Dear President Trump, When I woke up this morning I decided today’s letter needs to warrant a “positive” tag when it gets posted in my blog. It can have other, less upbeat, tags too, but “positive” needs to be in the mix. The first positive is how when my colleague gave me a pep talk … Continue reading Three positives
Misogyny
“The scales of justice ain’t equally weighed out”
Dear President Trump, After reading Barr’s four-page distillation of the Mueller report another line from another Roots song has been playing in my head on continual loop: “the scales of justice ain’t equally weighed out.” The song, “Tip the Scale,” is from an African American man’s perspective and he’s basically talking himself through his various … Continue reading “The scales of justice ain’t equally weighed out”
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
Because God said….. Excuse me?!
Dear President Trump, Yesterday our pastor focused her sermon on the book of Numbers, chapter 27, verses 1-8, which tells the story of five sisters whose father just died. They get Moses to have a chat with God because they want to be able to share their father’s wealth with his brothers – at least … Continue reading Because God said….. Excuse me?!
Sick of sticking to the script
Dear President Trump, This morning on the way to church I was thinking about the HP article by Felicia Harris where she describes how Michelle Obama “crashed” her book club meeting. Really, the book club members won tickets to Obama’s book tour and it happened that Obama had read the love letter they sent her … Continue reading Sick of sticking to the script
A break from the mayhem
Dear President Trump, I wasn’t trying to stay off my computer today, but there was other stuff to do and so I’m just now breaking a 26 hour-no-computer run and really, it’s been lovely. If I didn’t need to write to you I would have let the streak go until tomorrow morning. Truly, I think … Continue reading A break from the mayhem
Super unfair stuff
Dear President Trump, I’m not finished with the Quadlin study yet so you aren’t either. Yesterday’s letter was already on the long side so I didn’t get into the finding that among men there wasn’t a significant effect of grade point average on likelihood of being called in for an interview. Well, it’s still bugging … Continue reading Super unfair stuff
Surprise! Women are penalized for being smart
Dear President Trump, Laura came across an interesting sociology study out of Ohio State University yesterday. The author is Natasha Quadlin, an Assistant Professor who studies social inequality, gender, family, and education. The study has two parts, the first of which involved sending out over 2,100 pretend resumes for over 1,000 entry-level positions (so 2-ish … Continue reading Surprise! Women are penalized for being smart
‘When we get past the ego and the pride, we’re good’
Dear President Trump, As I hunkered in for another day of this freakish (new normal?) Seattle weather I couldn’t figure out which of the following articles to read: the one about the woman who reported harassment only to have the company turn on her; the one about massive die-offs among insect populations; the one about … Continue reading ‘When we get past the ego and the pride, we’re good’
Growing pains
Dear President Trump, It’s something we teach our patients all the time and it’s been useful to me countless times before, but last night it felt like something of a revelation once I put words to exactly what was bothering me. I told you yesterday that I was feeling sour and frustrated despite the lovely … Continue reading Growing pains
Daily Trump Letters 