Dear President Trump,

I’m struggling today. I’m at a loss as to how to respond to what you are doing to people, to our country, to the world. This isn’t a new experience, by any means, but the Supreme Court’s decision upholding your Muslim travel ban in the wake of our country separating children from their parents at the border has me reeling. I still want to somehow aim the hate and anger I feel just at your behavior rather than at you as a person, but if I’m honest with myself and with you, I crossed that line a long time ago and now I can’t pretend otherwise. I actually hate you. I don’t think I’ve ever said that to anyone else in my entire life. I don’t want to hate you and I am still going to work simultaneously at loving you in a namaste sense, but really, I hate you. Even if you are just a tool of Putin’s and the Mercer’s you are odious, despicable, and hateful.

I didn’t consciously plan it, but this morning before leaving for work I started chickpeas soaking for falafel. As I got dinner ready this evening I kept imagining what it must be like in the homes of Muslim families here in the US and in the Middle East where people are trying to cope with the devastating news that the Supreme Court has backed up your racist, divisive ban on them and their loved ones. Actually, I veered back and forth between those images and nearly blind fury at Mitch McConnell for having blocked President Obama from appointing a Supreme Court justice over the entire year he was in office after Justice Scalia died. At the time that seemed like one of the most blatant partisan power moves possible, but you all have managed to make it look tame.

Former FBI Assistant Director, Frank Figliuzzi was on Nicolle Wallace’s MSNBC show tonight and told her that the travel ban is “designer racism,” that you are not banning people from countries at the most risk for terrorism against the US because those are countries you are trying to do business with. You are counting on your supporters to not think critically, or really thinking at all, about what you are doing and why. Unfortunately the odds are in your favor on this – you have them well trained and I don’t see any of them stopping and saying, “gee, that’s odd, why isn’t Saudi Arabia on the list?” They will just blindly cheer you on and you drive us all over the cliff.

May you be safe.
May you be happy.
May you be healthy.
May you change your behavior so you may be at peace with yourself.

Sincerely,
Tracy Simpson