Dear President Trump,

So we allowed you to meet alone with the man who orchestrated massive attacks on our election process to tilt the results in your favor. No aids, no note takers, no formal record of what was said. And as far as I know, there were no protests over the weekend, no one shouting or picketing in the streets here in the US to show disapproval. No one calling out the GOP controlled Congress for not stopping it. I thought about making a cardboard sign that says “Things are not OK” and standing at a busy intersection, but I didn’t do it.

We are sort of good at coming together and rallying when we can see the faces of people who are being harmed by a political decision or a miscarriage of justice, but when the pain isn’t immediate and we aren’t really sure whether whatever it might be is really going to materialize we sit back. We stay home or we go to the mall.

At this point there’s no news yet about your meeting with Vladimir but it has me feeling sick to my stomach. I’m worried about what was extracted from you and what deals were made. What’s worse though, is what it means that this was allowed to happen at all, what it signals to you and to him, especially on the heels of you saying Europe is our foe. What the hell? We are sheep. With Congress not acting to check you, we should have done it – we should be doing it now. I’m guilty in that I’m just railing at you in these letters and not organizing protest marches, or at least standing out on a corner with a sign trying to get people to wake up. This should have generated a massive response and instead it is just one more whacked thing DT is doing that’s probably a bad idea but it’s too early to tell, and besides, it looks like Mueller probably has the goods on him so we can just sit tight, or go shopping. You even broadcast it weeks in advance and we still didn’t get it together to call you out. People in the UK and in Finland did, but here there was nary a peep from the peeps here.

Yes, we are worn down and yes, it’s hard to feel as though anything any of us does is of any consequence, but we cannot let you and whoever stands to gain from what you are doing continue unchecked. Even if we are completely unsuccessful in stopping you, we cannot not try.

May we be willing to risk getting out of our comfort zones.
May we be happy to speak out so others can actually hear.
May we prioritize the health of our democracy.
May we recognize that not all acts of war involve bombs.

Sincerely,
Tracy Simpson