this segment, is incoherent, and it is not an “attack on a kid” to point that out. Sheriff Israel is directly elected; he is not a member of Governor Scott’s “bureaucracy.” https://t.co/r6FFVyu36l
— Charles C. W. Cooke (@charlescwcooke) February 26, 2018
FL Dept of Children and Families, which also failed in this case, is part of Scott’s bureaucracy however https://t.co/Y5lm37FpCi
— John Harwood (@JohnJHarwood) February 26, 2018
Yes, John. If you change the topic away from what Hogg said, and introduce an entirely new question that wasn’t raised on air, you can indeed find a way to defend his point. https://t.co/p0QTG75lXP
— Charles C. W. Cooke (@charlescwcooke) February 26, 2018
https://twitter.com/GrubbinMuffMan/status/968114394612862978
I think we should listen to everybody. What we shouldn’t do is inoculate certain people against pushback, or decline to respond when we disagree. He’s wrong, and he’s been wrong frequently in the last few days. That should be noted. https://t.co/gGYhqKXMpv
— Charles C. W. Cooke (@charlescwcooke) February 26, 2018
Recommended
Hogg’s argument doesn’t make any sense at root. His view, stated on TV on Saturday, is that the cop shouldn’t have gone in because the shooter had an AR15. Now he blames Gov. Scott for the cop not going in. But if the cop shouldn’t have gone in, what’s there to blame Scott for?
— Charles C. W. Cooke (@charlescwcooke) February 26, 2018
The argument is that it is understandable why someone would not want to go into the building alone knowing they were outgunned.
— reedyrva (@reedyrva) February 26, 2018
Then even if the cop were under the governor’s authority, which he’s not, there’s nothing to blame the governor for.
— Charles C. W. Cooke (@charlescwcooke) February 26, 2018
https://twitter.com/flowers183/status/968117517146361858
Nobody disagrees with that statement.
— Charles C. W. Cooke (@charlescwcooke) February 26, 2018
I'm sorry, who are you to dare to argue with him
— John Podhoretz (@jpodhoretz) February 26, 2018
I know you’re joking, but I find the idea that you’re mocking—that you respect somebody more by declining to engage with their public arguments than by engaging—to be farcical.
— Charles C. W. Cooke (@charlescwcooke) February 26, 2018
He’s a child who just saw a horrible tragedy. Let this pass.
— (((Sen. G?oldman, Unimpeachable)) (@NotAbouThatBase) February 26, 2018
No. That’s condescending.
— Charles C. W. Cooke (@charlescwcooke) February 26, 2018
https://twitter.com/Mearley1881/status/968118062347177985
It is far more condescending to refuse to engage with the public arguments he’s making than it is to listen to them and respond. https://t.co/rgMH1d9XPS
— Charles C. W. Cooke (@charlescwcooke) February 26, 2018
Can you not understand you can hold both views? A single cop against an AR-15 is a suicide. Cops are trained to charge the shooter asap to decrease mortality & morbidity. This cop failed. You can think both things at once. I do.
— Risky Liberal (@RiskyLiberal) February 26, 2018
Even that doesn’t make sense. The cop didn’t know what the weapon was because he didn’t go in. I also reject your premise that the AR-15 is some sort of super-weapon, but that’s besides the point.
— Charles C. W. Cooke (@charlescwcooke) February 26, 2018
https://twitter.com/andybuckner/status/968119321191944192
One of us in this exchange is implying that Hogg is worth ignoring and disdaining, and it’s not me. https://t.co/t3Z5cCW46I
— Charles C. W. Cooke (@charlescwcooke) February 26, 2018
Hogg excused the cop's failure to go in because the shooter had an AR-15. It follows logically that if Gov Scott's policies allowed the shooter to have an AR-15, Scott can be blamed for the cop not going in. https://t.co/LIz0NuTRhn
— I-See-Clowns ??? (@jrterrier5) February 26, 2018
And yet the cop didn’t go in, so didn’t know the shooter had an AR-15, which obviates this line too.
— Charles C. W. Cooke (@charlescwcooke) February 26, 2018
It is not. I’m a parent. Hogg is a child, who went through something horrible. He isn’t a professional writer or author. Your criticism is misdirected, despite his inconsistencies. Have you no compassion?
— (((Sen. G?oldman, Unimpeachable)) (@NotAbouThatBase) February 26, 2018
The on-the-heels switch from “these eloquent young Americans are making a mass movement and must be extended the right to vote” to “why engage with weak and irrelevant little kids you meanie?” is transparent and cynical, and should be rejected as such. https://t.co/wU1vDbvvFG
— Charles C. W. Cooke (@charlescwcooke) February 26, 2018
This young man is engaged in a national political debate, and should be treated as such.
