That's Why*

Happy Father's Day!

Last night, tens of thousands of people expected to show up for Trump in Tulsa stayed hone instead. Their absence and their silence sent a blunt message: Even the President's base is tired of his hate-mongering.

They chose to protect their families and friends from the Covid-19 infection that will now inevitably spread among the relatively small crowd that did attend the campaign event. But perhaps the worst-case public health catastrophe will be avoided..

Trump's appearance was an abject failure; one of the most embarrassing and humiliating spectacles in modern political history. His attempts to divide us by race, color, creed, class, gender, age, and political preference have failed.

We are all better than that.

***

This is one of those moments you are proud to be a parent. We all try to do our best, raising our children to be ethical, compassionate beings. We want them to achieve material success, of course, and there is nothing wrong with that. We are fortunate to live in a country with the natural and human resources to sustain success for millions of people, but there are still way too many who are left behind.

On the one hand, our society is capable of producing a nine-year-old girl who skates and dances like an angel on the Black Lives Matter banner painted on the streets of Washington D.C. Her message is one not of fear or hate but one of hope.

At the same time, lest anyone forget, the demagogue remains in power, with four-and-a-half months to try and salvage his tattered political career.  He has enough time to apologize for the awful things he has said and done and to ask for forgiveness.

Should he do so, many people would forgive him. We are a compassionate people and we would rather see him grow and evolve as a human being than allow ourselves to shrink and shrivel into what would have been our worst selves.

We are better than that.

***

Father's Day is deeply personal for me. I have three daughters and three sons and feel pride in them and their achievements. That's what I celebrate this Father's Day.

My children have been out there in the streets marching for freedom and justice. They have carried signs and they have chanted. They all vote and participate in attempts to improve our society and preserve life on this planet.

They have brought seven more young people into our world, three girls and four boys. Those children are in turn the ones who dance and sing at our parties now. Their sweet voices fill the air around us with hope.

And our brightest hopes can overcome our darkest fears.

Growing up is always hard, regardless of circumstances. Sometimes their hearts will be broken, some of their dreams may prove unattainable.

But the way they are being raised ensures that their values and aspirations will be to help make our world a better place, not one riven by racism and hate.

They are better than that. We all are.

* = Today's essay is a direct answer to yesterday's, which was called "Why Us?"

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