Dear President Trump, Are you and your posse really trying to bamboozle the American people with all your crap about how Donny-on-the-spot you were regarding covid-19? Is that your real goal? Somehow I don’t think it is, if for no other reason than you seem to be preternaturally good at meeting your goals and currently … Continue reading He’s running the clock and we’re letting him
Democracy Under Siege
The good old, less bad days
Dear President Trump, It struck me the other day that I was missing times past when we were all focused on whether we could invoke Article 25 or we could watch and see whether this or that egregious abuse of power was going to be the thing that finally brought you down. How is it … Continue reading The good old, less bad days
Constructive non-violence
Dear President Trump, So what to do besides send money to liberal candidates and tilt at windmills with these daily letters? I honestly don’t know at this point, but as lame as it’s probably going to sound, I decided this morning that rather than closing my morning lovingkindness walking meditation with “May our lives unfold, … Continue reading Constructive non-violence
Our free fall into tyranny isn’t going to stop by itself
Dear President Trump, Delays be damned, right? Oh, I forgot – your Treasury Department is so nimble that the staff can retool their whole printing process, from home no less, so quickly that they’ll still be able to get checks out to the poorest Americans by early next week, which is only 5-ish days after … Continue reading Our free fall into tyranny isn’t going to stop by itself
Corrections, rages, walk-backs, and tulips
Dear President Trump, The WP ran an article this morning by Katie Shepherd about the abortion bans some states have imposed. It contains information about specific states that I wasn’t able to glean from my far less professional journalistic efforts and I want to set the record straight. First, yesterday evening the 5th Circuit Court … Continue reading Corrections, rages, walk-backs, and tulips
A heavy letter about sexual violence and lack of access to abortion
Dear President Trump, You probably know better than most that domestic violence often doesn’t stop with psychological and physical abuse; it frequently includes sexual violence. And we all know that when perpetrated in the context of heterosexual relationships, sexual violence can lead to unwanted pregnancies and such pregnancies serve to keep women and their children … Continue reading A heavy letter about sexual violence and lack of access to abortion
Pews, guns, and rainbows
Dear President Trump, Not exactly the rousing Easter celebrations you were hoping for today, huh? There probably were a few hundred full pews scattered about the country, but fortunately there were hundreds of thousands of pews sitting empty while congregants gathered from their homes via whatever virtual platform their beleaguered clergy were able to make … Continue reading Pews, guns, and rainbows
May we not capitulate to a stupid and dangerous patience
Dear President Trump, Kathleen Parker challenges her readers (WP editorial) to consider whether what one does in relation to the covid-19 crisis is helpful. I agree this is a worthy question, but she actually frames it through the lens of doing no harm, which is really a lower bar than whether something is helpful. And … Continue reading May we not capitulate to a stupid and dangerous patience
Letters and hot coals
Dear President Trump, The other day Laura read me a letter that was addressed to you that was credited to Tommy Lee of Motley Crue but that Sarah Silverman revealed was really written by Aldous J. Pennyfarthing (who seems to be a kindred spirit to Julius Goat in the adoption of pseudonyms and generation of … Continue reading Letters and hot coals
Who gets what and why? And how broken is this system? Very.
Dear President Trump, It’s always this way, isn’t it? The floodwaters inundate the low lands and sweep the shanties and shacks away while permanently infesting the more solid, yet still humble, brick dwellings of the not-quite-as-poor with black mold. Funny how those floodwaters never seem to make it all the way up the hills where … Continue reading Who gets what and why? And how broken is this system? Very.