Dear President Trump, Over the last couple of days I’ve started seeing media folks (David Leonhardt, NYT; Joe Scarborough, WP) calling out your tepid response to the white nationalist terrorist attacks in Christchurch. They are pointedly saying that your failure to condemn such attacks encourages violence towards non-Christians and people of color. It’s a huge … Continue reading Piling on in the worst ways
Democracy Under Siege
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
Rebuked
Dear President Trump, I was super happy to see E. J. Dione’s WP editorial the other day arguing that you’re stoking the impeachment debate because it’s a terrific distraction from more pressing issues, like your budget priorities, which he called out as horribly regressive and cruel. There are lots of people who have your number; … Continue reading Rebuked
Police state budget
Dear President Trump, On my way to the car after work yesterday I thought about how I hadn’t thought about you all day and how incredibly nice that was (of course thinking that spoiled the effect, but still). Although reality set in all too quickly, I even ventured the thought that you are becoming irrelevant. … Continue reading Police state budget
H.R. 1 ~ “Power grab for the people!”
Dear President Trump, I’m home sick today (on official sick leave) so I can write to you whenever I want and don’t have to be careful about avoiding my tour of duty hours. In a way it’s nice, but I have to be careful that I don’t squander my naptime in favor of fine-tuning this … Continue reading H.R. 1 ~ “Power grab for the people!”
Canaries in snowy coalmines
Dear President Trump, LOL – I almost wrote “Dear President Tramp.” It actually works pretty well if we consider the verb form; “ to walk heavily or stomp about.” You don’t do anything cautiously, let alone thoughtfully – you’re a stomper, for sure. Then there’s the noun form, which refers to someone who “travels from … Continue reading Canaries in snowy coalmines
“Victimhood for Dummies”
Dear President Trump, You’re the master of the aggrieved victim charade and we’re watching yet another round of your ‘woe is me, what have I ever done to deserve this?’ performance as the House Judicial Committee gears up with their record requests. I know they’re being accused, and not just by you and yours, of … Continue reading “Victimhood for Dummies”
Radical empathy ~ it takes a village (Part 5)
Dear President Trump, Did you see the piece in the WP this morning about the teens from Newport Beach, CA, who threw a Nazi-themed party over the weekend? They arranged their red plastic drinking cups in the shape of a swastika and took selfies in front of it. Understandably there’s a lot of anger and … Continue reading Radical empathy ~ it takes a village (Part 5)
Daily Trump Letters 