Deferring to the village

In the aftermath of Donald Trump being elected President, a lot of lefty parents had downright freak outs. Perhaps the most common phrase uttered was "How do I explain this to my children?!?!?!"

When I initially heard that query, the first thought which came to my mind was what in the world were you telling the kids before Election Day? It's not like a President of the United States has this unchecked power which allows him/her to run roughshod over America by implementing whatever policies he/she so desires (To be fair, many of these hysterical parents were likely supporters of President Barack Obama, thus they naturally assumed this country has an imperial presidency).

Ali Wentworth, the wife of ABC news guy (and former Bill Clinton staffer) George Stephanopoulos, shared some anecdotes of dealing with the couple's two daughters (ages 11 and 14) upon Trump emerging victorious.

“I have an eleven-year-old daughter who doesn’t really understand what ISIS is but she knows that she is scared and she is now sleeping in bed with us every night,” Wentworth said.

“Yeah, so what do you do? You got little girls, you see what’s happening,” co-host Whoopi Goldberg responded. “What can you say to other parents who are at their wit’s end with their children who are scared, and they’re also scared as adults?”

Wentworth responded to Goldberg before she continued describing the distress her children have felt since election night.

“It just involves my fourteen-year-old getting upset about the election and screaming ‘no abortions’ really loudly,” Wentworth recalled.

So if their pal Hillary had won, was ISIS going to somehow become less scary? And was it that important to have a Commander in Chief who believes killing a baby in utero be deemed sacrosanct? Well, guess what? It looks as though you'll actually have to be parents by showing your own strength and conviction to the kids. Yes, I know this is a world in peril and that Mom & Dad may have their own anxieties about how to proceed with life in addition to being effective in child rearing. But this idea that parenting will become so much easier if your preferred political candidate wins is utterly ludicrous.

I guess the one surefire recommendation to soothe the kids' trepidation over a President Trump would be a lesson in Federalism and Separation of Powers. Of course it might behoove the parents to indulge in a refresher (or perhaps introductory) course themselves.

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