Donald,

This anxious waiting for whether/when the next big surge of violent insurrection is going to hit seems pretty similar to what it’s like when there are hurricane warnings.

~ Is it going to make landfall?
~ Will it hit where I am?
~ Will the winds really be THAT strong?
~ Will the levies hold?
~ What’s the rescue plan?
~ If it gets bad, are we going to be ok?
~ If it gets really bad, how not ok are we going to be?

I’ve only had one hurricane scare in my life and that was when I lived in Boston after college. I remember the landlord nailing boards over the windows and everyone in the house stocking up as though for a ridiculously long siege. The storm definitely made it that far North, but by the time it got to us, it wasn’t all that strong and it ended up being a lot of hype about not much.

I hope that’s how our current situation turns out – a lot of hype about not much. At least the outward facing result, that is. In other words, I hope those who are loyal to the Constitution and to democracy in the FBI, CIA, Homeland Security, the various branches of the military and their Guard and Reserve entities are able to foil any plans that would-be insurrectionists might be plotting. I definitely want US to hear about such triumphs over foiled plans so that we aren’t lulled into a false sense of security, but that sort of “is that all there is to an insurrection” outcome would be really, really good.

While we wait to see what the hell happens, I want to talk to you (not with you) about moral compasses and ‘True North.” In his WP editorial about the bogus false equivalents that right wing people are attempting to force between the self-coup and the BLM protests over the summer, Philip Bump quotes a conservative writer, Jonah Goldberg fairly extensively and closes with this quote from him:

““Trump has been like a magnet next to their moral compasses,” Goldberg said of Trump supporters in politics, “and a lot of people can’t find True North any more.””

I don’t know if it was the next article I read that contained this exceptionally on point Twitter post from one of your supporters or if I came across it later, but holy moly you don’t keep good company (BTW, I think it’s wonderful that the WP didn’t even bother inserting the usual “(sic)”’s):

““We CANNOT rely on Politicians and to Tyrants. That is like asking a child to stop the Ice Cream from selling Ice Cream,” he wrote in May on Twitter. “There’s but one weapon against Tyranny & that is the PATRIOT!!! Start mobilizing your neighborhoods. America is under attack!””

This is the guy who challenged the Capitol Police to a duel (all of them?) to avenge the death of Ashli Babbitt out of what appears to be an extremely skewed sense of valor and patriotism, very much as though his moral compass was completely hijacked by you and he can no longer tell wrong from right.

I’m sure there are those among your supporters who know you’re full of shit and that you are the moral equivalent of Satan (they’re probably along for the ride and like having the cover to act like sociopaths because they are sociopaths), but what’s even scarier, and sadder, is that there appear to be millions of people whose world views were just enough out of whack (according to me) and who were just gullible enough to buy what you’re peddling and to really, truly believe it. And even scarier than that, many of them are willing to act on those beliefs.

May we be safe from people whose moral compasses have been magnetized.
May we be willing to hold steady and stay oriented towards the real “True North.”
May we know that acting with integrity, honor, and humility are signs of strength.
May we accept that many of us need hard resets.

Sincerely,
Tracy Simpson