Dear President Trump, Last night Laura and I were stopped at the light right by our house, waiting to turn left and we noticed a modest sized poster in the window of a house that reads “Dream Big / Fight Hard.” Neither of us knew who or what it was referencing, but we both liked … Continue reading Fighting for big dreams
Accountability
A toxic stew of anger, sadness, and helplessness
Dear President Trump, Sometimes when I’m contending with the combination of anger, sadness, and helplessness I resort to being snide and I’m afraid that’s what happened in yesterday’s letter. I’m certainly not going to apologize to you, but it’s not a posture or way of being that I’m proud of or want to indulge in … Continue reading A toxic stew of anger, sadness, and helplessness
The climate change reality show for select world leaders
Dear President Trump, This is another one of my absurd “if only” thoughts, but here goes: how about all the world leaders who have either refused to sign the Paris Climate Agreement or who have pulled their countries out of the Agreement spent at least two days in Dorian’s path? I think it’s a terrific … Continue reading The climate change reality show for select world leaders
“Thoughts and prayers” = morally corrupt shields
Dear President Trump, Last night I finally got to see the Big Dipper. I managed to block the incredibly bright streetlight in front of our house with my right hand and after letting my eyes adjust for a few seconds, the Big Dipper appeared in the Northwestern sky in all its sparkly glory. And this … Continue reading “Thoughts and prayers” = morally corrupt shields
Beginner’s mind revisited and scary things in the woods
Dear President Trump, So I realized this morning that it’s rather a paradox or a conundrum or something (not even sure what it is) to say anything the least bit authoritative about the concept of beginner’s mind, like I did yesterday. I certainly don’t, and didn’t, pretend to be an expert on it (which would … Continue reading Beginner’s mind revisited and scary things in the woods
Beginner’s mind
Dear President Trump, The big news flashes from my neck of the former woods is that today is my mom’s birthday and this morning Laura left for Atlanta to visit her brother over the holiday weekend. Our daughter will be housesitting over the weekend so it’s going to be an odd few days for the … Continue reading Beginner’s mind
Sometimes less really is more
Dear President Trump, So here’s another huge topic that I don’t really want to tackle but won’t leave me alone – how the hell do we not consign millions more people to poverty when we finally come around to the reality that we can’t keep generating stuff at a break-neck pace if we are going … Continue reading Sometimes less really is more
Something of a treatise on guns
Dear President Trump, Since the Parkland “March for Our Lives” students unveiled their A Peace Plan for a Safer America, NPR has run a bunch of stories about gun control They’ve provided dutifully “balanced” coverage with pretty much equal airtime afforded gun control advocates and opponents, which personally, feels about as sensible as giving climate … Continue reading Something of a treatise on guns
Sexism = Sexual/Gender Prejudice + Power
Dear President Trump, In addition to wondering what it might be like to adapt some of the People’s Institute’s Undoing Racism workshop exercises to a workshop on undoing sexism, I’ve been thinking about using the framework of the UR racism definition for sexism. You surely won’t recall that the PI’s definition of racism is as … Continue reading Sexism = Sexual/Gender Prejudice + Power
How about also undoing sexism?
Dear President Trump, This morning I read another well-intentioned article about the scourge of slavery in the WP and was following along nodding and sighing when I came upon a reference to how in 1870 the 15th Amendment afforded African Americans the right to vote (byline: Michael Ruane). There was no reality check about how … Continue reading How about also undoing sexism?
Daily Trump Letters 