Dear President Biden, So much has been happening lately – so much heavy awful stuff – that almost everything I’ve thought to write to you about has ended up feeling too trivial to bother with. I mean, what’s the point of bringing up climate change, income inequality, voter suppression, or worries about more covid mutations …
Circling back to what matters
Dear President Biden, Busy, tired, uninspired – I’m sure there’s more to it, but that trio of words sound good together and do a decent job of summing up why it’s been almost a week since I’ve written to you. Busy, tired, uninspired, and well, the overwhelm associated with living in this weird situation where …
Pejac’s “The Boss”
Dear President Biden, I’m rarely moved to dive into a verbal description of a piece of art, but something featured on Colossal right now has really grabbed me so I’m going to tell you about it. The piece is by a Berlin artist who goes by Pejac and it is called “The Boss.” I’m including …
The Dems need to swear off the fantasy of bipartisan tea parties and get real ~ fast
Dear President Biden, A couple of days ago I cut and pasted the following sentence from Perry Bacon Jrs’ WP editorial: “Moving forward, the Democratic Party should commit to actually fighting back aggressively against the Republicans.” This morning’s headline about how the Democratic party, emboldened by Newsom surviving the recall vote, is beginning to adopt …
Chasing the pain
Dear President Biden, Laura had surgery on her right shoulder Friday. When the surgeon called me after the procedure to update me he said that when he got in there he could see why she’d been in so much pain. Laura opted for a nerve block (in addition to the general anesthesia, of course), which …
Whole new (scary) ranges
Dear President Biden, In the spirit of sticking with my pact with myself to stay “eyes wide open” about global warming, this morning I made myself read the WP article Amid Summer of Fire and Floods, A Moment of Truth for Climate Action by Sarah Kaplan and Brady Dennis. It’s long. And it’s depressing. Apparently …
Dressing 101 and daisies 202
Dear President Biden, Do you have someone who checks you over before you go into big meetings to make sure your tie is tied correctly and that your socks match? I’m not asking this because I think you particularly need such a service and definitely don’t mean any disrespect, but I found out today that …
Rainstorms and turkeys
Dear President Biden, Laura’s brother visited us this past weekend to celebrate her birthday. He lives in Atlanta now and at one point yesterday afternoon he remarked that the rainstorm we were having sure didn’t seem like Seattle rain, that it was much more like Atlanta rain since it was pretty much a deluge. And …
Joe Manchin ~ ‘he’s got the whole world in his (grubby, power-hungry, little) hands’
Dear President Biden, At the end of his article about where things stand on the For the People Act (HR1/S1), Mike DeBonis quotes Senator Richard Durbin (Il) as saying: “I say a prayer every morning and evening for Joe Manchin.” Indeed. Joe M. may just become the most difficult person in my loving-kindness meditation not …
The brilliance of “Tired” by Langston Hughes
Dear President Biden, I didn’t think the Chauvin verdict would come so quickly and rather than pivot now, I’m going to go with what I drafted this morning before work. But please know, I am relieved and grateful for Chauvin’s conviction on all three counts. At the same time, please know, I grieve for young …
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