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
Propaganda
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
Evil lurks in the shadows of all those little hydroxychloroquine pills
President* Trump, So what gives? Why are you and Jr. pushing hydroxychloroquine hard enough that Facebook and the rest shut down the disinformation threads? Is it that much of a moneymaker for someone you are beholden to or are you really trying to kill off your base? Or is it both? I suppose it could … Continue reading Evil lurks in the shadows of all those little hydroxychloroquine pills
The Emancipation Memorial and coverture
President* Trump, This morning I read the WP Retropolis piece by DeNeen L. Brown entitled “Frederick Douglass Delivered A Lincoln Reality Check At Emancipation Memorial Unveiling” since there’s currently so much conflict over whether the Emancipation Memorial should be removed and I hadn’t known about this particular monument before. Seeing the pictures of it, I … Continue reading The Emancipation Memorial and coverture
This is not the best we can do
President* Trump, So my starting-out typo tonight is that I accidentally entered 3030 for the date, which occasioned a very quick string of very conflicting feelings and thoughts; a spike of angsty adrenaline signaling that I’m not very confident that humanity is going to be around in 3030, a brief “serves us right” thought, chased … Continue reading This is not the best we can do
The imperative Monopoly monologue
President* Trump, I drafted almost an entire usual-length letter to you this morning, but I’m not going to send it. Maybe it’ll make it out of the gate tomorrow, but today it’s far more important to send you a link to Kimberly Latrice Jones’s brilliant, devastating monologue “How Can We Win?”, which was posted on … Continue reading The imperative Monopoly monologue
Perception
“President” Trump, This morning I went to visit the “new 21st Street Buddha” – the one that lives on the porch on the west side of 21st between 73rd and 75th Avenues NE. This Buddha is super cute; it’s one of the little ones that looks like a bald toddler. It stands upright and wears … Continue reading Perception
Strong medicine
Dear President Trump, The graphic accompanying the WP’s lead story this morning announcing that the official US number of covid-19 deaths passed 100,000 yesterday isn’t the gut punch that the NYT’s Sunday cover was, but it’s still quite moving. The idea that each person’s death is marked by a point of light on the map … Continue reading Strong medicine
99,805
Dear President Trump, Just now my fingers seemed to want to type “President Tramp” but I overrode them and fixed the typo. I think though, if my fingers had decided to swap in an “o” for the “u,” I might have gone with it today – “President Tromp” fits our current situation exceedingly well since … Continue reading 99,805
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