My apologies: I hit the wrong button when I sent this a few hours ago, and it did not go to everyone. For those who did get it, it's the same, so don't reread.
Holy Cow, no worries! Thank you, heather, for your focus on the Coronavirus tonight. My husband and I are watching the coronavirus disaster unfold from outside the United States and we are horrified. We have elderly family in Florida and are frightened that one small "misstep" will prove fatal to them. Our only child is moving to an east coast state with low CV-19 numbers to begin her MFA. As cautious and careful as she is we are worried sick.
How people can support an administration that will stop at nothing to win a re-election is mind boggling. That members of Congress allow Trump to willfully destroy the lives of millions of people is criminal. How people can consider placing their lives and the lives of others at risk with the very lame excuse, "making me wear a mask is infringing on my constitutional rights" is the height of pig-headed selfishness. I know that all of my long distance fretting does nothing to change the situation. I can only hope that something flips the switch in people's heads and they wake up before election day. 3 million confirmed cases, over 130 thousand dead all because the madman in the white house thinks the coronavirus is a hoax. Tell that to the sick, dying and dead. I'm not sure they'll not agree.
I appreciate your focus on Trump's inability to hear facts and ideas that do not correspond to his version of reality. Barbara Tuchman's The March of Folly highlights that particular predilection of men in power as an underlying driver of political follies throughout history. Carol Tavris and Elliot Aronson's Mistakes were made but not by me highlights the same pattern at a much smaller level in the ways we rewrite our personal stories to make ourselves the good guys.
I really appreciate your ability to succinctly and compellingly draw out key threads of the daily events and weave them into the fabric and patterns of history. I look forward to reading your newletter each morning, after one of my sisters mentioned you two months ago. When I didn't get the first round because it was behind the paywall I thought perhaps it was intentional as an encouragement to subscribe. So I did.
Trump's "problem" is that he has lived a life in which he has never had to pay any real price for his fuckups - just money. As a rock god I knew once said, "Living in a world where there is no 'no' is ultimately completely destructive, as I discovered." And now he's living a life where his bullshit doesn't work anymore, where people have lost more than money, and they're not going to just write it off and take their haircut when he declares bankruptcy, and he has no clue how to deal with this kind of situation.
As a person on Rachel's show last night put it, "He's throwing paper towels at us."
Actually I usually read your essays 2 or 3 times and always get something new out of each reading. It is amazing to me that his presidency, no matter how bad we assumed it was going to be, is so much worse than we anticipated or dreaded. Here is hoping that Biden's people have a list of things that will need to be worked on immediately just to undo the damage.
Thank you! I start every morning with your letter. Trump using our tax dollars to throw himself campaign rallies disguised as celebrations and rewarding his wealthy friends with tax breaks and PPP money meant for small businesses and his constant scraping the barrel trying to incite his base is just vomit-inducing. Twitter, his interviews, and his speeches are all part of his reality show. It reminds me of the Maurie Povich Show and others like it designed to glorify bad behavior and give the audience a chance to ridicule them and feel superior. Exploitive! And to believe Covid-19 death numbers will numb America and we will just think it is normal for thousands to die every day. He is absolutely the Snake in the poem he recited in a speech months ago called The Snake, and America is the woman.😞
I have concluded that Trump has completely lost whatever shred of sanity he had left. More than that, is he now dangerous to all of our safety?
As the mother of: a teacher, a scientist working in water treatment and a a 9/11 veteran I am truly concerned of his next moves.
I worry about my grandsons as he destroys everything he touches.
The only keeping a shred of hope alive for me is that some of my always Trump acquaintances are now questioning whether or not he should have a second term.
I got the first one, my husband didn't and said "Heather doesn't love me any more!" :) I re-read your Letters every day anyway, so much to digest... Thanks again!
Thank you again, Heather, for being the one source I can count on for being the beacon of light for us. I read your posts every day. I stopped commenting on Facebook because there are so many comments and I got tired of getting notifications well past the day (week?) you post. But I respect what you do and I look forward to those posts every day. I just wanted you to know.
Apologies for my remark, but if any normal human being from a caring family put into print what he does on a regular basis...well, most states have a process for this...
Quote from Mary Trump in her book about her uncle (can't wait to start reading my copy next Tuesday): “Donald’s ego has been and is a fragile and inadequate barrier between him and the real world, which, thanks to his father’s money and power, he never had to negotiate by himself.”
