Dear President Trump,

I know it won’t make it any less of a cheap shot to preface it with an acknowledgment that it’s a cheap shot, but Happy DT Day – who knew (more than two years ago, that is) that we’d ever have a POTUS who is better recognized on April Fools’ Day than on Presidents’ Day? Dang. Actually, I wish your foolishness were just straightforward foolishness and didn’t have an awful canny slant to it. Although you sound idiotic to many millions of us, you’ve managed to convince enough Americans in enough key states that your coarse, rambling rhetoric is refreshingly, brilliantly politically incorrect.

Out on the trees there are zillions of little leaves budding out, but it hardly feels like the season of renewal and hope with a reinvigorated Executive Branch hell bent on riding the “not exonerated = exonerated” wave as long and as fiercely as possible. You’ve been on a spree since Barr became your official shield – approving the Keystone pipeline, threatening to close the US-Mexico border, deciding the ACA should be entirely trashed, claiming the investigation into Russian election interference and your campaign’s role was treasonous. I tend to be behind the times so this may be old news, but have you seen that Jordan Peele has a remake of “The Twilight Zone” airing on CBS? The WP review says it’s something of a chaser to add to our two-liter bottle of raw anxiety you force feed us daily. I’m trying, really, I am, but it’s hard to enjoy lovely spring weather when we have a narcissistic sociopath leading the country.

And here’s one more thing – yesterday was our first church service with an armed guard. His presence wasn’t subtle at all; he looks like a linebacker and was wearing a dark jacket with “SECURITY” spelled out in yellow on the back. I did miss the gun and flak vest though so when a friend approached with tears streaming down her face, saying “the security guard has a gun” it was right there, raw and jagged. I was at a loss for words, but another friend calmly reminded us that mosques, synagogues, and historically Black churches have had armed guards for years. Maybe it was a coincidence that his first day was also the day a well-known Muslim woman activist preached, but it seems unlikely. Whatever the timing, the bottom line is that our clergy do not feel safe and this is our new normal.

May we all be safe so that armed guards in schools and churches are relegated to the bad old days.
May we enjoy the signs of spring, even if we have to work at it.
May we insist on healthy, reasonable politicians with integrity.
May we all be peace and may we all know peace.

Sincerely,
Tracy Simpson