President* Trump, You probably love, love, love Mr. Mark Thiessen, conservative WP editorialist extraordinaire – he’s really your kind of guy. It probably doesn’t hurt that he seems to love, love, love you. I know it’s not very tolerant or open-minded of me, but I usually don’t even bother reading the titles of his editorials, … Continue reading Breathtaking and heartbreaking
Human Rights
Segregation and bootstraps
President* Trump, This afternoon Laura and I watched Sarah Cooper’s latest Trumpian lip-sync on YouTube – “How to Lincoln.” Although Cooper portrayed you brilliantly, it was an especially vile 24 seconds of Trump-speech and when it was over, all I could think to say was that you are loathsome. You truly are. Fortunately, though, this … Continue reading Segregation and bootstraps
Changing the whole recipe
President* Trump, Racism, along with all the other oppressive biases we hold about one another and ourselves, isn’t like a vegetable stew where you can just pick out the offending bits of celery or rutabagas and call it good – problem solved. It’s more like fruitcake where we can extract the weird green bits of … Continue reading Changing the whole recipe
A “depraved heart” if there ever was one
Dear President Trump, It was another one of those mornings when I just didn’t have it and all I could get down was the date and the salutation. I don’t know – maybe it was the effort needed to stay polite in the aforementioned salutation or maybe it was just plain weariness from all the … Continue reading A “depraved heart” if there ever was one
“Fixing” curves and bringing history into focus
Dear President Trump, This morning I had nada for you. All I could muster was the date and the salutation – I was so blank I thought I’d probably end up just writing a haiku. Well, you’re in luck because that was the then but now I have not one thing to tell you about, … Continue reading “Fixing” curves and bringing history into focus
The ‘Trump Death Clock’ and some pink chalk
Dear President Trump, Here is the title (and subtitle) of one of the HP’s top running stories this morning: ‘Trump Death Clock’ In Times Square Is Grim Reminder Of Preventable Virus Deaths The sign’s creator aims to show “the cost in human lives” (by Josephine Harvey) The TDC recently clicked past 50,000 excess, preventable covid-19 … Continue reading The ‘Trump Death Clock’ and some pink chalk
Birthdays and death on our beautiful blue planet
Dear President Trump, I know this is the fourth time I’ve told you, but I’m sure you aren’t much of a birthday tracker so I’ll remind you that today is my birthday. And it’s Laura’s brother’s birthday as well as the little girl’s across the street. It’s also the anniversary of the Waco massacre and … Continue reading Birthdays and death on our beautiful blue planet
Who gets what and why? And how broken is this system? Very.
Dear President Trump, It’s always this way, isn’t it? The floodwaters inundate the low lands and sweep the shanties and shacks away while permanently infesting the more solid, yet still humble, brick dwellings of the not-quite-as-poor with black mold. Funny how those floodwaters never seem to make it all the way up the hills where … Continue reading Who gets what and why? And how broken is this system? Very.
I beg your pardon, but inequality is not a mere distraction
Dear President Trump, I have a hyper-local vignette and a bigger picture take for you for today. I’m not sure whether I’ve mentioned this before, but pre-you, Laura and I played Scrabble most weeknights. However, once you were installed as POTUS, it wasn’t until covid-19 slowed everything down and eliminated my commute time that it … Continue reading I beg your pardon, but inequality is not a mere distraction
Imagine…. if there were no International Women’s Day
Dear President Trump, Well, where to start on this 110th anniversary of International Women’s Day (111th if we count its initial instantiation in 1909 in NYC as National Women’s Day)? There are so many relevant directions one could go, but I think I’ll start by telling you that Friday night when we went to the … Continue reading Imagine…. if there were no International Women’s Day