Holy Cow, no worries! Thank you, heather, for your focus on the Coronavirus tonight. My husband and I are watching the coronavirus disaster unfold from outside the United States and we are horrified. We have elderly family in Florida and are frightened that one small "misstep" will prove fatal to them. Our only child is moving to an east coast state with low CV-19 numbers to begin her MFA. As cautious and careful as she is we are worried sick.
How people can support an administration that will stop at nothing to win a re-election is mind boggling. That members of Congress allow Trump to willfully destroy the lives of millions of people is criminal. How people can consider placing their lives and the lives of others at risk with the very lame excuse, "making me wear a mask is infringing on my constitutional rights" is the height of pig-headed selfishness. I know that all of my long distance fretting does nothing to change the situation. I can only hope that something flips the switch in people's heads and they wake up before election day. 3 million confirmed cases, over 130 thousand dead all because the madman in the white house thinks the coronavirus is a hoax. Tell that to the sick, dying and dead. I'm not sure they'll not agree.
The egregious actions of the Administration of the last 3.5 years are designed to create voter apathy.
What will be more bothersome is when the GOP simply pretends, post-Trump, that none of this ever happened.
I appreciate your focus on Trump's inability to hear facts and ideas that do not correspond to his version of reality. Barbara Tuchman's The March of Folly highlights that particular predilection of men in power as an underlying driver of political follies throughout history. Carol Tavris and Elliot Aronson's Mistakes were made but not by me highlights the same pattern at a much smaller level in the ways we rewrite our personal stories to make ourselves the good guys.
I really appreciate your ability to succinctly and compellingly draw out key threads of the daily events and weave them into the fabric and patterns of history. I look forward to reading your newletter each morning, after one of my sisters mentioned you two months ago. When I didn't get the first round because it was behind the paywall I thought perhaps it was intentional as an encouragement to subscribe. So I did.
Trump's "problem" is that he has lived a life in which he has never had to pay any real price for his fuckups - just money. As a rock god I knew once said, "Living in a world where there is no 'no' is ultimately completely destructive, as I discovered." And now he's living a life where his bullshit doesn't work anymore, where people have lost more than money, and they're not going to just write it off and take their haircut when he declares bankruptcy, and he has no clue how to deal with this kind of situation.
As a person on Rachel's show last night put it, "He's throwing paper towels at us."
Actually I usually read your essays 2 or 3 times and always get something new out of each reading. It is amazing to me that his presidency, no matter how bad we assumed it was going to be, is so much worse than we anticipated or dreaded. Here is hoping that Biden's people have a list of things that will need to be worked on immediately just to undo the damage.
Thank you! I start every morning with your letter. Trump using our tax dollars to throw himself campaign rallies disguised as celebrations and rewarding his wealthy friends with tax breaks and PPP money meant for small businesses and his constant scraping the barrel trying to incite his base is just vomit-inducing. Twitter, his interviews, and his speeches are all part of his reality show. It reminds me of the Maurie Povich Show and others like it designed to glorify bad behavior and give the audience a chance to ridicule them and feel superior. Exploitive! And to believe Covid-19 death numbers will numb America and we will just think it is normal for thousands to die every day. He is absolutely the Snake in the poem he recited in a speech months ago called The Snake, and America is the woman.😞
Actually I do reread your stuff. So I’m cool.
I have concluded that Trump has completely lost whatever shred of sanity he had left. More than that, is he now dangerous to all of our safety?
As the mother of: a teacher, a scientist working in water treatment and a a 9/11 veteran I am truly concerned of his next moves.
I worry about my grandsons as he destroys everything he touches.
The only keeping a shred of hope alive for me is that some of my always Trump acquaintances are now questioning whether or not he should have a second term.
I got the first one, my husband didn't and said "Heather doesn't love me any more!" :) I re-read your Letters every day anyway, so much to digest... Thanks again!
Thank you again, Heather, for being the one source I can count on for being the beacon of light for us. I read your posts every day. I stopped commenting on Facebook because there are so many comments and I got tired of getting notifications well past the day (week?) you post. But I respect what you do and I look forward to those posts every day. I just wanted you to know.
Apologies for my remark, but if any normal human being from a caring family put into print what he does on a regular basis...well, most states have a process for this...
Quote from Mary Trump in her book about her uncle (can't wait to start reading my copy next Tuesday): “Donald’s ego has been and is a fragile and inadequate barrier between him and the real world, which, thanks to his father’s money and power, he never had to negotiate by himself.”