Dear President Trump, So I started a very snarky letter to you this morning, but I’ve ditched it, at least for today. I’m tired of my own negativity and don’t want to be in that space on Valentine’s Day so instead I’m going to send you some thoughts on niceness and kindness. After a sweet … Continue reading Nice and kind
Sociopathy
Calling out problematic headlines and getting results
Dear President Trump, I never know whether the thing that occurs to me at 10pm to write to you about the next day will be compelling enough to hang in through the night and the next morning’s adventures (ha!). Of course it helps when the news cycle is stale and things are quiet around here, … Continue reading Calling out problematic headlines and getting results
Associative learning and Joe Biden
Dear President Trump, This morning Laura and I took a not-rainy walk (finally!) with the dogs in the part of town we call “Swale-land.” It’s on the way to the grocery store and it feels kind of exotic because every other street is lined with richly planted swales instead of the usual plain grass nature … Continue reading Associative learning and Joe Biden
The education of a narcissistic sociopath
Dear President Trump, Dr. Bandy Lee’s quote in the HP (article by S. V. Date) about what you’ve learned from having been acquitted gets it right: “He, more than anyone, ‘knows’ subconsciously that the acquittal is undeserved …. He will likely act with increasing belief in unlimited power and impunity.” Unfortunately, the article ends with … Continue reading The education of a narcissistic sociopath
What will make a difference?
Dear President Trump, I wasn’t able to find the image Seung Min Kim referenced in her WP article this morning (“He also tweeted a clip featuring a mock magazine cover with signs showing him staying in office far beyond the two terms permitted by the Constitution”), but I tried everything short of joining Twitter. I’ve … Continue reading What will make a difference?
Hitting the limits of magnanimity
Dear President Trump, As you know by now, I’ve worked very, very hard not to let hate settle into my psyche. I don’t want it to take hold or to be a motivating force. It’s poison, and ingesting and holding poison in one’s system is a bad idea for all sorts of reasons. I tried … Continue reading Hitting the limits of magnanimity
Bolton ~ sleaze or target?
Dear President Trump, I may well have missed it – I don’t spend THAT much time reading the news and it does turn over quickly enough that if one isn’t constantly scanning sources it would be fairly easily for things to slip under an individual’s radar. But this thing that I might have missed seems … Continue reading Bolton ~ sleaze or target?
Professed beliefs are perhaps not real beliefs
Dear President Trump, Recent events have me going back to Barbara Kruger’s installation at the Hirshorn Museum. I told you about it when I visited there in 2017 and since I’m sure you don’t remember, I’ll remind you that it involves the entire central open space of the museum’s bottom floor as well as the … Continue reading Professed beliefs are perhaps not real beliefs
Truth telling POTUS ~ A thought experiment
Dear President Trump, We haven’t done this in a while and since we seem to be stuck replaying the same old scenes, saying (or yelling) the same old lines at each other, I think it’s time for another thought experiment. Are you ready? No, of course not, but since this whole daily letter writing to … Continue reading Truth telling POTUS ~ A thought experiment
“I’m not here to occupy space; I’m here to make it” ~ Representative Ayanna Pressley
Dear President Trump, Because I’m 99% sure you missed it, I’ll remind you that yesterday was Martin Luther King Jr.’s actual birthday (he would have been 91). In honor of him and the day, there was an MLK celebration at the VA yesterday and since some meetings were cancelled I was able to attend. The … Continue reading “I’m not here to occupy space; I’m here to make it” ~ Representative Ayanna Pressley
Daily Trump Letters 