Donald, The Anti-racism Daily newsletter that pops into my inbox every morning around 3am provided excerpts from and links to five of Dr. King’s speeches: Letters from a Birmingham Jail (April 16, 1963)Beyond Vietnam (April 4, 1967)The Role of the Behavioral Scientist in the Civil Rights Movement (September 1, 1967)The Other America (March 14, 1968)I’ve … Continue reading On this MLK Day most Whites are still only scratching the surface of racism
Children
There are no guarantees
Donald, Ten more days. Much as I’d like to be wrong, I’m not optimistic that Pelosi and Schumer are going to be able to get you out of office early. I am, however, glad they’re working on it in earnest and that a historic second set of Articles of Impeachment will be launched tomorrow. Nothing … Continue reading There are no guarantees
All children are deserving — not just the sweet-tempered ones
To: His Highness Who Simply Can’t be Bothered with US I so wish I could genuinely say that I hope that you and your family had a good Christmas, that you enjoyed one another’s company and had fun teasing each other about silly old family stories featuring one or another of you doing something goofy. … Continue reading All children are deserving — not just the sweet-tempered ones
A Christmas Eve missive
To: The Scrooge on Steroids You know, this holiday season is about as grim as it’s ever been in my lifetime as we shuffle inexorably to over 350,000 Covid deaths by year’s end. Have you seen the CDC’s projections for mid-January – once the fall out from all the Christmas travel starts hitting? They’re telling … Continue reading A Christmas Eve missive
The MAGA-merica fever dream is breaking
To: The Disgraced Leader of US Well, of course the jury will be out for quite some time on whether the bones of this place, this pseudo democracy (messed up as it is by mega-money and abuses of power) are good and strong enough to bother rehabilitating around. The answer to that overwhelming question almost … Continue reading The MAGA-merica fever dream is breaking
Maybe the bones aren’t so good after all
To: The Wrecking Ball This morning our good friend sent me of Maggie Smith’s wonderful, hard, sobering poem “Good Bones” in response to yesterday’s letter. Here’s a link to the poem on her blog: http://waxwingmag.org/items/Issue9/28_Smith-Good-Bones.php. I’m 99% sure I’ve told you about this poem before, but it was a long time ago so I’ll remind … Continue reading Maybe the bones aren’t so good after all
Who’s going to do the dirty with Mo on January 6th?
To: The Gaslighter Supreme For the record, acting normal still feels crazy. Walking the dogs, tying up droopy vines over the back gate arbor, getting some work done, thinking about what to make for dinner, making dinner, taking the yard waste out – all of it so incredibly normal and all of it so incredibly … Continue reading Who’s going to do the dirty with Mo on January 6th?
Calling all righteous, courageous mere mortals
To: Our Foremost Death-Dealing Nihilistic Monster I just met Priya, the Indian Brown girl superhero whose companion is a flying tiger named Sahas, which means courage in Hindi. Apparently I needed a good mid-week verklempt because it hit within the a minute of starting to read this WP article about the latest edition of the … Continue reading Calling all righteous, courageous mere mortals
Naughty and nice (to the right POTUS)
To: The Backwards Santa Just one more full month minus one day of you and yours and then we’re truly in the homestretch to Inauguration Day. I’m guessing, though, that if March 2020 felt like a year, December 2020 is going to feel like at least three years. It’s a buckle up and hunker down … Continue reading Naughty and nice (to the right POTUS)
No free passes for past bad actors
To: The Whiny Loser I’m sure it’s just a matter of time before my shoulders are up around my ears again, but so far this morning they and I have been pretty chill, there’s even been some happy tears. Why, you don’t ask? Well, seeing the upper “front” page of the WP announcing all the … Continue reading No free passes for past bad actors
Daily Trump Letters 