Overheard conversation between two high school boys, both white, who were working at the grocery store yesterday:

"He's a young guy. Maybe it'll be like Kennedy again."

"Without the assassination part."

[short laugh] "Yeah, really."

Teenagers are creatures of extremes, it's true. They give frank voice to their desires. They also give frank voice to their fears, often using humor, sometimes inappropriate humor, or irony in order to maintain the ever-important image of cool.

I live in the part of PA that [ahem] clings bitterly to its guns and its religion. I am encouraged, first that those boys had enough historical memory to be able to compare contemporary politics to events before they were born, even if they picked it up from their parents, and second, that they are assessing threats in a realistic way.

Maybe the teenagers in your region are speaking the truth about their wishes. Maybe they're speaking the truth about their doubts and fears, in a way that they think makes them look tough and cool. I couldn't say. But if I can hear what I heard here, maybe what you heard isn't as dire as it sounds.