Children’s Crusade: High school students marched on the Florida’s capitol in Tallahassee yesterday chanting “Never again!” and “Our blood, your hands!” The students have sparked a movement unlike anything that came after previous mass shootings.

Speaking in the capitol rotunda, Sarah Chadwick, a junior at Stoneman Douglas High School, said “Never again should a child be afraid to go to school. Never again should students have to protest for their lives. Never again should an innocent life be taken while trying to gain an education.”

For the current generation of students, the “active shooter” drill is the equivalent of the “duck and cover” nuclear drills for the baby boomer generation. The difference is that nuclear war never struck, but school shootings have become common.

CNN  held a riveting town hall meeting last night in which students, parents, and teachers grilled Republican Sen. Marco Rubio about his positions on guns. Rubio said he did not think an assault weapons ban would have prevented the Stoneman Douglas shooting, but he said he is re-considering his position on other issues, including magazine capacity for semi-automatic weapons.

Rubio, who has accepted more than $3 million from the National Rifle Association, repeatedly dodged a student who asked if he would continue to take the NRA’s money.

In Washington yesterday, President Trump held a “listening session” with parents and students to talk about solutions to gun violence and school shootings.

Samuel Zeif, a Stoneman Douglas student wept as he told of losing his best friend in last week’s massacre. “I don’t understand why I can still go in a store and buy a weapon of war,” he said, sobbing.

Andrew Pollack, the father of 18-year-old old Meadow Pollack who died in last week’s spoke about beefing up school security. “All these school shootings, it doesn’t make sense. Fix it!” Pollack said. “And I’m pissed. Because my daughter… She’s not here. She’s not here. She’s in Fort Lauderdale King David cemetery, that is where I go to see my kid now.”

Pollack added, “It is not about gun laws. That is another fight, another battle. Let’s fix the schools and then you guys can battle it out whatever you want.”

President Trump seemed most attracted to the idea of training and arming teachers and staff to engage school shooters in return fire. “If you had a teacher who was adept with the firearm, they could very well end the attack quickly,” he said.

In the meantime, the Broward County sheriff announced that for the foreseeable future schools in his county will be guarded by deputies carrying assault rifles.

Conspiracy Theory: An aide to a Florida state representative has been fired after claiming that students from Stoneman Douglas campaigning for gun control are actually “crisis actors” stirring partisan debates. An email written by the aide, Benjamin Kelly, referred to Emma González, 18, and David Hogg, 17, two extraordinarily articulate students, saying, “Both kids in the picture here are not students but actors that travel to various crisis when they happen.”

Notice how conspiracy theorists are always semi-literate?

Lucian Wintrich writes for the right-wing Gateway Pundit that the students in the forefront are part of a theater group. “A theatrical background easily explains these students’ comfort on camera, composure, and ability to deliver the lines they are given while framing them with emotional call-to-action rhetorical devices.”

Conspiracy theories have become common after mass shootings. Some true believers claimed that the Pulse nightclub shooting was a “false flag” operation staged by the government and that the survivors who appeared in the news were actors. Many people, including conspiracy nut Alex Jones of Infowars, have pushed the theory that the massacre of 26 children and teachers at the Sandy Hook school in Newtown, Conn., never happened.

The Russia Thing: With the country’s attention on the Florida school shooting and guns, President Trump is obsessed with the Russia election-influencing investigation. He tweeted yesterday, “Question: If all of the Russian meddling took place during the Obama Administration, right up to January 20th, why aren’t they the subject of the investigation? Why didn’t Obama do something about the meddling? Why aren’t Dem crimes under investigation? Ask Jeff Sessions!”

It’s not true that Obama did nothing, although he may not have done enough. As for Democratic crimes, he doesn’t say what crimes he’s talking about.

The Obit Page: The Rev. Billy Graham, the fire and brimstone preacher who took his crusade for Christianity around the world for 50 years, has died at home in North Carolina at age 99.

Graham was armed with the word of God and a voice that sounded like it. He took his crusade from the revival tents to stadiums filled with thousands of worshippers, parting the way for the television megachurches of today.

He insinuated himself into public life as America’s most famous pastor, making sure to be seen with a string of presidents and always being on hand at critical moments. He read scripture at President Nixon’s funeral and prayed for victims of the 9/11 attacks.

He was uncompromising in his message that the only way to live is with believe in God. He said, “The only hope for enduring peace is Jesus Christ.”

Five Rings: The US women beat Canada 3-2 in overtime to win gold in the Olympic hockey tournament. Canada had won it four times in a row. — Mikaela Shiffrin finished second in the women’s Alpine combined. Lindsey Vonn went without a medal. —- American Jamie Anderson became the first woman to win two Olympic medals in snowboarding, taking silver in the “Big Air” halfpipe competition. Anderson previously won gold in slopestyle.

45: Photographers zeroed in yesterday on a reminder card President Trump held during his “listening” meeting. Last on the list was a reminder to say, “I hear you.” Less noticed was the left cuff of his white shirt embroidered with “45.” He needs to be reminded of that, too.

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