After the disgusting and terrifying election of trump, former Missouri Senator Claire McCaskill conceded by saying that Trump “knows America better than we do.” This is the same candidate for U.S. Senate who also didn’t “know” Missouri in 2018 when the experienced politician lost to kid wanna-be trump Josh Hawley. The Democratic leadership has been stuck on stupid for several election cycles and our fragile democracy is already paying a hefty price.

This is our teachable moment to take a hard look at these practices and make meaningful changes. When a bombastic trump was on the campaign trail in 2016, he boasted he could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody” and not “lose any voters.

I really don’t know why there has been no concerted response. Maybe it’s because of the general chaos in this society that we don’t focus on the needs and concerns of children and youth. Maybe it’s because adults don’t really know how to respond. I refuse to believe it’s because we do not care. But when a student survivor of St. Louis’ first school shooting came to me for a platform to express her discounted pain, I wondered about us as a society.