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
Traitor-in-Chief
Dear President Trump, It sure doesn’t feel like there’s much about the USA to celebrate on our collective birthday today, at least nothing having to do with the Executive Branch. That this is our Independence Day anniversary is especially galling and ironic following the release yesterday of the bipartisan Senate report (nice timing, eh?) concluding … Continue reading Traitor-in-Chief
Peacemaker
Dear President Trump, The other day Laura was late getting home from an outing that seemed unlikely to stretch long so I was pretty sure there would be a story, and there was. On a main arterial that crosses over a deep ravine she saw a young woman standing in the middle of the bridge … Continue reading Peacemaker
Don’t Live Lies
Dear President Trump, “Don’t Live Lies” is the message spray painted on a large concrete trash bin container at the edge of our daughter’s high school campus. I have no idea whether the trash container surface was deliberately chosen over the nearby retaining wall, but it does make the message more poignant and poetic since … Continue reading Don’t Live Lies
“Dangers of nostalgia….”
Dear President Trump, Yesterday we peeked in the window of a gallery downtown that was closed. The bleached, white-washed American flag with plastic stripes and star background full of shredded money hanging in the front window is a strong, pointed piece as are cutout iron strips that say “Freedom is Slavery,” “Ignorance is Strength,” and … Continue reading “Dangers of nostalgia….”
What is in a name?
Dear President Trump, In a way it’s good you have an obnoxious last name that connotes spiteful dominance because if I was writing “Dear President Smith” or “Dear President Jones” every day to someone who aspires to spiteful dominance, I think it would be even harder to stay polite. Your name, though, automatically pulls in … Continue reading What is in a name?
COAL → diamond → CURE
Dear President Trump, When we teach veterans mindfulness skills so they can better cope with stress, pain, depression, and PTSD we address both specific strategies (e.g., mindfully attending to one’s in-breath and out-breath and corralling one’s attention back to the breath over and over) and the cultivation of certain attitudes towards oneself and one’s experience. … Continue reading COAL → diamond → CURE
Thin white skin
Dear President Trump, Yesterday when Nina Totenberg quoted the R.E.M. line “it’s the end of the world as we know it” in reference to Justice Kennedy’s retirement announcement, I started crying. It does look like it’s the end of the world as we know it and I don’t feel fine. You, however, must be beyond … Continue reading Thin white skin
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
Daily Trump Letters 