Dear Mr. President,
You have had, truly, an embarrassing week. From your insensitive and inappropriate response to the London attack, to your feigned bill signing and childish binder tossing of Infrastructure Week, to your inane and incomprehensible responses to Comey’s testimony, you have shown again and again, that you are out of your league.
But today is Sunday, the first day of a whole new week. It’s a day of reflection and a day of looking forward. It’s a day to plan a fresh start. I’ve laid out the steps for you, and it’s fairly simple: only a two-step plan. I’ll call it Contemplation Week.1. Read something that doesn’t have your name in it or on it. It’s time to take a lesson from U.S. Secretary of Defense James Mattis. “I like learning about something before I talk,” Mattis said. “So let me look into it.” You really need an education, sir. It is well-documented that you don’t respect education or teachers, and it is clear that you have little understanding of American history, geography, science, or the English language. And yet, without a basic understanding of how the world works, how we got to this point in our evolution as human beings and as a global community, and how to communicate with others, it is nearly impossible for you to move forward in any comprehensive and comprehendible way. Your legacy is crumbling, and if you don’t start to act like an educated and mature adult, your country –and your own children– will be left with nothing but gaudy, empty buildings, gilded but irreverent and irrelevant.
2. Find a better role model, and then do what they did. So far in your administration, you have been a Typhoid Mary, creating destruction wherever you go, and refusing to acknowledge your role in any of it or change your behavior in any way. Typhoid Mary never learned. She never accepted responsibility, she changed her name and her story wherever she went to avoid detection, and worse yet, she never did the one simple thing she had to do to stop the destruction she was causing: she never chose to simply wash her hands. You, in your almost six months of office, have followed her model of behavior. You refuse to acknowledge your mistakes, you refuse to be transparent and truthful, and you refuse to take the necessary steps to end the destruction. You have blood on your tiny dirty hands, Mr. President. And if you don’t stop your dishonest and destructive behaviors, you will destroy much more than you ever built.
I suggest you start looking for a new role model. Might I suggest Frederick Douglass? I know that you don’t know much about him, so here is a quick summary: he was a slave; he taught himself to read and write; he escaped; he then became an impassioned reformer, a profound writer, a persuasive orator, and a highly respected and influential leader. He was a stalwart Republican, held political office, and changed the face and direction of our country forever. History.com calls him “brilliant, heroic, and complex.” A formidable leader, he “provided an indomitable voice of hope for his people, embraced antislavery politics, and preached his own brand of American ideals.”
Isn’t this the kind of leader you strive to be? One who leaves a legacy not of destruction and gold-plated vacuous towers, but rather one who has a positive and lasting impact on the very direction of our country? One who affects people not by poisoning them, but rather by instilling in them a sense of self and of self-reflection, creating a path to a more just and humane world for everyone?
Which role model will you pick?
If this letter was TL;DR, here is a summary of your simple two-step plan.
1. Read something.
2. Find a better role model.
Instead of digging yourself deeper and deeper trying to get out of all of the lies you have told, start acting with honor and integrity. Stop denying your part in this mess you have created; stop pretending that your hands are clean. It’s time for Contemplation Week, Mr. President. You are running out of time; your country (and the world) is running out of patience; and your administration is running out of soap.
You can be a better president. Start today.
Sincerely,
Letters2Trump
(Originally posted at Letters2Trump.)