— Charles C. W. Cooke (@charlescwcooke) February 26, 2018
https://twitter.com/jason_pontin/status/968123223647846400
You must have mistaken me for somebody who falls for this sort of special pleading.
— Charles C. W. Cooke (@charlescwcooke) February 26, 2018
Well I underestimated the cruelty which people exhibit nowadays. Here we have a child who witnessed his friends being executed, but his possible logical inconsistencies require him to be condemned. What is wrong with you people? Signed, a 2nd Amendment supporter. https://t.co/kMvlSZsSLl
— (((Sen. G?oldman, Unimpeachable)) (@NotAbouThatBase) February 26, 2018
I didn’t “condemn” him. He engaged in a public debate, and he received a public response. If you can’t distinguish between an argument an an “attack,” that’s not my problem.
— Charles C. W. Cooke (@charlescwcooke) February 26, 2018
https://twitter.com/johnspierce/status/968124379916779521
That’s absolutely fine.
— Charles C. W. Cooke (@charlescwcooke) February 26, 2018
Heh.
https://twitter.com/andybuckner/status/968124888937648129
I’ll engage in public argument at my pleasure, certainly.
— Charles C. W. Cooke (@charlescwcooke) February 26, 2018
Not necessarily. It would make sense to argue that:
1. Cop shouldn’t have gone in because shooter had AR-15;
2. Gov. Scott (& policies) to blame for shooter having AR-15; therefore
3. Gov. Scott to blame for cop staying outside.
You can disagree without it being illogical. https://t.co/KZNi4pITI1
— (((Ethan Corey))) (@EthanDCorey) February 26, 2018
That wasn’t his argument.
— Charles C. W. Cooke (@charlescwcooke) February 26, 2018
An argument is not “an attack.”
— Charles C. W. Cooke (@charlescwcooke) February 26, 2018
I’m guessing here but when you’ve been in combat or a live shooting where someone with an AR-15 is hunting you and killing your friends to get to you, you get a bye on how to solve the problem or who to blame. He’s right on common sense gun control.
— Glenn Parent (@Glennsford) February 26, 2018
You get nothing of the sort.
— Charles C. W. Cooke (@charlescwcooke) February 26, 2018
Sheriff can be removed through the power of the Governor. https://t.co/GqK7zeb53y
— Voter_M (@Voter_M) February 26, 2018
And should be. But this has nothing to do with this argument, unless you think the Governor erred by not being clairvoyant?
— Charles C. W. Cooke (@charlescwcooke) February 26, 2018
https://twitter.com/RPBrat/status/968130331315449856
Please read more closely.
— Charles C. W. Cooke (@charlescwcooke) February 26, 2018
And where were you and what were you doing at 17 years old, Mr. Cooke? I get the feeling that you were born an old cranky guy
— Kay D’Antonio (@KayDA26) February 26, 2018
I certainly wasn’t offering political opinions and expecting to hear no response.
— Charles C. W. Cooke (@charlescwcooke) February 26, 2018
Oh, snap!
True, and yet look at all the Republican lawmakers calling on Scott to remove Israel from office. https://t.co/QhtkTUkzS1
— Nick Confessore (@nickconfessore) February 26, 2018
He can remove him. But only after the fact. What was he supposed to do: pre-remove him?
— Charles C. W. Cooke (@charlescwcooke) February 26, 2018
It’s sad that Charles, an enlightened, brilliant thinker, has been debased to the point of arguing with self-righteous, ignorant high schoolers. https://t.co/QQlz8svUSs
— Newman (@mt_newman) February 26, 2018
You’re the one insulting them. I’m not. I’m listening to them, and I’m responding. That’s how free nations work.
— Charles C. W. Cooke (@charlescwcooke) February 26, 2018
Hogg's arguments are no more logically inconsistent than those of weapon-rights advocates. You're doing what people like Ben Shapiro do and picking apart low hanging fruit instead of making a cogent argument for your own position.
— Matt Moertel (@cmmoertel) February 26, 2018
Indeed. It’s not as if I’ve written a million words in defense of my own position since 2011, or that all that work is public.
— Charles C. W. Cooke (@charlescwcooke) February 26, 2018
And yet here you are, on Twitter, picking apart the words of a 17 year old 280 characters at a time.
— Matt Moertel (@cmmoertel) February 26, 2018
That’s right. I respect him enough to argue with him when he engages in public debate and becomes the biggest story in America. You, evidently, do not.
— Charles C. W. Cooke (@charlescwcooke) February 26, 2018
And that’s why Cooke is the master. America is lucky as hell to have him.
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