2/1/2020

My Dear Friend & POTUS, DJT,

            How are things at Mar-a-Lago today? I’m sure you rested a little easier last night knowing that there’s wouldn’t be any witnesses at your trial. I didn’t. I’m afraid that I agree with Sen. Lisa Murkowski that the impeachment trial was a disappointment, and it erodes my confidence that the Congress can get their act together to balance the power of the presidency. Isn’t that the way that it’s supposed to work? The president is not supposed to be able to do anything they please. They are not a monarch. You understand that, don’t you.

com/commentisfree/2020/jan/31/coronavirus-misinformation-spread-facebook-conspiracy-theories

            What are your thoughts about this coronavirus thing? It’s bringing out the worst in folks in part because of the “frictionless spread of falsehoods” on social media including a story that the virus is caused by Chinese people eating bat soup. According to J.C. Wong writing in the Guardian, that story is fueled by a “racist fascination with Chinese appetites.” This is some fake news we don’t need.

            I encourage you to do more to stem people’s fears about the coronavirus and everything else that haunts us.  You could start by getting rid of the expanded travel ban. We should be excited that Nigerian youth come to the US to study & contribute $500 million to economy. That’s nothing to be afraid of, is it?

            Perhaps you could recite FDR’s line in your upcoming State of the Union address, “the only thing we have to fear is fear itself.”

            Let’s be brave today,