Dear President Trump, Most days I spend 20 or so minutes during my lunch break catching up on news via NPR. Today the headline article was about Rashida Tlaib who is going to become the first Muslim woman member of the House of Representatives in January; she is running unopposed for the 13th District seat … Continue reading Rashida Tlaib is already a hero
Immigration
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
Mental gymnastics are bad for the soul
Dear President Trump, Due to character count limits yesterday I trimmed out my prediction that we’d be showered with multiple Trump Twitter bombs today as you scramble to keep your supporters looking at the shiny object that is you rather than paying attention to Chris Wallace (Fox News) questioning Rudy G about his massive flip-flopping … Continue reading Mental gymnastics are bad for the soul
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
Sacrificial lambs on the altar of your ambition
Dear President Trump, I’m distracted and not sure I’ll be able to write you a proper letter today. Our daughter has been in England for three weeks with her crew team and they are set to come home tomorrow, but we heard from her a couple of hours ago that her passport is missing. She … Continue reading Sacrificial lambs on the altar of your ambition
“Your true colors” are ugly
Dear President Trump, This past Thursday there was a pretty great, in a sick sort of way, juxtaposition of articles just below the fold in the WP. On the far left was an article about Chuck Schumer’s appeal to you to nominate Merrick Garland to fill Kennedy’s Supreme Court seat and just to the right … Continue reading “Your true colors” are ugly
Relentlessly cruel
Dear President Trump, Last night the illegal fireworks were relentless. They started around 7pm and went until at least 1am. Once they really got going there were long bursts of ten or fifteen rounds every five minutes and there were more different types of scary, percussive sounds than any of us can remember ever hearing … Continue reading Relentlessly cruel
Swallows, roosters, and “Darth Becky”
Dear President Trump Sunday we took the dogs to the Union Bay Natural Area on Lake Washington. About a quarter mile into the walk one of our dogs apparently got too close to a swallow’s nest because suddenly two swallows came at me, screaming and darting around my head. I was furthest away from where … Continue reading Swallows, roosters, and “Darth Becky”
Odious, despicable, hateful
Dear President Trump, I’m struggling today. I’m at a loss as to how to respond to what you are doing to people, to our country, to the world. This isn’t a new experience, by any means, but the Supreme Court’s decision upholding your Muslim travel ban in the wake of our country separating children from … Continue reading Odious, despicable, hateful
Grappling with bias yet again
Dear President Trump, The other day I was stuck behind a midnight blue Nissan I thought was really beautiful and thought, ‘I know, along with green cars, I’ll send blessings to ones I think are pretty.’ I immediately recoiled from my own mental process. Sending nice thoughts to green cars still seems ok as I … Continue reading Grappling with bias yet again