Dear President Trump, Of course Elizabeth Warren knew when she knelt down to talk with the little white girl at the Iowa State Fair the cameras would be flashing and the pictures would make their way out into the wider world. I doubt, though, that she knew ahead of time she would be doing a … Continue reading Pinky swears
Love and Compassion
Righting (or rather “lefting”) this American context
Dear President Trump, Today, in this American context we have dozens of families making funeral arrangements for loved ones killed by hateful young white men with twisted agendas and weapons of war. We have hundreds of children in Mississippi who don’t know where ICE took their parents. We have a biracial couple in Ohio looking … Continue reading Righting (or rather “lefting”) this American context
I hope Toni Morrison had a good death
Dear President Trump, Lately, when I learn of very old people’s deaths I have a muddle of thoughts and feelings in response; happiness for them that they’ve been released from our current mayhem right alongside sadness and frustration that they didn’t get to see us come through to the other side. I don’t know what … Continue reading I hope Toni Morrison had a good death
“Welcome home Ilhan!”
Dear President Trump, There is a minute or so clip that circulated on Twitter and in the mainstream media of Ilhan Omar’s recent arrival at the airport in Minneapolis. The images are blurry and the filming is pretty amateur with lots of herky-jerky movements, as though the person filming is being jostled the entire time, … Continue reading “Welcome home Ilhan!”
Gordian knots and fierce compassion
Dear President Trump, I just looked it up to make sure this angst I’m feeling over writing to you about you isn’t an existential crisis of some sort and it’s really not – it’s not at all that I feel my life lacks purpose or meaning. Rather, I think that once again you have me … Continue reading Gordian knots and fierce compassion
More signs
Dear President Trump, Recently a favorite restaurant of ours closed its doors. It was one of a small handful of “special night out” spots we liked to go to when we felt like venturing away from our part of town and spending a little more money than usual. We could count on there being a … Continue reading More signs
A good news break
Dear President Trump, As I left work today I was mentally fishing around for a topic for today’s letter and decided to look out for acts of kindness on my way home to tell you about. Usually there are at least a few instances where someone is clearly patient and/or generous with another driver so … Continue reading A good news break
“It’s about being a maker”
Dear President Trump, Last week when I was in Minneapolis for the annual alcoholism conference I attend there was some downtime Tuesday mid-day so I went to the Minneapolis Institute of Art to see a special exhibit called “Hearts of our People: Native Women Artists.” The show is going to Nashville next, but it will … Continue reading “It’s about being a maker”
The universe seems to have stepped in with extra “be nice” reminders
Dear President Trump, Many moons ago I told you that I programmed my phone so that it plays chimes three times a day that roughly approximate the Muslim prayer times (except for the first thing in the morning and the last one at night since I do my loving-kindness prayers for us all at those … Continue reading The universe seems to have stepped in with extra “be nice” reminders
“Political” isn’t a dirty word
Dear President Trump, I've thought some more about both the “stop to think” and “Kindness is Magic” messages I wrote to you about yesterday and want to add a couple more things about them. First, I realized this morning that the encouragement to “stop to think” is probably mostly about being intentional about thinking, it’s … Continue reading “Political” isn’t a dirty word
Daily Trump Letters 