On Monday, U.S. Capitol Police arrested 42 protesters outside Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s Washington, D.C., office. The protesters, organized by the Sunrise Movement, slammed McConnell for his opposition to the Green New Deal, despite McConnell’s decision to allow the resolution to reach the floor of the Senate.
“This morning, the United States Capitol Police arrested 42 individuals for unlawfully demonstrating outside of room 317 in the Russell Senate Office Building. All were charged with D.C. Code §22-1307, Crowding, Obstructing, or Incommoding,” Eva Malecki, communications director for the Capitol Police, told PJ Media in a statement.
The Sunrise Movement claimed that about “200 young people” stormed McConnell’s office, urging him to “stop playing games with the lives of future generations.”
BREAKING: Destine has been camping outside of #OilMoneyMitch office in Kentucy. Today she is leading 200 young people into his DC office to demand that he #LookUsInTheEyes and stop playing games with the lives of future generations. Sign the GND petition https://t.co/dDxKbtPBxT pic.twitter.com/VlO5Pfq9ou
— Sunrise Movement 🌅 (@sunrisemvmt) February 25, 2019
Environmental groups branded McConnell “Oil Money Mitch” in a campaign unlikely to replace his much more popular moniker, “Cocaine Mitch.”
“HAPPENING NOW: hundreds of young people are heading to US Sen. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s office, demanding [Oil Money Mitch look us in the eyes] and admit he thinks fossil fuel billionaires’ profits > our futures. We need a [Green New Deal]—and leadership who will fight for it,” the group 350.org tweeted.
HAPPENING NOW: hundreds of young people are heading to US Sen. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's office, demanding #OilMoneyMitch #LookUsInTheEyes and admit he thinks fossil fuel billionaires' profits > our futures.
We need a #GreenNewDeal—and leadership who will fight for it. pic.twitter.com/BM5D1cUQDP
— 350 dot org (@350) February 25, 2019
Journalists shared photos of the activists “occupying” McConnell’s office.
Sunrise activists from Kentucky are occupying Mitch McConnell’s office pic.twitter.com/eGludu8Cnw
— Ryan Grim (@ryangrim) February 25, 2019
Freshman Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) unveiled the shoddy and absurd Green New Deal resolution earlier this month. Many Democratic senators who are running for president in 2020 have endorsed the resolution. McConnell scheduled a vote for the resolution in the U.S. Senate, aiming to hoist Democrats by their own petards. Ironically, this move is extremely generous to Green New Deal supporters, as Republican Senate leadership would not likely allow a vote on a bill so far to the Left.
The Sunrise Movement has become notorious for spreading fake news in support of Ocasio-Cortez’s green dream.
Over the weekend, the Sunrise Movement released a deceptively edited video of Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) supposedly disrespecting children who came to her office to protest in favor of the Green New Deal. The organization tweeted that Feinstein treated the children “with smugness and disrespect.”
This is how @SenFeinstein reacted to children asking her to support the #GreenNewDeal resolution — with smugness + disrespect.
This is a fight for our generation's survival. Her reaction is why young people desperately want new leadership in Congress. pic.twitter.com/0zAkaxruMI
— Sunrise Movement 🌅 (@sunrisemvmt) February 22, 2019
The full, unedited video showed nothing of the sort, however. Feinstein merely explained to the children that the Green New Deal could not pass. She even offered one of them an internship.
Here's the @SenFeinstein video threaded #DianneFeinstein To recap: she engaged on substance, told them she might vote "yes," and OFFERED ONE OF THEM AN INTERNSHIP. pt 1 pic.twitter.com/2Qgob2CH1V
— Tommy X-TrumpIsARacist-opher (@tommyxtopher) February 23, 2019
Even the Green New Deal rollout was plagued with disaster, as Ocasio-Cortez’s office released a horrific “Frequently Asked Questions” document suggesting the liberals intended to get rid of farting cows and airplanes. The office retracted that document, but the Green New Deal resolution still includes ridiculous proposals like updating every single building in the United States, providing access to clean water for everyone, and boosting rail travel so much that airplanes will become unnecessary.
When I analyzed Ocasio-Cortez’s plan before she released the resolution, the cost came to about $49.109 trillion in the first ten years. After the resolution came out, the American Action Forum estimated the cost at between $51 trillion and $93 trillion in the first ten years.
Democrats should think long and hard before endorsing such a bill, and McConnell was smart to bring it to a vote in the Senate. The shoddy and absurd Green New Deal will be a key issue in 2020, and the 42 people arrested for supporting it will not make the proposal any more reasonable.
Follow Tyler O’Neil, the author of this article, on Twitter at @Tyler2ONeil.
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