Dear Mr. President

 Dear Mr. President,

Do your weeks feel like they're far longer than they are?  This week felt like a month to me.  It wasn't a bad week either, really--just a full one.  I imagine most of your weeks feel like that.  I do hope they feel good and productive though, too--like you're moving forward and getting somewhere.

I guess the infrastructure bill is starting to rankle, but I don't know that you and your team have continued to make a strong case for it.  Maybe it's time to rethink your strategies and take more time with the people rather than Congress--especially since it seems like the GOP has some internal stuff to figure out right now.  They don't seem to have the ability to compromise, and I really think that's hurting your chances to move forward with other legislation.  It's time to stop looking for ways to compromise; those who oppose you aren't interested in doing any negotiating in good faith at this point.  They're too busy gearing up for election season.  So give up the idea of trying to get lawmakers to change and just talk to the people.  Many of us out here are interested in investing in more resilient, climate-forward projects that are going to set us up for the next one hundred years.  And we need to expand our broadband and internet capabilities while also shoring up their weaknesses.  We need to be building charging stations for all those new EV's that are coming online, and we need to get on with the business of reforming the tax code.

This past week I've been reading about how large companies and corporations--especially in the oil and gas industry, have been looking (and found) ways to bypass regulations in order to continue to line their and their investors' pockets with wealth.  But that wealth is a stolen thing--traded on the backs of our future health and well-being.  Instead of investing in ways to make things cleaner and better, they're paying lip-service to the idea while continuing with the old standard of business as usual.  Something else I read about dealt with the UN body that regulates maritime trade.  It's being run by people who stand to benefit from the decisions being made rather than by people who can take a more objective view.  They argue that having industry insiders in places of power helps to ensure that whatever decisions are made are feasible, but what I saw when I read that article was that they are creating roadblocks to change and progress because oftentimes those better choices are difficult and costly to implement.  We have a system whereby those who prosper from inaction are controlling the levers of change, and it just seems counter to everything the UN was meant to be.

Perhaps when governments and nations stop trying to placate businesses and start thinking about how industries are both benefitting and hurting their people--when they stop accepting donations to look the other way, and when they stop being beholden to lobbyists and making deals that only benefit their friends--maybe then people will start believing in government again.  But right now, it's kind of hard to see a brighter future, Mr. President.  I do keep trying, though; it's part of the reason I keep writing these letters--hoping that maybe these words will reach the eyes and ears of people who can and will make changes possible.

We said during the pandemic that coming back to doing things as we'd been doing them before wouldn't be acceptable.  You ran on the promise that we couldn't go back to business as usual.  And yet, here we are--business as usual.  Remind us of how you've changed things, Mr. President.  Remind us of why that change is necessary, and please reassure us that change is important if we ever intend to grow.  It's important for us all to feel like there's some hope moving forward--left, right, and otherwise alike.

Lately I've been seeing a lot of articles that involve opinions that are vastly different from my own.  I don't know if the media is trying to help us find some common ground among our divides or if they're merely making the differences more apparent.  What I do know is that it's important to know and understand the communities we serve; it's important to listen to even the voices that the majority of people don't care about or want to hear from.  I'm not always good at that, Sir.  I can't imagine a lot of people are.  But if we only serve our friends, what good are we really doing in the world?

I went to a macro social work conference this week, and on that first day there was a keynote speaker whom I wish I had heard about and known more about.  Her name is Fania Davis, and she's endured, lived through, and is recovering from a lot of personal trauma.  But something that she did at the beginning of the talk really registered with me.  She invited us to say in the chat where we were from, and also to acknowledge the people who lived here before us--Native Americans.  I didn't know who held this land before it became California and part of the United States, and so I googled it, because suddenly I was curious.

