Dear President Trump, Even my most solidly stolid friends can barely muster a lame “ok” when I ask how they are these days. We are heading into the dark season here, but we are used to that so it’s clearly something more that has most of us looking lost and exhausted. Sometimes people will erupt … Continue reading Worn down but still voting
Activism
“Your VOTE Matters”
Dear President Trump, I’m in the other room typing to you listening to Laura and our friend who’s visiting from Houston talking about who Laura follows on Twitter. It kind of feels like when I was a kid and my parents would have parties and I’d stay up listening to everyone talking and laughing. It’s … Continue reading “Your VOTE Matters”
An earnest listen now and again is not enough
Dear President Trump, Victoria Bissell Brown. Dr. Victoria Bissell Brown, actually. Not a name you’ve probably ever heard before. Not a name I’d ever heard before yesterday, but I’m going to do my best to remember it. Dr. Brown is a retired history professor from Grinnell College and she wrote the mother of all op-eds … Continue reading An earnest listen now and again is not enough
Wonder Woman and Super Girl
Dear President Trump, Today I saw both Wonder Woman and Super Girl. Really. I’ll tell you about both sightings in a sec, but first want to call out how cool it is that this happened the day after Serena Williams and Naomi Osaka took their own mantels of Wonder Woman and Super Girl, respectively. There … Continue reading Wonder Woman and Super Girl
We have to show up
Dear President Trump, I once knew someone who had the habit of suddenly falling asleep whenever she was asked a challenging question. It was pretty amazing to watch this primitive avoidance behavior happen. It was like clockwork; challenge => eyes closed and snoring. When I saw that you flippantly told reporters you fell asleep watching … Continue reading We have to show up
Political trash and literal trash
Dear President Trump, Lately, I’ve been noticing that in addition to feeling as though overt racism is acceptable again, many of us seem to have decided to go back to the good ol’ days when no one gave a second thought to throwing trash out of car windows. It’s as though we need our physical … Continue reading Political trash and literal trash
“What keeps you awake at night?”
Dear President Trump, This morning I went by the Christian Cavalry Church near us. They have a huge sign at the edge of their parking lot; it’s black with bold pastel rainbow letters that say “Sweet Dreams” and smaller white letters that ask “What keeps you awake at night?” I immediately started generating my list; … Continue reading “What keeps you awake at night?”
Systemic consequences
Dear President Trump, Just giving you a head’s up; this is going to be a longer than usual letter. I found out from Laura yesterday that our brother-in-law’s oncologist told him that people with his type of cancer (i.e., bone metastases from an organ tumor) have a median life expectancy of 20 months. This is … Continue reading Systemic consequences
Strategic social opprobrium
Dear President Trump, Just a few more days before you get to relax and stop manufacturing stupid things to lash out at our allies over. Counting today, you’ve only got four more days before you get to have your tete a tete with Vladimir. Are there protocols in place to protect the interpreters from poison … Continue reading Strategic social opprobrium
Swamp creatures and Goodwill ambassadors
Dear President Trump, When it was first announced yesterday that Scott Pruitt had “resigned” my initial thought was that the EPA would be temporarily hobbled in its de-regulation and repeal melee. Later in the day, however, I realized it’s far more likely you cut bait on Scott P because all his blatant unethical B.S. was … Continue reading Swamp creatures and Goodwill ambassadors
Daily Trump Letters 