Dear President Trump, The title of the Easter sermon this morning was “In Praise of What Isn’t.” Our pastor’s theme was how crucial it is that we not get stuck on what is and lose sight of what can be. She wasn’t saying that we should ignore what is or pretend that the bad things … Continue reading And yet and still
Reality
Notre Dame and its confessionals
Dear President Trump, Have you ever visited Notre Dame, walked around the outside of it and the inside it? If you did, did you allow yourself even a tiny glimmer of awe? Did the magnificence of the soaring space take your breath away? Did the details in the craftsmanship and the clever cant of a … Continue reading Notre Dame and its confessionals
Katie Porter rocks!
Dear President Trump, This morning, once I was fully awake, I realized I was thinking about California Representative Katie Porter. Yesterday evening I watched her laser-focused questioning of JPMorgan Chase’s CEO, Jamie Dimon, and apparently she was so compelling my brain wouldn’t let her go. Did you see the clips? No? I’m shocked! Well, the … Continue reading Katie Porter rocks!
It was gendered
Dear President Trump, I flew to Portland late last night after my first political essay writing class (!) for a three-day VA meeting. The class ended at 9pm and the meeting in Portland started at 8am and there just wasn’t another (safe) way to make the trip that would allow me to get here on … Continue reading It was gendered
It’s hard to enjoy spring when the POTUS is a narcissistic sociopath
Dear President Trump, I know it won’t make it any less of a cheap shot to preface it with an acknowledgment that it’s a cheap shot, but Happy DT Day – who knew (more than two years ago, that is) that we’d ever have a POTUS who is better recognized on April Fools’ Day than … Continue reading It’s hard to enjoy spring when the POTUS is a narcissistic sociopath
Radical empathy (Part 6)
Dear President Trump, You know Mr. President, there are a lot of people out there who toil away at thankless tasks day in and day out, year in and year out. The variety of such tasks is vast; some get undone almost as fast as they are done and some would be squelched if the … Continue reading Radical empathy (Part 6)
“The scales of justice ain’t equally weighed out”
Dear President Trump, After reading Barr’s four-page distillation of the Mueller report another line from another Roots song has been playing in my head on continual loop: “the scales of justice ain’t equally weighed out.” The song, “Tip the Scale,” is from an African American man’s perspective and he’s basically talking himself through his various … Continue reading “The scales of justice ain’t equally weighed out”
Piling on in the worst ways
Dear President Trump, Over the last couple of days I’ve started seeing media folks (David Leonhardt, NYT; Joe Scarborough, WP) calling out your tepid response to the white nationalist terrorist attacks in Christchurch. They are pointedly saying that your failure to condemn such attacks encourages violence towards non-Christians and people of color. It’s a huge … Continue reading Piling on in the worst ways
We are not now and never will be an autocracy despite some people’s best efforts
Dear President Trump, In past letters I’ve covered how the Declaration of Independence promised only some life, liberty, and the right to pursue happiness, but Roger Kagan’s recent WP essay on the rise of autocracies has led me to revisit the topic. Kagan lays out how the predictability of contained communities and circumscribed kin-groups is … Continue reading We are not now and never will be an autocracy despite some people’s best efforts
Not condemning white nationalists encourages them
Dear President Trump, A wave of sadness washed over me on our way to where we planned to walk the dogs this morning. It was no doubt fueled in part by being exhausted from having been at the vet ER at midnight last night with the little dog who couldn’t stop licking. He seems better … Continue reading Not condemning white nationalists encourages them
Daily Trump Letters 