The kids are merely pawns; the agenda is set way up the chain

This story is getting remarked upon:

The Sunrise Movement (whatever that is) and their supporters are enraged that their publicity stunt in Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s office didn’t result in her worshipping “the children,” telling them they’re the future, and promising to vote for AOC’s “Green New Deal” right away! According to them, that makes DiFi smug and disrespectful. Many other viewers, though, think DiFi is dropping a truth bomb on their guilt parade.

[In the Sunrise Movement video] the children (who should be the ones solving the world’s problems since they’re only tainted by false science and propaganda and not by oil and gas money) impishly present their letter to Sen. Feinstein. When Feinstein kindly responds that she has her own Green New Deal, and that it’s not going to get turned around in the 10 or 12 years, the children are shocked almost into silence. 

A young woman with the group interrupts Feinstein, saying:

“Senator, if this doesn’t get turned around in 12 years, you’re looking at the faces of the people who are going to be living with these consequences.”

Now the younger children know it’s okay to disrespect the Senator, so they jump right in.

“And the government is supposed to be by the people and for the people and…”

Feinstein’s already had enough of their rudeness and inability to have an actual conversation.

“You know what’s interesting about this group is, I’ve been doing this for 30 years. I know what I’m doing. You come in here and you say it has to be my way or the highway. I don’t respond to that. Ive gotten elected. I just ran. I was elected by almost a million vote plurality, and I know what I’m doing. So, you know, maybe people should listen a little bit.”

The whiny young woman then tells Feinstein that “we’re the people who elected you,” so she has to listen to them – which is what she’s doing. Feinstein asks how old the young woman is. When she replies, “16,” Feinstein retorts, “Then you didn’t elect me.” That is not the response the group was looking for.
A younger child then says repeatedly, in a finger-wagging tone:

“It doesn’t matter. We’re gonna be the ones who are impacted.

The whining teenager continues to simultaneously beg and shame Feinstein while the younger children spout memorized talking points.

“There is enormous popularity for this bill around the whole country, and we’re asking you to be brave…”

Well, if it’s so popular, why would she need to be brave to vote for it? Feinstein assured them that she was “trying to do the best” she can, and that was “to write a responsible solution.” It’s almost certain that conservatives won’t agree with that Feinstein’s solution is responsible, but at least she has the sense to not get attached to AOC’s drivel.
That didn’t sit well with the whiny older teen.

“Any plan that does not take bold, transformative action is not gonna be what we need!”

As a mother and a grandmother, Feinstein’s dealt with emo teenage girls before. She replied:

“Well, you know better than I do, so I think one day you should run for the Senate. And then you can do it your way.”

The first 90 seconds of the video are hilarious, and then the incessant whining makes it nearly intolerable. Sen. Feinstein is no friend of conservatism, but she tried to teach these young people a few lessons about how the world really works. It’s a shame that they won’t listen. 

Indeed. Feinstein undeniably has a few scummy stunts on her track record, but she deserves a hearty good-on-ya for the way she handled this.

Television pundit and former teacher and high school dean Jedidiah Bila's tweet about this indicates she's familiar with this scenario:

Feinstein’s attitude got all the headlines. What should’ve gotten the headlines is the way these kids were being used as political props by the adults standing beside them. Happens in schools all the time, have witnessed it first-hand on too many occasions.

Unfortunately, I got a first-hand taste of this the other evening. You'll recall this portion of a post from Wednesday:

(By the way, I have to share an experience I had last evening that sent my blood pressure through the roof. I was covering the local city council meeting for a local radio station's website. The business on the agenda was conducted efficiently, but then a bunch of kids in grades 2 through 6 from a local Catholic school were brought into the council chambers. In waves of three at a time, they spoke to the council about how the city needs to "up its game" regarding "climate change," citing recent floods, droughts and such as some kind of evidence of a crisis. Basically laid down demands, in their adorable little way, that the city organize a task force and set goals with measurable results. I left their  horrifying little display out of my story about the meeting. Who the hell put these kids up to this? How far up the chain of decision-making at this school did this germinate? The council members and the mayor all sat there, charmed, or at least looking like it.  A lady from the administration explained to the students that "we are taking measures along these lines, but here at City Hall we call it sustainability." I came real close to jettisoning all trappings of an objective-journalist bearing. Alas, I have bills to pay, so I kept my trap zipped.)

So I guess this is a thing now. Indoctrination specialists teachers putting impressionable kids up to snot-nosedly confronting adults on matters of science and public policy that go way over the kiddies' heads.

The adults in these situations need to handle this the way Feinstein did every single time or the momentum of our societal decay is going to accelerate beyond even its present horrifying pace.

You can't just sit there and smile and act charmed.

That's just what these kids' jackbooted handlers are counting on.