Dear President Trump, Typing out today’s date I see that we’ve landed on a “Friday the 13th” for the Judiciary Committee Impeachment vote. I kind of doubt Nadler decided ahead of midnight last night that it would be better to have the vote on such a Friday, but maybe he had an eye on the … Continue reading The McConnell Menace
The Constitution
Toxic headwinds
Dear President Trump, I had a late meeting yesterday and didn’t leave work until about 6. Typically this means I’ve missed all the news on NPR and instead get Fresh Air, which, depending on the topic and guest, is either a nice break from the usual or leads me to decide that quiet is the … Continue reading Toxic headwinds
Inauguration to impeachment
Dear President Trump, I told you yesterday afternoon that I was close to the end of Michelle Obama’s book (I had the afternoon off and thus could write to you). Well, later I listened to her describe how she coped on election night by going to bed early so she could have a few more … Continue reading Inauguration to impeachment
‘Garbage Morn’
Dear President Trump, It’s garbage day today in our neighborhood (we call Tuesday mornings “Garbage Morn” while Monday nights are “Garbage Eve”) and everything looked exceptionally orderly and tidy on my walk this morning. The crows were still asleep so they hadn’t pried off any lids to get to potential foodstuffs and it’s not a … Continue reading ‘Garbage Morn’
It is our duty to overthrow despotism
Dear President Trump, While we wait to see what those tapes and other detritus that Lev Parnas has handed over to the House Intelligence Committee reveal about you and Rudy, I’m going to finish out the first section of the Declaration of Independence, which is basically the poetic portion most relevant today. The last two … Continue reading It is our duty to overthrow despotism
Revolt until we get it right
Dear President Trump, Remember how the other day I offered a modest re-write of the first sentence of the Declaration of Independence, swapping in ‘people’ for ‘men’ and ‘we are endowed by Creation’ for ‘ they are endowed by their Creator’? Well, I’d like to move us on to the next major sentence fragment. It … Continue reading Revolt until we get it right
No, “men” does not now mean “all people”
Dear President Trump, Did you tune in this morning to Nunes’s screed about the impeachment inquiry into your Majesty? I couldn’t bring myself to listen and only watched the live closed-captioning for a few minutes – where do you find these louts? Over the course of the hearings thus far it’s almost been funny watching … Continue reading No, “men” does not now mean “all people”
Early voting rights and lack thereof
Dear President Trump, Yesterday I told you that I want to refocus my attention on the work we’ll need to do after you’ve finally high-tailed it out of office. We have such a tremendous amount of very, very hard work to do together to close all the loopholes you’ve managed to exploit and to do … Continue reading Early voting rights and lack thereof
Language matters ~ a lot
Dear President Trump, The other day Laura played me a song from Brittany Howard’s new album Jaime. The song is “13th Century Metal” (see Genius Lyrics). It’s Howard’s riff on what we need to do to come out of our own 21st century Dark Age. She promises to think before she speaks and to be … Continue reading Language matters ~ a lot
Language that erases us
Dear President Trump, There was one fly in the ointment for me with Elijah Cummings’ funeral yesterday. It didn’t have to do with Cummings at all so I didn’t bring it up in yesterday’s letter; I didn’t want to detract from him or his sending. But this bit is still bugging me today so I’m … Continue reading Language that erases us