Dear President Trump,

Lately I’ve been worrying that I’m saying the same things over and over to you and that your correspondence vetting team is getting bored with me. You are doing such a good job of sticking with what works for you (and what troubles, saddens, frightens, and disgusts me) that I’ve needed to check back over the Word document I use to draft my letters to make sure I’m not getting super specifically redundant. I think so far I’ve done pretty well finding new angles, but it’s been harder since you’re hewing to your script even more diligently now that you are in full-on campaign mode. And what is that script? Mostly it involves finding ever more repugnant ways to disrespect decent people and to elevate thugs. And to lie about your accomplishments – mustn’t forget that part – you wouldn’t be you if you weren’t lying about how you’ve single-handedly managed to make America greater (never mind that we are more in debt, less kind, less respected by the rest of the world, poised on the brink of environmental disaster, etc.).

Today it’s the elevating of thugs that feels so incredibly dangerous, like we are tilting ever more precariously into the territory of no return, into a moral abyss. You are the President of the United States and you said on Thursday that a House Representative who body slammed a reporter when he was campaigning was your kind of guy. You got the audience to laugh and cheer about this – you got people to revel in a journalist being intentionally harmed by someone aspiring to public office. You said this in the context of Mr. Khashoggi, a journalist, almost certainly having been murdered by men for the crown prince of Saudi Arabia, a murder you and yours are doing everything you can to shrug-off. How can it be that you are willing to elevate Greg Gianforte body slamming a reporter, to hold him up as some awesome example of what – maleness? elected official-ness? tough-ass American-ness? Would you feel this way if some Democratic Representative body slammed a Fox News reporter? I don’t think so. In the unlikely event that a Democrat was intentionally violent towards any reporter, you’d be the first one to lead the chants for that person to be locked up.

May we the people be safe from sick hypocrites.
May we the people be happy to vote you and your ilk out of power.
May we the people insist on healthy, respectful leadership.
May we the people take seriously our collective need to find peaceful resolutions for our differences.

Sincerely,
Tracy Simpson