President* Trump, Isn’t it interesting that news about the huge, life-affirming ‘Get Off Our Necks’ Commitment March is now nowhere to be seen but articles about the death of an apparent Trump supporter in Portland whose last act was to spray bear mace at protestors are everywhere? And isn’t it interesting that news of the … Continue reading Trumpian twisted nihilism and some antidotes
Intolerance
The scary convergence of armed vigilantes and sympathetic police
President* Trump, I don’t know, maybe it’s not going exactly how your evil schemers planned or hoped, but it sure seems like you all are getting the signs and signals you need to feel confident that a critical segment of your base is going to be there for you in the clutch down the stretch. … Continue reading The scary convergence of armed vigilantes and sympathetic police
Benefits of doubts
President* Trump, Laura and I just spent the last hour working out how to respond to a neighborhood email chain about something that happened two nights ago at the corner house across the street from us. Actually, we aren’t finished yet. Here’s a sketch of what happened the other night and of the email chain…. … Continue reading Benefits of doubts
Diabolical chick-shits need to be locked in their coops until they are ready to cooperate
President* Trump, In the opening line of the loving-kindness blessing two days ago I referred to you, your GOP props, and the GOP scarcity mongers as diabolical chicken-shits: May we all be safe from diabolical chicken-shits. It’s true that I didn’t think long or hard about it or have to dig deep (obviously) to come … Continue reading Diabolical chick-shits need to be locked in their coops until they are ready to cooperate
Whiteness and white freedom
President* Trump, This morning I was reading a WP editorial by Colbert King about the covid-19 small business grant debacle when I noticed that the embedded video offering was an interview with Nell Irvin Painter about the importance of capitalizing the word “White” when referencing “White” people. Even though I’ve lately gotten more used to … Continue reading Whiteness and white freedom
A sign of the times
Dear President Trump, Early last week on a long-ish walk I saw a sign affixed next to someone’s front door. It’s not one of the sweet homemade signs thanking essential workers or encouraging passersby to hang in or spread love. Nope. It’s pretty much the antithesis of those sorts of signs as it’s a purchased … Continue reading A sign of the times
We’re in trouble when our enemies have more substance than our loves
Dear President Trump, OMG has time gotten wonky. I thought I had opened the tab holding W. B. Yeats’s poem “The Stare’s Nest By My Window” days and days ago, but it was just yesterday morning that it was the featured ‘poem-a-day’ poem (an interesting choice for Mother’s Day). It was a very long, very … Continue reading We’re in trouble when our enemies have more substance than our loves
The Betrayal
Dear President Trump, Yesterday as I was grappling with the infuriating, sickening (literally) betrayals by you and other elite members of the GOP (and at least one Democratic governor – Jared Polis, CO) I drafted a sentence about how scared I am that we are seeing the beginning of another holocaust that could end up … Continue reading The Betrayal
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.
Give me liberty and give me and you and you and you death
Dear President Trump, The beginning of Lent (February 26th) slipped right by me this year and I don’t think I can blame it on covid-19 since I wasn’t yet fully aware that it was coming our way. I just checked our gmail history to see when our wonderful King County Council member, Jeanne Kohl-Welles, started … Continue reading Give me liberty and give me and you and you and you death