This is probably not the time to point out that the governor of New Jersey seems to have a rather retro view of the roles of mothers, who are likely to be heading off to work themselves. But here’s the thing: The threat was a hoax. New York got the same message and kept classes going after officials determined that the writer was not only a phony, but a phony who had no clue how to sound like either a Muslim or a terrorist.

The lesson from Los Angeles would seem to be that the country needs to find a way to operate in a calm and rational manner, aware of the possibility of disaster but cleareyed about the fact that the odds against a terrorist attack at any particular place or time are astronomical. We are most definitely not in need of politicians trying to scare the pants off the voting public.

“We haven’t heard a lot about Ronald Reagan’s city on a hill,” the questioner Hugh Hewitt said rather plaintively, yearning for some optimism. The audience was getting the Ronald Reagan who blew up a wagon full of gunpowder in “Cattle Queen of Montana.”

The topic was national defense, and Donald Trump seemed stumped by a question about the three ways America could conduct nuclear attacks — from air, land or sea. “I think, I think for me, nuclear is just the power, the devastation is very important to me,” the front-runner said.

Not a problem. He can hire somebody who knows about nuclear weapons. Somebody really great.

The campaign’s current up-and-comer, Ted Cruz, expressed enthusiasm for carpet-bombing, a tactic he seemed to be unaware the United States hasn’t used since Vietnam, and one that he apparently imagines could be targeted so strategically that it would kill only terrorists.