Dear President Trump, A couple of weeks ago the WP ran a long piece about Ibram X. Kendi and his latest book “How to Be an Antiracist.” I’ve kept the tab to the article open on my computer this whole time, returning to the final paragraph every other day or so as something of a … Continue reading Doing the work with eyes wide open
Misogyny
The impeachment avoidance plan
Dear President Trump, Happy Celtic New Year – it’s a new day dawning, isn’t it? A new day with oodles of new challenges ahead as you try to come up with new shade to throw now that we are into the open hearing era of this impeachment process. I’m sure you’ll be trying out new … Continue reading The impeachment avoidance plan
Visual environments that erase us
Dear President Trump, Since I wasn’t officially on the work clock Friday, having taken a sick day, I was relatively free to do more or less what I wanted, even if it did have to do with work. One of the work-y things I did that was repeatedly hard to get to during regular workdays … Continue reading Visual environments that erase us
Language that erases us
Dear President Trump, There was one fly in the ointment for me with Elijah Cummings’ funeral yesterday. It didn’t have to do with Cummings at all so I didn’t bring it up in yesterday’s letter; I didn’t want to detract from him or his sending. But this bit is still bugging me today so I’m … Continue reading Language that erases us
“It’s Good To Be A Guy”
Dear President Trump, I knew as I typed it that “Dorsal” was a weird name for a ginormous country club, but it didn’t stick out enough then, or any of the five or so times I re-read yesterday’s letter before posting it, for me to catch the mistake. Sorry about that. I do try to … Continue reading “It’s Good To Be A Guy”
How about we go with “y’all”?
Dear President Trump, It’s often hard to pivot away from the in-our-faces news of the day and turn to something that doesn’t feel so immediate or urgent, but a lot of the time the things that get neglected because of the urgent in-our-faces news are the very things that if left uncorrected will give rise … Continue reading How about we go with “y’all”?
Redistributing the onus for apologies and forgiveness
Dear President Trump, There are two small things from recent letters I want to apologize for: 1) The other day I said the gun control sign in our window says “NO! To Gun Violence”. Well, that was incorrect. Although that is the sentiment and it is consistent with my desire for there to be an … Continue reading Redistributing the onus for apologies and forgiveness
How about Warren & Abrams in 2020?
Dear President Trump, They’re small victories, but I’m going to claim them nonetheless – first, I was off my computer for about eight hours this afternoon and second, I managed to make a gluten free pizza crust that is actually really good (I did read the recipe on the computer so I was sort of … Continue reading How about Warren & Abrams in 2020?
Shifting the baseline towards love
Dear President Trump, Yesterday when I was mentally formulating my letter to you I kept thinking that the “shrinking baseline syndrome” was the “shifting baseline syndrome” – not that far off, but not quite right, either. When I was in “shifting baseline” mode, though, I found myself toggling between the frightening shifts in ethics and … Continue reading Shifting the baseline towards love
Safety and equality, equality and safety
Dear President Trump, There’s a line in Melinda Gates’ new book, The Moment of Lift, which I keep coming back to (pg. 163): “There is no equality without safety.” There are hundreds of insightful, gasp-in-recognition lines in the book, lines that evoke reverential nods and copious underlining for their elegant statement of fact, but this … Continue reading Safety and equality, equality and safety
Daily Trump Letters 