Dear President Trump, How is it trying to breathe with a bunch of GOP senators sitting on you, taking turns clamping their hands over your mouth? Are they being careful not to “accidentally” cover your mouth and nose at the same time? They certainly have had to work extra hard to keep you from lurching … Continue reading The GOP is hedging its bets
Critical Thinking
Tricia Newbold deserves a Congressional Medal of Honor
Dear President Trump, Last night Laura was playing a clip of something from Twitter and as I listened I puzzled over who was speaking, having never heard the voice before. Turns out it was your boy Jared talking with Laura Ingraham. Calmly and with great good humor he told her how all the crazy falsehoods … Continue reading Tricia Newbold deserves a Congressional Medal of Honor
“Great men”*
Dear President Trump, Yesterday there was a WP op-ed about the National Portrait Gallery’s new exhibit celebrating the upcoming centennial of women winning the right to vote and how it brings African American women’s suffrage to the fore. The essay particularly highlights Alice Dunbar Nelson, who I figured was probably related to Paul Dunbar in … Continue reading “Great men”*
The “protect the weakling’s ego” case for obstruction
Dear President Trump, Although sickening beyond compare, it was validating to see my suspicion confirmed this morning that the NRA did indeed have its thumb on the conspiracy theory scale regarding the MSD school shooting. Your camp sure has some choice assholes in its corner. Yesterday someone who reads my Trump letters blog asked me … Continue reading The “protect the weakling’s ego” case for obstruction
We failed them
Dear President Trump, Behind all of the drama about what Barr said Mueller said has been another devastatingly sad story; the deaths by suicide of two Parkland, FL teens who survived the mass shooting at MSD high school last year and the death by suicide of a Newton, CT father of one of the first … Continue reading We failed them
It would be nice not to care
Dear President Trump, We went to a concert last night and I twisted much of the day over the inevitable “Hey Seattle, how are you?” question the mainliner would toss out when he came on stage. I had a few passing fancies that he’d actually address the day’s events but knew it was unlikely – … Continue reading It would be nice not to care
We are not now and never will be an autocracy despite some people’s best efforts
Dear President Trump, In past letters I’ve covered how the Declaration of Independence promised only some life, liberty, and the right to pursue happiness, but Roger Kagan’s recent WP essay on the rise of autocracies has led me to revisit the topic. Kagan lays out how the predictability of contained communities and circumscribed kin-groups is … Continue reading We are not now and never will be an autocracy despite some people’s best efforts
Not condemning white nationalists encourages them
Dear President Trump, A wave of sadness washed over me on our way to where we planned to walk the dogs this morning. It was no doubt fueled in part by being exhausted from having been at the vet ER at midnight last night with the little dog who couldn’t stop licking. He seems better … Continue reading Not condemning white nationalists encourages them
Words have life and death consequences
Dear President Trump, Christchurch, NZ is 8,904 miles from Washington D.C. as the crow flies and yet ideologically the distance between the men who murdered 49 people during prayer services yesterday and you is not nearly that far, your thoughts and prayers Tweet notwithstanding. The men who carried out the horrifically well-orchestrated attacks on two … Continue reading Words have life and death consequences
Because God said….. Excuse me?!
Dear President Trump, Yesterday our pastor focused her sermon on the book of Numbers, chapter 27, verses 1-8, which tells the story of five sisters whose father just died. They get Moses to have a chat with God because they want to be able to share their father’s wealth with his brothers – at least … Continue reading Because God said….. Excuse me?!