Dear President Trump, The sun is shining here and word has it there are Federal Grand Juries in Virginia meeting this morning about your campaign's ties with Russia. Pretty great start to the day, I'd say. Certainly more hopeful than the all male, all white group of senators McConnell has tasked with the Senate's healthcare … Continue reading Petty private competitions and excuse-making
Psychological Constructs
Lizard brains
Dear President Trump, There's an awful lot in the news lately about infighting and tensions within your administration. I imagine you are feeling stressed and frustrated, and scared. I imagine you all are feeling these ways as your crooked house of cards folds in on itself. One of the crappy things about being an untrustworthy … Continue reading Lizard brains
The lure of impersonal violence
Dear President Trump, This morning I included in my loving-kindness blessings the young African student featured in the NYT yesterday who was attacked and beaten by a mob in India and then I included the people in the mob who attacked him. Thinking about the individuals who comprised the mob led me to consider how … Continue reading The lure of impersonal violence
True strength, elaborated
Later.... P.S. This list of markers of true strength is going to be a work in progress over time as different facets occur to me. Because I don’t want to risk losing track of them by waiting until tomorrow or some other day down the road, here are a few more important aspects of true … Continue reading True strength, elaborated
True strength
Dear President Trump, When I say a loving-kindness prayer for myself and people other than you, I always include the word "strong" when I send the intention for health so that the phrase is "May you be healthy and strong." I haven't been saying that to you because I've been concerned that your conceptualization of … Continue reading True strength
Sometimes the only thing I can do is pray
Dear President Trump, It's pretty late in the day for me to be writing to you but it's been an especially rough 24 hours and frankly, I've spent most of the day either trying to avoid thinking about you or trying to find a constructive way to address you. You see, I set a rule … Continue reading Sometimes the only thing I can do is pray
Ordinary is inordinately confusing
Good morning President Trump, Just over 20 years ago when we drove home from the hospital without our son, I was ill and devastated, and struck by the ordinariness I was seeing. The sun was shining, traffic was moving, people were going about their business. The juxtaposition was confusing and felt insanely unfair and wrong. … Continue reading Ordinary is inordinately confusing
It was a sensible choice until it wasn’t
Later.... Dear President Trump, I’ve been thinking more about out of work coal miners and other blue collar workers in their 50’s, and 60’s who voted for you. My sense is that most of them took jobs after graduating high school and started earning good wages and benefits right away while their cousin or neighbor … Continue reading It was a sensible choice until it wasn’t
Negative attention is attention
(reconstructed since I accidentally sent it without copying it) Dear President Trump, You may be familiar with the standard parenting reminder that even negative attention is attention and attention reinforces behavior. I bring this up because you are getting a lot of attention for negative behavior and I am adding to it. Yet, like the … Continue reading Negative attention is attention
Daily Trump Letters 