This was a way to invite the ancestors and the people of the land to be a part of the work we were doing that day--to become a part of the conversation.  It was a way to remember them and to honor them--to honor those who came before us in this world.  It was also an invitation to find peace with the wrongs that were done by our own ancestors, by theirs to other tribes, and by us now to their ancestors still living here who have to live with the knowledge that their land was taken from them.  In a way, I think it was meant to remind us of our vulnerabilities, to acknowledge them, and to seek help in overcoming them with those around us.  It was a really powerful moment, too--to remember those links to the past so that we could become better grounded in the present, ready to do the healing work that is foundational to all social work.

I mention this because at the beginning of the week, I noticed that you and the White House did something that created a bit of peace in the hearts of many native tribes--you suspended oil drilling leases in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.  One of the tribe chiefs said that it made him feel as though the voices of his people were being heard.  Do you know how important that is, Mr. President?  For people to be seen--to be heard--to be made to feel as though they have a voice, that they matter in this world--that is a very powerful thing to be able to do for a person--for a people.  Please keep doing that, Sir.  It's important work.

As for your meetings coming up, don't bother with the ones where leaders aren't actually committed to change and moving forward.  I mean that you shouldn't try to negotiate with them in good faith if they aren't willing to do the same.  Listen, try to understand their perspective, and see if there are ways to heal the rifts that exist between all nations; but let's not pretend we're friends when we're not.  Let's not let them be the only voice speaking out about wrong-doings.  And sure--let's acknowledge where they're right about our own crap, but let's also tell the stories of how we're working to make things right.  Are they doing the same?  Far too often, and for propogandist reasons, other countries want to point out the deficiencies in others to hide their own.  And while I wish we didn't have to point out deficiencies, how else are we expected to know when we're doing wrong?  How else can we seek change if we don't know what needs changing?  In either case, I know you've been at this for a good long while, but considered where your own blind spots exist, Mr. President, and maybe get some of our allies to help you look at things from other perspectives, too.  Most of all, though, make sure your own community of supporters is helping you to forge a better path forward.

I love this line from a recent opera I saw from White Snake Productions: allies talk AT you; communities support you.  The opera was about people we have incarcerated for life--or most of their lives.  That particular line came during a scene from a mother who was now out of jail talking to her daughter who was still in jail.  She was trying to put her life back together now that she was out on her own, and she was talking about how she missed the communities that she had built inside her incarceration--how difficult it was to find those now that she was out.  Granted that whole opera of Death by Life was incredible.  And I really hope more people get to see it--that opera companies will choose to make it a part of their repertoire.  It's a heart and soul wrenching look at what our prison systems have done and are doing to people.

And I guess that's everything for today, Mr. President.  Though I should add that I hope you consider giving more social workers the medal of honor.  A lot of the work they do is thankless, difficult, and at the same time important, affirming, and healing for the people that they serve.  It's not something I've seen a lot of--the media choosing to acknowledge war heroes and statesmen, but rarely just common folks who work tirelessly to raise all the boats in our United States of America.

Anyway, good luck in the coming week; I hope I get to see more good things come from the White House again , and please make sure your people are doing okay--not too overworked or overburdened, especially your Vice President.  You've put a lot on her plate.  Which reminds me--I know there are reasons for her not going to visit the border camps and such, but I do think it would be good for the public to see it--and even for those who are at the border to see it.  I know its a logistical nightmare, and it will stall some of the work going on there, but I also believe that you can't truly understand something through stories alone.  So,...ask her to consider it, please.

And with that, I will leave you to get back to work; I know you've got a lot to do, and I hope I gave you some encouragement and a little nudge here and there where it was needed.  Enjoy your Sunday, Sir.

~~ Jenni

United States Fish and Wildlife Service, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Dear Mr. President (Memorial Day)

 Dear Mr. President,

I've thought and thought about writing this for a few days now, but honestly all I've wanted to do the past few days is play games and sort of hide away from the world.  My weeks are full of trying to do all the right things for getting back into school this Fall, and by the time the weekend arrives, I feel pretty drained.  But I don't seem to be alone in the desire to escape, as I read an article recently about how you tend to spend your weekends away from the White House if you can manage it.  And to me that seems to be a very healthy thing to do.

