Dear President Trump, It was another one of those mornings when I just didn’t have it and all I could get down was the date and the salutation. I don’t know – maybe it was the effort needed to stay polite in the aforementioned salutation or maybe it was just plain weariness from all the … Continue reading A “depraved heart” if there ever was one
Race
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
Signs of inclusivity and generosity
Dear President Trump, We decided to mix things up this morning and instead of Laura coming out to the market on her own, the dogs and I piled in with her and I’m sitting in the car with them while she does the shopping (she’s older but my heart condition puts me at higher risk … Continue reading Signs of inclusivity and generosity
“Fixing” curves and bringing history into focus
Dear President Trump, This morning I had nada for you. All I could muster was the date and the salutation – I was so blank I thought I’d probably end up just writing a haiku. Well, you’re in luck because that was the then but now I have not one thing to tell you about, … Continue reading “Fixing” curves and bringing history into focus
The ‘Trump Death Clock’ and some pink chalk
Dear President Trump, Here is the title (and subtitle) of one of the HP’s top running stories this morning: ‘Trump Death Clock’ In Times Square Is Grim Reminder Of Preventable Virus Deaths The sign’s creator aims to show “the cost in human lives” (by Josephine Harvey) The TDC recently clicked past 50,000 excess, preventable covid-19 … Continue reading The ‘Trump Death Clock’ and some pink chalk
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
Different sorts of mothers and warriors
Dear President Trump, In her WP editorial, Margaret Sullivan warns the media not to buy into your propaganda aimed at normalizing the covid-19 death toll, first outlining the false dichotomy between a closed economy being bad and an open economy being good before she goes on to say: “Then there’s Trump’s latest trope: “We have … Continue reading Different sorts of mothers and warriors
State-sanctioned killings
Dear President Trump, Last night I took a walk to “The Rock,” the ginormous glacial anomaly about a mile East of us. It was my destination because it allowed me to head somewhere familiar while walking pretty much exactly 2.23 miles for Ahmaud in honor of his birthday, this one that he didn’t get to … Continue reading State-sanctioned killings
Hope and a big gamble
Dear President Trump, There’s nothing like starting off a letter to you still teary and feeling verklempt after reading a sweet article about President Obama. Guess what he did yesterday – he called three Chicago schoolteachers and had video chats with them to express his appreciation for them and their work. They were so beyond … Continue reading Hope and a big gamble
Covid charades and “The Betrayals”
Dear President Trump, I know you have (and take) plenty of opportunity to look in the mirror, whether directly at yourself or at one of your surrogates, but I thought we’d start the day with yet another (from the WP’s coronavirus updates): “Although the rate of infection shows no sign of slowing, Vice President Pence … Continue reading Covid charades and “The Betrayals”