Via the Free Beacon, this makes twice in five days that someone on MSNBC has waxed sanctimonious about the value of children’s lives, oblivious to the elephant in the room. (On Friday it was Kamala Harris.) If you want to defend gun-grabbing, have at it, but if you’re going to bring kids into it you’re obliged to deal with the elephant. If that means calling for gun control while studiously avoiding any insinuations about which party cares less about children, do that. If you want to go right at the elephant and try to reconcile your deep concern for children’s welfare with your pro-choice views, do that too. Either way. Just don’t pretend the elephant isn’t there. We all smell it.

In fairness to Tur, “Do you care more about guns or kids?” is also the point of that Jake Tapper town hall with some of the Stoneman Douglas students tomorrow night. CNN won’t be as heavy-handed as MSNBC, leaving it to the students themselves to pose the question rather than the anchor. But a town hall is supposedly where the public gets together to hash out different proposals for a policy problem, yet that’s not really what the students seem to have in mind. Calling the NRA “child murderers” and insisting that “you’re either with us or against us” has more of a j’accuse vibe, which is exactly what the left wants from this. If the point were to try to reach consensus on policy, you’d be better off with experts who’ve studied the issue for years to represent the anti-gun position. Showcasing the students is an emotional pitch, to leverage their Absolute Moral Authority.

That inspired Glenn Reynolds to ask a good question. If victimhood grants Absolute Moral Authority, there are some pro-gun victims who probably should be invited too, no?

https://twitter.com/instapundit/status/965665161464963072

They could have Kimberly Corban on too — although to its credit CNN *has* had her on during town halls before, when Barack Obama was onstage. Tapper seemed receptive to Reynolds’s suggestion on Twitter earlier so we’ll see how it goes. If one side of the debate gets to be represented by its most sympathetic advocates, let’s make sure both sides are.

Incidentally, the students experienced their first legislative defeat this afternoon. A Democratic motion to debate a bill banning assault rifles in the Florida House failed, 36/71. Exit question: Will this young man be featured tomorrow night as well? He’s a bit more skeptical than his classmates about what legislation can and can’t do.