I think, sometimes, we can get so caught up in our jobs or our responsibilities that we forget to take some time out for things like fun and joy.  That said, this past week hasn't been one in which I find our government inspiring much joy in me.  I read the stories from week to week and find myself angry at whatever stunt one side or the other is pulling.  And I imagine on the right, people are complaining about people on the left, and the opposite for the others side.  But this side-ism strikes me as something of a distraction--a way to make people forget about all the mistakes, deals, and wrongs that both sides are committing.  

I mean, let's face it; we're fallible people who often fail at being good to one another.  We look at the world through the lens of divisions rather than commonalities, and even when we do try to do otherwise, we're often criticized for legitimizing bad behavior or allowing bad-faith actors to stall necessary progress.  Mostly though, I think people are just good at being unhappy about things.  We look at where we're failing instead of seeing where we're succeeding.  We point out the wrong things without talking about how to change them.

And I know you've got plans.  I've heard you talk about them.  I've seen them on the WhiteHouse.gov page to be read.  But the sticking point always comes when we start discussing the details--who gets the contracts?  How are senators and representatives fulfilling their obligations to their donors?  And what, in the end, is left for the rest of America--the ones who aren't important, monied, or valued?  And I think most people land in that last category, but we're so caught up in just living and being mad at whatever outrage our parties believe we should be outraged about that we decide change should come in the form of someone else--a vote, a program, charity, business, or some other guy.  The Right seems fed up with this lack of independence in the hearts and minds of people while the Left seems fed up with the idea that people can and should do everything on their own.  "We all have an even shot at things," says the Right while the Left says, "We need to do more for people because our systems are inherently unfair."  The weird thing is, neither side seems really determined to work on making those things easier or better.  We just keep digging the same hole, piling up the same mountain of dirt, and it's a wonder that either side manages to make anyone happy.

I imagine you know we have bigger problems than infrastructure and failing policies and programs that are meant to help people.  But these former problems are NOW and all-important.  What of the bigger problem, though, Mr. President?  What of the unjust laws?  The corrupt politicians?  The duplicitous businesses?  When do we get to start fixing those things?  Is that even possible?  Instead of apologizing for our wrongs, it seems the years have taught people to compound them, double down on them, and pretend like they're not important.  I think it's important, though.  And I'm not saying we should go around airing our dirty laundry to one another all the time; that would get pretty depressing.  But maybe instead of going about business as usual when we've done something wrong, maybe we ought to, instead, try to make it right.  Apologize to those we've wronged, and demand the same from others.  And maybe if they're not willing to do the same, perhaps it's time to change the relationship to better reflect our understanding of how they choose to behave.  Set standards for what we expect, including when we're inevitably going to make mistakes, and then uphold them.

I know you're going to meet with Russia's president soon; I expect that's going to be a difficult meeting.  I wish I had something more to offer than, "Hey, maybe we shouldn't be doing illegal things with our spies and operatives in other countries."  But I don't expect that's in the presidential wheel house, which honestly makes me sad.  I just wish bad people doing bad things didn't make us have to become bad people, too.  Maybe we could try for not being those kinds of people, though?

A lot of people have died defending what they believe to be an important ideal--America.  Maybe they wanted to support the idea of freedom for all, or equality for all.  Maybe they believed that good could conquer evil.  Perhaps they valued the importance of life, or maybe they championed the idea that people should have choices.  Maybe they fought against oppressive governments and regimes, or maybe they were just hoping to gain a better life for themselves and those they loved.  Whatever their reasons, they made a choice to offer their lives in service to it.

