Dear President Trump, Remember how the other day I offered a modest re-write of the first sentence of the Declaration of Independence, swapping in ‘people’ for ‘men’ and ‘we are endowed by Creation’ for ‘ they are endowed by their Creator’? Well, I’d like to move us on to the next major sentence fragment. It … Continue reading Revolt until we get it right
Boundaries
Women’s anger is still being weaponized
Dear President Trump, All afternoon I’ve been thinking about anger and how it continues to be weaponized against women who express it. As I was trying to come up with a way into this vast, touchy topic, it occurred to me that it might be instructive to list reasons why men get angry. So what … Continue reading Women’s anger is still being weaponized
Chain of command
Dear President Trump, I had another letter almost completely written this morning but the day’s events are too important to put on hold until tomorrow so the original letter will have to wait. I just read the opening statement that Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman will be reading when he testifies before the House Committees that … Continue reading Chain of command
Character counts ~ some of the time
Dear President Trump, Happy “National Character Counts Week”! Apparently this is the 26th consecutive year that both the President and the US Senate have declared this week as THE WEEK we are all supposed to pay extra special attention to the Six Pillars of Character: trustworthiness, respect, responsibility, fairness, caring, and citizenship. I was previously … Continue reading Character counts ~ some of the time
Harry Dunn’s parents honored him with grace and strength
Dear President Trump, You’ve made it clear from the beginning that you’re equally adept at being self-serving, inhumane, and downright cruel whether the context is intimately interpersonal or on a grand, international scale. There may be other types who can do it as well, but my sense is that only a true sociopath can pull … Continue reading Harry Dunn’s parents honored him with grace and strength
How about we go with “y’all”?
Dear President Trump, It’s often hard to pivot away from the in-our-faces news of the day and turn to something that doesn’t feel so immediate or urgent, but a lot of the time the things that get neglected because of the urgent in-our-faces news are the very things that if left uncorrected will give rise … Continue reading How about we go with “y’all”?
A light-shiner, a true beacon
Dear President Trump, We’ve been in it for what feels like nearly an eternity at this point, but I still remember times when it was possible to focus on just one or two big current events at a time or on a small handful of political issues that were at the forefront. Do you remember … Continue reading A light-shiner, a true beacon
When are microaggressions really macro-aggressions?
Dear President Trump, Maybe it was just a coincidence, but I thought it was kind of funny that in a recent picture of you with three other men, one of whom was Sondland, all of you were wearing solid color ties but only yours was red. Sondland’s was kind of pinky-orange and the other two … Continue reading When are microaggressions really macro-aggressions?
Obstruction and an Article 25 backstop, please
Dear President Trump, I suppose it really was necessary for Adam Schiff to specifically say that any foot-dragging, stalling, misdirecting, or protracted bullshitting (I’m just rounding things out here) will be considered further evidence of obstruction and will be impeachable in its own right. It seems absurd that you all have to be told this … Continue reading Obstruction and an Article 25 backstop, please
Safety and equality, equality and safety
Dear President Trump, There’s a line in Melinda Gates’ new book, The Moment of Lift, which I keep coming back to (pg. 163): “There is no equality without safety.” There are hundreds of insightful, gasp-in-recognition lines in the book, lines that evoke reverential nods and copious underlining for their elegant statement of fact, but this … Continue reading Safety and equality, equality and safety
Daily Trump Letters 