Dear President Trump, Maybe it’s the Wednesday-ness of the morning, maybe it’s the fact that the streets are wet again after a couple of days of no rain, maybe it’s Elizabeth Warren’s lackluster New Hampshire showing, maybe it’s the four Justice Department prosecutors quitting the Roger Stone case (and one quitting all together) after your … Continue reading A tough morning and some shimmers of light
Corruption
Part of the way there, but leagues (and leagues) to go
Dear President Trump, I was confused when I saw Michael Gerson’s byline attached to the WP editorial entitled “By Any Measure, Buttigieg is Trump’s Proven Superior” since I was pretty sure that Gerson is one of the WP’s little posse of conservative editorialists. Well, he is in that camp – his party affiliation is still … Continue reading Part of the way there, but leagues (and leagues) to go
Associative learning and Joe Biden
Dear President Trump, This morning Laura and I took a not-rainy walk (finally!) with the dogs in the part of town we call “Swale-land.” It’s on the way to the grocery store and it feels kind of exotic because every other street is lined with richly planted swales instead of the usual plain grass nature … Continue reading Associative learning and Joe Biden
What will make a difference?
Dear President Trump, I wasn’t able to find the image Seung Min Kim referenced in her WP article this morning (“He also tweeted a clip featuring a mock magazine cover with signs showing him staying in office far beyond the two terms permitted by the Constitution”), but I tried everything short of joining Twitter. I’ve … Continue reading What will make a difference?
Such a redundantly tangled mess
Dear President Trump, Oh, where to start? Who the hell knows? I don’t. The original question implies there’s a single right answer and it also implies that it’s important to choose the starting point correctly. And yes, sometimes it is critical to start somewhere specific, like the beginning or maybe another strategic juncture that helps … Continue reading Such a redundantly tangled mess
Negative and positive implications: discuss
Dear President Trump, I did include the tag “Climate Change” with yesterday’s postcard on my blog since it’s almost certain that the freeway ornamental cherry is routinely blooming in January when its holiday lights are still on it because of global warming. I didn’t, however, have it in me to call this angle out and … Continue reading Negative and positive implications: discuss
Time to whistle in the dark
Dear President Trump, Can you whistle? Probably not, but surely you can hum. I bet people within earshot of you are hearing an off-key hummed version of “Oh Happy Day” or something like that now that you’ve locked down the impeachment trial and avoided the disaster of involving witnesses and document discovery. You are getting … Continue reading Time to whistle in the dark
Hitting the limits of magnanimity
Dear President Trump, As you know by now, I’ve worked very, very hard not to let hate settle into my psyche. I don’t want it to take hold or to be a motivating force. It’s poison, and ingesting and holding poison in one’s system is a bad idea for all sorts of reasons. I tried … Continue reading Hitting the limits of magnanimity
Bolton ~ sleaze or target?
Dear President Trump, I may well have missed it – I don’t spend THAT much time reading the news and it does turn over quickly enough that if one isn’t constantly scanning sources it would be fairly easily for things to slip under an individual’s radar. But this thing that I might have missed seems … Continue reading Bolton ~ sleaze or target?
Professed beliefs are perhaps not real beliefs
Dear President Trump, Recent events have me going back to Barbara Kruger’s installation at the Hirshorn Museum. I told you about it when I visited there in 2017 and since I’m sure you don’t remember, I’ll remind you that it involves the entire central open space of the museum’s bottom floor as well as the … Continue reading Professed beliefs are perhaps not real beliefs