Dear President Trump,

Here’s something to be grateful for on this Thanksgiving Day, 2018 – a Republican Senator (Todd Young of Indiana) was quoted in the WP as saying “Economic interests are important, but they are not the most important thing,” in reference to the lack of real effort by the Saudis to minimize the number of civilian casualties in Yemen. He’s partnering with Democrat Jeanne Shaheen (New Hampshire) in a bipartisan (!) effort to call bullshit (aka issuing a formal challenge) on the State Department’s determination that gives the Saudis a pass on this.

There are other Republicans (ok, the plural here really only includes the two named in the WP this morning – Graham and Corker) who are calling out your morally repugnant stance that the US should ignore the Saudi crown prince’s role in Khashoggi’s murder and the slaughter in Yemen to maintain our lucrative arms trading relationship. This too is something to be thankful for even if their timing is suspiciously self-serving now that the midterms are over and the holes in your support were shown to be gaping. Where were they the last two years when you were making other morally bankrupt decisions in support of the almighty economic win at the expense of humans and the earth? Even if it’s tainted by self-serving motives, I suppose it’s still something to be grateful for since even one or two key Republicans who are willing to break with you might give more Republican voters permission to think outside the Trump box. (There was a great interview on NPR the other day with former high ranking California Republican State Committee official, Kristin Olsen, who said she’s confident the party there has split ranks with you as Republican voters helped to elect an all Democrat slate of Congress people.)

So as bleak as things are and as dreadful as the prospect of two more years of you is, there are growing chinks in your armor that those of us working to promote an inclusive, reality-based vision of America’s way forward can use to everyone’s advantage. Hopefully you will be further repudiated Monday with a win in Mississippi by Mike Espy. If so, we’ll have extended the holiday beyond just reheating leftovers.

May we support all the world’s inhabitants’ safety.
May we prioritize everyone’s life, liberty, and happiness over narrowly dispersed profit.
May we prioritize everyone’s health over narrowly dispersed profit.
May we cultivate compassion, understanding, and gratitude in the service of peace.

Sincerely,
Tracy Simpson