Dear President Trump, So what to do besides send money to liberal candidates and tilt at windmills with these daily letters? I honestly don’t know at this point, but as lame as it’s probably going to sound, I decided this morning that rather than closing my morning lovingkindness walking meditation with “May our lives unfold, … Continue reading Constructive non-violence
Justice
Our free fall into tyranny isn’t going to stop by itself
Dear President Trump, Delays be damned, right? Oh, I forgot – your Treasury Department is so nimble that the staff can retool their whole printing process, from home no less, so quickly that they’ll still be able to get checks out to the poorest Americans by early next week, which is only 5-ish days after … Continue reading Our free fall into tyranny isn’t going to stop by itself
A heavy letter about sexual violence and lack of access to abortion
Dear President Trump, You probably know better than most that domestic violence often doesn’t stop with psychological and physical abuse; it frequently includes sexual violence. And we all know that when perpetrated in the context of heterosexual relationships, sexual violence can lead to unwanted pregnancies and such pregnancies serve to keep women and their children … Continue reading A heavy letter about sexual violence and lack of access to abortion
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
Oh, it’s just words (not)
Dear President Trump, When one’s community is in the midst of a crisis, whether of the immediately obvious variety like the covid-19 situation or of the drip, drip, drip variety that is climate change (at least here – elsewhere it’s far more in people’s faces), it probably seems like a bad time to zero in … Continue reading Oh, it’s just words (not)
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
What’s with all this positive Warren media coverage now?
Dear President Trump, I think you’re just going to have to bear with me for a bit here since I’m still mostly focused on Elizabeth Warren and the fact that her campaign couldn’t get the traction it needed when it comes to votes cast. We are coming up on Washington State’s mail-in ballot deadline this … Continue reading What’s with all this positive Warren media coverage now?
Apologies and amends
Dear President Trump, As you know, I’ve been thinking a lot lately about historical corrections and it occurs to me that I should clarify that there are at least two different types of historical corrections: 1) corrections to the historical record itself (e.g., telling the story more completely and accurately by bringing in points of … Continue reading Apologies and amends
Righteous prohibitions
Dear President Trump, Following on from yesterday’s letter about history and privilege and how we are finally getting some traction with new, corrective history, today was pretty much a banner day. First, earlier today the US House passed the Emmett Till Antilynching Act 410-4, making lynching a federal hate crime (for the record these four … Continue reading Righteous prohibitions