Dear President Trump, Who were you so busy calling on Monday that you couldn’t make it to Arlington National Cemetery? Amazing. You sure are piling on the ignoble firsts, aren’t you? It seems especially stupid for you to disrespect veterans. I’m seeing reports that they voted for you 2:1 over Clinton, but the veterans I … Continue reading Surely they know you love them….
Veterans
Hear her, hear her
Dear President Trump, Happy Veteran’s Day. You’ve had a rough go of it the last few days in terms of showing up to honor military people’s contributions but maybe you pulled something out of somewhere today to atone for your weekend lameness. I didn’t bother checking because I’m sick of reading about you (and honestly, … Continue reading Hear her, hear her
Let’s shine light in those dark crooked corners of yours
Dear President Trump, Are you on your way back to D.C. all snug and dry in your warm, cozy Air Force 1 recliner? You’ve made it clear that you love your creature comforts, but it’s incredible that they are more important than showing up to honor the US and Allied Forces’ war dead. Can you … Continue reading Let’s shine light in those dark crooked corners of yours
Tayari Jones and the myth of the moral middle
Dear President Trump, Happy Transgender Awareness Month! All VA employees got an email about it last week, which to me signals that you can try to erase transgender people, but it’s not going to work. It’s not going to work at the VA and it’s not going to work at the coffee shop down the … Continue reading Tayari Jones and the myth of the moral middle
Hell to pay
Dear President Trump, Yesterday our VA facility’s Military Sexual Trauma (MST) Coordinator emailed out a really nice self-care handout for us to share with veterans who are feeling stressed and triggered by what is going on in the national news. The handout was created at the national level to make sure that our veterans with … Continue reading Hell to pay
VA’s strategy for MST adjudication
Dear President Trump, A well-traveled friend suggested this morning that we consider swapping out “hit on” with the British expression “chat up” when we want to talk about flirting. I like it! It’s much more in keeping with what is (hopefully) actually happening and is leagues friendlier and not edgy at all. How about it? … Continue reading VA’s strategy for MST adjudication
A vote of confidence
Dear President Trump, I’m sitting at Regan National with a 3+ hour wait before my flight since it didn’t seem worth slogging around town with my suitcase. I am bummed, though, that it didn’t feel safe to wait to leave tomorrow as I really wanted to go to the National Portrait Gallery to see the … Continue reading A vote of confidence
Scratching the surface of Logan Circle
Dear President Trump, It feels somewhat insane to be here in DC today just two days from when Hurricane Florence is set to hit the East Coast. Our VA Center of Excellence has a reverse site visit at Central Office to evaluate whether we are doing what the VA wants and whether our funding will … Continue reading Scratching the surface of Logan Circle
Peacemaker
Dear President Trump, The other day Laura was late getting home from an outing that seemed unlikely to stretch long so I was pretty sure there would be a story, and there was. On a main arterial that crosses over a deep ravine she saw a young woman standing in the middle of the bridge … Continue reading Peacemaker
COAL → diamond → CURE
Dear President Trump, When we teach veterans mindfulness skills so they can better cope with stress, pain, depression, and PTSD we address both specific strategies (e.g., mindfully attending to one’s in-breath and out-breath and corralling one’s attention back to the breath over and over) and the cultivation of certain attitudes towards oneself and one’s experience. … Continue reading COAL → diamond → CURE
Daily Trump Letters 