I often wish I heard more stories about why people join the military.  I also wish we heard more stories about the horrors of war.  Maybe, then, we wouldn't be so drawn to conflict.  Maybe if we saw the worst it could create of humankind, we'd be more willing to try and help find ways to avoid those situations instead of creating them.  The more I learn about the way people create war-like ideologies, the more I have seen their lives hold a traumatic past--someone is killed by someone else, or dies because someone else chooses (knowingly or otherwise,) to withhold aid that could have saved them.  And this becomes an isolating focus; everything outside of that idea born of that moment becomes "other".  Connections are lost; humanity becomes narrowly defined, and the cycle of hatred begins anew.  It's the pain in our souls that breeds wars, Mr. President, and the fear of losing whatever small bit of power we've managed to accumulate to save ourselves from future pains.  And I don't know how to end that.  But I am grateful there are men and women who are willing to try--who serve at the behest of a beloved ideal in the hope that by doing so, something good will come of it.  But maybe let's try to find a better way?  The scars of war are not something that ever go away, and they destroy the hope and love in people.  I know it's taken my step-dad a long time to make peace with his demons, and I am certain there are still many he struggles with, even now.  People shouldn't have to endure that.

I guess my thoughts are a bit meandering today, Sir, but looking back at what wars have won for us, and what they have cost us, my whole being feels clouded in sadness.  I wonder about what great inventions or wonderful stories have been lost.  I imagine beautiful scenes of old men and women having lived and survived to see children or the fruits of their endeavors comforting them as they contemplate a peaceful end to their lives.  It's a sad story--the loss of a life in war.  And while I have seen wills broken by it, I have seen hopes found and strengths nurtured in its survival.  But I think I'd rather have the people, stories, and accomplishments without all that pain and suffering.

There is a saying that we remember so that we do not repeat the mistakes of the past.  But I think we also remember so that we hold on to the important things in life.  So this Memorial Day, I hope you and your family are well.  I hope you feel proud to represent the love, honor, and lives of our military, and I hope that you cherish them deeply--from their hopes and dreams to their joys and sorrows.  And I hope that you will consider what could be lost when and if we ever need to confront the specter of war again.

Politics in Washington may be a game to some, but for others, it's a lived and shared belief that we stand for something worthy of dying for.

~~ Jenni

President Joe Biden pauses after placing a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery on Memorial Day, Monday, May 31, 2021, in Arlington, Va.(AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Dear Mr. President

 Dear Mr. President,

So a lot's happened this past week.  You continued to try to seek a compromise with GOP leaders on the infrastructure plan.  You rescinded a Trump ban on immigrant health care.  You signed legislation about anti-Asian hate.  You toured the Ford factory and drove its new electric pickup truck.  You worked with Israel and the Palestinian leaders through Egypt to get a cease-fire in the Gaza conflict.  You spoke with the president of South Korea.  You awarded your first medal of honor to a veteran of the Korean War, and you agreed to send vaccine doses to countries in need of it.  And I'm pretty sure I missed a few million other things in there, too--nominations, the Kennedy Awards, and a memo to Executive Offices regarding your desire for them to begin dealing with Climate Change and finding ways to mitigate it.

Of course, there's also news that your predecessor is going to be running for President again in 2024.

But today I promised myself I'd try to hold an optimistic view of life, and I am hopeful that you're willing to do the same today.  Things are getting better, and while it's taking time for people to get vaccinated, there are likely many people who have had the virus already who believe that they don't need to get the vaccine; after all, they've already had the virus.  From a medical standpoint this makes a lot of sense to me, and I haven't really heard anyone talking about whether those who survived COVID should bother with the vaccine.

What I have seen a lot of people worrying about are people without masks.  It seems obvious, now, that we were eventually going to have deal with this, but maybe the messaging should have been more robust--something from the top down so that it didn't feel like the message was out of place.  And if that wasn't something that was going to be done, not offering that message about masks wouldn't have changed much.  As it stands, many businesses were already planning a return in July to offices; so, giving us that little bit of extra time, while it might have been a nuisance for the government, probably wouldn't have resulted in these problems.

I have the best cat right now, Mr. President.  He's curled up in the little cat spot by the window, getting some sun.  Most adorbable cat!  When do we get to see the new White House kitty?

