In Denouncing Trump, We Teach Our Children.

We’ve officially arrived at too far.

We’ve been building toward this since Donald Trump descended his gilded escalator in mid-2015 and, simultaneously, declared Mexicans rapists and himself a candidate for President. As he screamed and scapegoated his way to the White House, lowlights included mocking the handicapped, attacking the parents of a fallen U.S. soldier, and vulgarly bragging about sexual assault.

While we worried about these disgusting displays influencing our children, we were confident that Trump had an expiration date – namely November 8. 2016.

And then he won.

In the most unenviable of civics lessons, we tried to show our children that President Trump, being fairly elected, deserved a chance to lead. Meanwhile, we hoped that the awesome responsibility of the Presidency would curtail his least palatable tendencies. We hoped that Trump the President wouldn’t resemble Trump the candidate.

He started poorly, bloviating about Inauguration Day crowds while commemorating slain intelligence officers. It got worse with, among other disgraces, a thinly-veiled ban on Muslims, discrimination against transgender Americans, and a science-denying exit from a worldwide effort to combat climate change.

Now, following his equivocating white supremacists with those protesting them, and subsequent refusal to back off that claim, the time has come to be honest with our children about what Donald Trump is: Hopeless.

A Pew Research poll found just 16 percent of Americans agree with Trump’s conduct as president. Opposing bigotry and embracing honesty aren’t political choices; they are moral ones. Trump has proven irredeemable – and we as parents need to square that with our child-rearing duties.

Kids need role models, and everyone sets examples; President Trump simply sets bad ones. He is all Goofus and no Gallant – the antithesis of what parents should want their children to become. But the crystal-clear contrasts Trump creates between right and wrong can, if duly denounced, help us teach valuable lessons to our children. Here are five.

Lying, and caving to peer pressure, catches up with you.

Even for a politician, Donald Trump is an unabashed liar. According to PolitiFact, a whopping 70% of Trump’s public statements range in veracity from “Mostly False” to the ultra-untrue “Pants on Fire.”

Meanwhile, Trump’s actions are, like no previous President, transparent appeals to his “base.” Anti-science posturing. Dog whistle racism. Nuclear brinksmanship. Whether Trump really thinks the way he acts is irrelevant. You are what you Tweet.

Here’s where it’s gotten him: Historically low approval ratings and a potentially ruinous investigation into campaign collusion with Russia. For kids, the point is clear: Liars and panderers eventually get what’s coming to them.

Stand up to bullies.

Oxymoronic to the cowardly bows to his base, Donald Trump is a classic bully. He picks fights with vulnerable people. He engages in puerile name-calling. He makes empty threats (how’s that wall-building money from Mexico coming?).

Kids are noticing – they’re even quoting Trump to justify their own bullying.

If a bully as powerful as the President can be resisted, so can any bully. Trump’s ascension has galvanized those unafraid to stand firm against a loudmouthed oppressor. The Women’s March, efforts to protect healthcare benefits for millions, and movements to save 800,000 immigrants brought here as children exemplify bravery, resolve and adherence to the Golden Rule. In defiance of Trump, role models abound.

Most people who are wrong aren’t bad – they’re just misguided.

Among the most disturbing scenes of Trump’s presidency are his campaign-style rallies, full of frothy-mouthed sycophants squealing approval as he dehumanizes minorities, declares the free press a national threat, and alters recent history. An August poll found 61% of Trump supporters would support him no matter what he did. That’s the stuff of a cult leader – one that has roughly one in five Americans guzzling Kool-Aid.

Teachable takeaway: These people aren’t bad, they just don’t know any better. Most were initially attracted by something reasonable – the promise of better job prospects, for example. Most feel aggrieved or forgotten in ways that Trump vowed to fix. They aren’t miscreants; they’re just misguided. We should empathize whenever possible, and seek to find common ground.

Be prepared.

A major factor in Trump’s failures is his utter unpreparedness. It’s increasingly clear to the public, media (including conservative pundits) and even members of his own Party that Trump rarely possesses sufficient knowledge to succeed at his job.

A recent headline in typically centrist, balanced Newsweek says it all: President Trump Has the Work Ethic of a Bored, Lazy Child. And if you don’t do your homework, you won’t pass the test.

The obvious takeaway: Don’t be a bored, lazy child. The persistence of learning and practice is crucial to succeeding in school, work, relationships. Anything worthwhile takes effort.

This is only temporary, and we’ll get through it.

Sometimes situations are beyond our control, and it’s best to just buck up, calm down, and reassure ourselves that “This, too, shall pass.” Some hardships must simply be endured, at least temporarily – in Trump’s case, until November 2020.

We – a “we” encompassing everything from this wonderful country to our beautiful children – are enduring, resilient, exceptional. Generations of Americans have raised their kids through war, depression, natural disasters. A fool like Donald Trump won’t break us, and we’ll emerge stronger from his shadow.

For now, we do what we can; we resist with hope rather than despair. In doing so, we teach our children how character can be forged in adversity. We must be the role models our President so clearly is not.

Photo: Pixabay