Dear President Trump, I bet Elton John isn't too happy with your "Rocket Man" tweet from this morning. What were you thinking? Were you thinking? Sure doesn't seem like a good idea for you to have access to your phone over night. You know how super responsible parents have all family members leave their devices … Continue reading Pernicious “othering”
Positives
Charting new territory
Dear President Trump, It seems to be my week for finding messages in bottles. When I was walking the dogs I came across a large piece of shiny white paper on the sidewalk. Because it was litter, I went ahead and picked it up. When I turned it over, I found that it's a school … Continue reading Charting new territory
Empathy boost
Dear President Trump, Yesterday as I was crossing the parking lot at work to get to my building I found a small, folded piece of notebook paper with what looked like a letter written on it. I think rather than being a letter, it's actually the text of a short speech someone wrote for a … Continue reading Empathy boost
Proposed increases for NIH in spite of you
Dear President Trump, Before sharing my thoughts on the good news in the news I want to finally tell you about the walker. It belongs to the widow of one of our longtime ministers. She is always impeccably and elegantly dressed and her hair is always perfect. She is both warm and cool when we … Continue reading Proposed increases for NIH in spite of you
9/11 and doodle prayers
Dear President Trump, I promised you more from yesterday's church service, but first I want to pause and recognize that today is the 16th anniversary of 9/11. I imagine you remember where you were when you found out what was happening and since you were probably in NYC I'm guessing your first reaction was terror … Continue reading 9/11 and doodle prayers
Extra special Sunday
Dear President Trump, I'm not sure I'm going to be able to cover all the good news that happened today at church in my allotted 2500 characters so there may be some spillover tomorrow. We'll see. Today was Homecoming Sunday. It's always a pretty big deal for us but this year our Pastor made it … Continue reading Extra special Sunday
American Studies
Dear President Trump, The air has finally cleared here and we have been getting little smatterings of rain. I know a few days of normal weather don't mean there's nothing to worry about but it is nice to have a respite from the heat and smoke. I'm especially aware of our relative good fortune here … Continue reading American Studies
Reducing overdose deaths
Dear President Trump, I realize I've been very negative and likely coming across as quite whiny lately in my letters to you. Although I feel completely justified in calling out all the horrible things you've been doing, staying so focused on them is not good for me so I'm going to try (again) to write … Continue reading Reducing overdose deaths
Green cars
Dear President Trump, A couple of weeks ago I floated the idea of using something one encounters out in the world fairly frequently but not all the time, like green cars, to remind oneself to think about kindness or to wish others peace. I decided to take myself up on the idea and I've been … Continue reading Green cars
Tiny bits of grace
Dear President Trump, Yesterday I wrote to you about how some anonymous (to me) department of transportation person painted around the zero on the very first white stripe marking a drain on the section of freeway near my house and today I want to tell you about another anonymous (to me) person who is leaving … Continue reading Tiny bits of grace
Daily Trump Letters 