To: The Evil Ring Master Blessed be, we’re finally within spitting distance of 2021 and will soon be officially putting 2020 in the rearview mirror along with the previous three years of your reign of terror. I can’t hold my breath until tomorrow midnight and live to tell the tale (let alone until noon EST … Continue reading One very messed up three-ring circus
Critical Thinking
Mindfields
To: The Nemesis On the way to Discovery Park this morning with the dogs we passed through the Ballard neighborhood, a part of town west and south of us that was first inhabited by the Shilshole people who were displaced by Nordic people in the mid-1800’s. As we passed the main drag, I reminisced out … Continue reading Mindfields
Vacation days ~ deserved and undeserved
To: The Loutish Loafer I don’t think I told you that I’m taking today, tomorrow, and Thursday off from work. I would normally take the whole week off, but this year it feels important that both my co-facilitator and I be present for the group we run on Wednesday mornings, so Wednesday will be a … Continue reading Vacation days ~ deserved and undeserved
24 more days to go with a maniac on the loose
To: The Treasonous Chicken No one wants to lose a game of “chicken,” but I think the deal is that if you don’t want to lose such games, you really shouldn’t initiate them. Now that you’ve lost a very public, very consequential game of chicken it’s clear you’re trying to spin having signed the relief … Continue reading 24 more days to go with a maniac on the loose
Boxing Day and Kwanzaa ~ compare and contrast
To: The Lame Duck Earth Scorcher Sometimes I think I’ve been living under a rock most all my life or that I’m about as incurious as they come. For years I’ve known that the day after Christmas is called Boxing Day and until about 1 minute ago I didn’t even wonder what it was referring … Continue reading Boxing Day and Kwanzaa ~ compare and contrast
A Christmas Eve missive
To: The Scrooge on Steroids You know, this holiday season is about as grim as it’s ever been in my lifetime as we shuffle inexorably to over 350,000 Covid deaths by year’s end. Have you seen the CDC’s projections for mid-January – once the fall out from all the Christmas travel starts hitting? They’re telling … Continue reading A Christmas Eve missive
Lessons from lemmings
To: The One Who's Forcing the GOPP's Implosion I was inspired to read about lemmings this morning by the fantastically moronic stuff being reported about certain members of the GOPP (Grand Old Pathetic Party) and their fanatical devotion to you. Before musing about what political calculations may be driving their apparent idiocy, I want to … Continue reading Lessons from lemmings
Kick-ass activist women clean House
To: The Most Prominent Symbol of a Dying Breed I’m just trying this on – not necessarily to buy or lease – but I’m realizing that one of the major arguments against the “burn it all down” position is that those who are already the most marginalized would almost certainly be the most vulnerable during … Continue reading Kick-ass activist women clean House
The MAGA-merica fever dream is breaking
To: The Disgraced Leader of US Well, of course the jury will be out for quite some time on whether the bones of this place, this pseudo democracy (messed up as it is by mega-money and abuses of power) are good and strong enough to bother rehabilitating around. The answer to that overwhelming question almost … Continue reading The MAGA-merica fever dream is breaking
Maybe the bones aren’t so good after all
To: The Wrecking Ball This morning our good friend sent me of Maggie Smith’s wonderful, hard, sobering poem “Good Bones” in response to yesterday’s letter. Here’s a link to the poem on her blog: http://waxwingmag.org/items/Issue9/28_Smith-Good-Bones.php. I’m 99% sure I’ve told you about this poem before, but it was a long time ago so I’ll remind … Continue reading Maybe the bones aren’t so good after all
Daily Trump Letters 