Dear President Trump,

You are spewing molten asphalt to pave the way for a civil war with your imperial demand that the DOJ investigate the FBI, aren’t you? You and Team Trump have already laid down the initial subgrade by convincing your base that “fake news,” “alternative facts,” and “witch hunts” are all real and being used against you and ultimately against them. You’ve handily got half of us thinking up is down and down is up and much of the other half wanting to hide under a rock until this is all over. It’s quite masterful, really. Incredibly cynical and absolutely terrifying, but as bumbling as all these maneuvers have been, you all have somehow made it work. Did Steve B rescript Mein Kampf for 21^st century America to give you a playbook to follow? You are just a tool so there is no way you masterminded any of this. Bu how did you all get the stalwart never-Trump GOP people to fall in line? I know I’ve posited before that Vladimir is blackmailing them or they are greedy beyond imagination (or both), but I really want to know how it is you’ve managed to sideline them so effectively.

This latest round of ginned up accusations against the FBI’s activities during Obama’s presidency is particularly disgusting and clever. In one fell swoop you get to fan the racist flames against him and whip up outrage that the no-good n-person rigged the system against their guy, you get to plant the idea that it was illegal for the FBI to investigate whether your campaign was at risk of being duped by Russia (or was colluding with them or both), and you get to undermine Mr. Mueller and his team’s findings if they go against you. Very slick. Oh, and plus you get to sow yet more discord, division, and distrust in the populous at large. Not a bad exchange for having handed your phone over to Stephen M Saturday morning so “your” tweets hereby demanding that the DOJ investigate the FBI would be coherent and correctly spelled, if ridiculous sounding.

On the bright side, I had my first monarch butterfly siting of the year today. Let’s hope the flapping of its wings here in Seattle sets off a positive chain of events that corrects the crazy coming out of DC.

May we be safe from despots and their keepers.
May we be happy to hold onto the hope inherent in butterflies.
May we collectively be healthy enough to resist the pull towards civil implosion.
May a critical number of us take the high road and not be bated into war.

Sincerely,
Tracy Simpson