Christmas is the most propped up, idealized time of how beautiful it is, family's all together, the decorations are gorgeous, we're in an Amblin movie.

But typically, in healthier times than ours, the connection between a candidate’s character and actions on the one hand, and their idealized symbolic projection on the other, remains visible and therefore functional.

We live in a culture that has idealized parenthood while simultaneously shaming parents for every problem their child encounters.

For example, you do not engage in conversations based on “mutual respect” and “the free exchange of ideas” and such niceties and quaint idealized assumptions with enemies of democracy.

She idealizes having a big, happy family, but there are aspects of the world that give her pause, so she struggles with whether it’s morally OK to have children.