A Bad Example

Yesterday afternoon, after a weekend filled with 45's tweets dissing NFL and NBA stars who exercised their First Amendment right to free speech, after his use of crude language, after his complete Tweet disregard of American territory Puerto Rico and it's hurricane-beseiged populace (composed of American citizens), I threw my hands in the air. "Whatever the president does," I told my children, "do the opposite. He is not a role model, he is a bad example."

They grasped the concept instantly. 

"You mean, don't hate on people who think or look different than you?" asked the older son.

"Yeah, and don't get mad if someone's better at basketball or football," said the younger son.

"And don't get in a shouting match with a bully  and make stupid threats," said my daughter, who is keeping a watchful eye on North Korea.

I'm glad they understand me, that their knowledge of right and wrong makes clear the prejudice, immaturity, impatience and disrespect inherent in every move that 45 makes.  Yet I am so frustrated that their country is run by this man. That my eleven-year-old comes home every day and tells me "the world is going to explode tomorrow."  That my daughter balances her concern about college applications with the knowledge that "nuclear war could break out." That  American citizens in Texas and Florida receive proclamations of mercy and visits from leaders while the American citizens in Puerto Rico receive no public attention, even when their country's infrastructure has been set back by decades.

I don't even have the heart to tell my children about the worst stories, like ICE arresting a mother and father while they sat in a hospital waiting for their infant child to have lifesaving surgery. That my friend Ingrid is being deported and her children will either be motherless or have to go with her to Peru, where their chance of education and advancement is slim to none. Desperately seeking some sense and positive direction for my children, I have to look elsewhere. Maybe to Angela Merkel of Germany, arguably now the leader of the free world.  Or Justin Trudeau of Canada or the Pope.  Anywhere but the White House, where they will only find the cautionary tale of a bad example.