Dear President Trump, Are you and your posse really trying to bamboozle the American people with all your crap about how Donny-on-the-spot you were regarding covid-19? Is that your real goal? Somehow I don’t think it is, if for no other reason than you seem to be preternaturally good at meeting your goals and currently … Continue reading He’s running the clock and we’re letting him
Public Health
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
The good old, less bad days
Dear President Trump, It struck me the other day that I was missing times past when we were all focused on whether we could invoke Article 25 or we could watch and see whether this or that egregious abuse of power was going to be the thing that finally brought you down. How is it … Continue reading The good old, less bad days
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
Pews, guns, and rainbows
Dear President Trump, Not exactly the rousing Easter celebrations you were hoping for today, huh? There probably were a few hundred full pews scattered about the country, but fortunately there were hundreds of thousands of pews sitting empty while congregants gathered from their homes via whatever virtual platform their beleaguered clergy were able to make … Continue reading Pews, guns, and rainbows
Degrees of freedom
Dear President Trump, It isn’t often that I choose a title for a letter to you before the letter is written, but this afternoon I decided today’s title needs to be Degrees of Freedom, which really, is kind of ironic since by choosing the title ahead of time, I boxed myself in to talking about … Continue reading Degrees of freedom
May we not capitulate to a stupid and dangerous patience
Dear President Trump, Kathleen Parker challenges her readers (WP editorial) to consider whether what one does in relation to the covid-19 crisis is helpful. I agree this is a worthy question, but she actually frames it through the lens of doing no harm, which is really a lower bar than whether something is helpful. And … Continue reading May we not capitulate to a stupid and dangerous patience
Letters and hot coals
Dear President Trump, The other day Laura read me a letter that was addressed to you that was credited to Tommy Lee of Motley Crue but that Sarah Silverman revealed was really written by Aldous J. Pennyfarthing (who seems to be a kindred spirit to Julius Goat in the adoption of pseudonyms and generation of … Continue reading Letters and hot coals
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.
Shiny bits of sea glass
Dear President Trump, I’ll start with a handful of positives from my morning walk since I seem to need to collect them like so many shiny bits of sea glass. First, there was the large, colorful “Happy Birthday!!!! Love You! We Love You!” chalk message outside the elderly woman’s home down the street. This is … Continue reading Shiny bits of sea glass