Donald Trump’s election is so horrifying to liberals, some are struggling to explain the scary monster to their children.
A terrified-sounding L.A. Times writer Michelle Maltais, on Wednesday, cried out: “Parents always want to be able to say to their children, ‘You are safe.’ But at this moment, there are millions of Americans who cannot say that convincingly, even to themselves.”
Maltais began her column with accounts from scared parents: “‘My kid went to bed believing in the best of America,’ wrote one of my friends. ‘I can’t bear to wake him up.” That could be said of many disbelieving supporters of Hillary Clinton. America has elected Donald Trump as its next president. And the question that has surfaced across social media among so many who voted for Clinton – besides ‘How did this happen?’ – is what to tell our children.”
Maltis went on to recount all the liberal tears: “In my own social feed, some have said they’ll tell their kids that ‘in real life the bad guy wins way more often than the good guy.’ Many said they cried with their kids, who had stayed up to watch the returns.”
The following are the relevant excerpts are from Maltis’s November 9 column “Trump is President. What Do We Tell Our Children?”:
My kid went to bed believing in the best of America,” wrote one of my friends. “I can't bear to wake him up.”
That could be said of many disbelieving supporters of Hillary Clinton. America has elected Donald Trump as its next president. And the question that has surfaced across social media among so many who voted for Clinton – besides “How did this happen?” – is what to tell our children.
Parents always want to be able to say to their children, “You are safe.” But at this moment, there are millions of Americans who cannot say that convincingly, even to themselves.
Throughout the campaign, the veneer of civility was ripped away, revealing a coarseness, misogyny, xenophobia and racial hatred that had apparently percolated below the surface in so many corners undetected.
Parents struggled to contextualize for their children that a candidate for the highest office in the country displayed the very vulgarity and bullying behavior many families and schools worked so hard to combat.
In my own social feed, some have said they’ll tell their kids that “in real life the bad guy wins way more often than the good guy.” Many said they cried with their kids, who had stayed up to watch the returns.
“Your mom and your grandparents are immigrants,” one friend said he would tell his kids, flipping the immigrant story as encouragement to consider leaving the country. “Sometimes you have to leave your home for a better life."
