Dear President Trump, I just checked your schedule for today and it looks like you took this Labor Day off. Don’t presidents usually do some pro-labor sort of thing on Labor Day? I just Googled “President Obama Labor Day” and found a slew of recordings of Labor Day addresses he gave over the years. Hmm. … Continue reading The finite nature of nature’s capacity
Environment
Endings and transitions
Dear President Trump, I’m pretty much at the end of my stay here in Atlanta. Laura left this morning and I leave at the crack of dawn tomorrow. I think it will be good all around for us to be home. Laura’s brother says he’s ready to start sorting out his new normal without his … Continue reading Endings and transitions
Make it so
Dear President Trump, Yesterday I went to a writing class for people who want to become better allies both through their writing and in real time encounters. I left quite humbled and feeling as though I have a lot of remedial work to do. One of the exercises involved writing a manifesto framed by the … Continue reading Make it so
May the Holy Fire not be a harbinger
Dear President Trump, Yesterday evening I saw an HP piece on the man, Forrest Gordon Clark, who is accused of intentionally setting the Holy Fire in California. Intentional fire setting is something that deeply freaks me out, and this particular act of arson, should it prove true, has me even more unsettled than most. Clark’s … Continue reading May the Holy Fire not be a harbinger
Systemic consequences
Dear President Trump, Just giving you a head’s up; this is going to be a longer than usual letter. I found out from Laura yesterday that our brother-in-law’s oncologist told him that people with his type of cancer (i.e., bone metastases from an organ tumor) have a median life expectancy of 20 months. This is … Continue reading Systemic consequences
Raving maniacs in plaid sundresses
Dear President Trump, There are so many things going on. This morning it occurred to me that I could close my eyes and get Laura to open the WP and I could randomly point to something, anything and it would be a worthy letter-to-you topic. Then there are the things going on here with people … Continue reading Raving maniacs in plaid sundresses
We don’t have time for this
Dear President Trump, It’s kind of silly and it probably means I need a break, but I came up with some more “F” words to describe how you’ve been dealing with the threats to your presidency: Fuss. Fume. Fabricate. Falter. Fake. Foment. Falsify. Filch. Fleece. Flounce. Flout. I still think “Flail” is the best single … Continue reading We don’t have time for this
Strategic social opprobrium
Dear President Trump, Just a few more days before you get to relax and stop manufacturing stupid things to lash out at our allies over. Counting today, you’ve only got four more days before you get to have your tete a tete with Vladimir. Are there protocols in place to protect the interpreters from poison … Continue reading Strategic social opprobrium
Swamp creatures and Goodwill ambassadors
Dear President Trump, When it was first announced yesterday that Scott Pruitt had “resigned” my initial thought was that the EPA would be temporarily hobbled in its de-regulation and repeal melee. Later in the day, however, I realized it’s far more likely you cut bait on Scott P because all his blatant unethical B.S. was … Continue reading Swamp creatures and Goodwill ambassadors
Marjory’s legacy
Dear President Trump, My alumnae magazine was especially engrossing this month with interviews featuring six of the former presidents of Ethos, an organization for students of African descent, as well as a piece by a WP reporter who happened to be in Las Vegas the night of the horrific mass shooting and was thus, one … Continue reading Marjory’s legacy