I think you've got a handle on the things that matter; though, even I have a hard time keeping up with everything you're doing.  I noticed that Vice President Harris is continuing to meet with Hispanic leaders both abroad and here at home, and I think this approach of reaching out and talking to our neighbors is important.  Which makes me feel troubled when I consider our approach to North Korea right now.  They've effectively shut themselves off from the rest of the world, only tending to speak through China these days.  Perhaps we need to redirect our efforts to mediating through China at this point, which I know is also a sore spot.  But we managed to reach the Palestinians through Egypt; so, maybe seeking to work with those countries working with N. Korea will help us break them out of their shell--feel included in global politics.  That said, working to denuclearize with China and Russia and Europe sure would go a long way to perhaps making these other countries feel less threatened.  Maybe involving them in talks about denuclearization would give them a chance to ease some of those fears.  I don't know; just spit-balling here, Sir.  It just feels like we should be doing more to address suffering and injustice--and not just abroad, but here at home, too.  I know we have lawmakers who are ostensibly doing their best in that department, but most people, myself included, have a healthy skepticism when it comes to political leaders doing anything without it somehow benefiting them personally in some way.  And maybe that's not always a bad thing, but even a letter from Katie Porter this past week left me feeling uneasy about her support for getting rid of the minimum tax deduction for charitable donations.  It just feels like she only addressed one aspect of what their law would do--allow people to invest in local, national, and international projects that better our communities.  But it feels like, to me, that this would also allow for some pretty awful stuff, too.  Hell, most of us don't even manage $10,000 in charitable donations in a year let alone more.

Anyway, what I was trying to get at is that politicians tend to only tell one side of the story--the side that makes them look good--while leaving out other details.  And our news outlets aren't asking those questions because it doesn't get ratings and viewership.  But it's the kind of dialogue that our country needs.  We need more outspoken thinkers that are given a broader platform to address these kinds of issues rather than dabbling in the partisan political drama that clouds the conversation.  And maybe they're out there somewhere, but it feels like their voices have been relegated to a hole in the wall somewhere.  Maybe you can find a way to elevate those conversations--a presidential debate club or team or something.  I don't know.  It just feels like we could all benefit from some intelligent conversations being given a spotlight instead of hidden away in colleges, backrooms, and think tanks.  I have these visions of the kind of dialogues that the founders of our country had in pamphlets and salons.  Maybe we live in an era where those kinds of conversations can't be had any more--information moving at a minute-to-minute pace.  But I feel like that's something we sorely need--non-commodified thinkers and speakers willing to delve into the economics and history of issues to present a broader argument for Americans to consider....  Wouldn't that be something?

Oh.  Something I've been thinking a lot about the past week--if we're moving to an electric car economy, we need more infrastructure for fueling up on electricity.  America is a country of movers and drivers.  We value the freedom (and sometimes necessity,) of being able to drive long distances from one end of the country to the other.  If we switch over to hybrid or even full-electric cars, we don't currently have the charging stations to support it--not that aren't tied to specific companies or something else of the sort.  I don't know how gas stations are regulated, or how they became so prevalent in the past; but we do need to look at that and create the charging stations of the future for long-distance travel in this country.  I've heard a lot of people after looking at the state of charging technology that accompanies owning an electric vehicle decide against EV's because the charging stations are so complicated, or cost a fee to use, or are car-company specific (Tesla, for instance.)  This model of and for charging stations isn't compatible with an electric vehicle future.  So start looking at it and get some ideas on how that's going to be addressed; otherwise, that vision is going straight down the drain.

And with Gray's exodus from the window, I get the sense that it's probably time for me to get going for today.  I'm glad that I chose to be optimistic today, Mr. President.  And optimism doesn't need to mean we aren't realistic, either.  Optimism helps us to plan for a better future while realism helps us to see where we've been and where we're starting from.

Oh!  One last thing: I attended a lecture this past week about creating better public policy, but something that one of the guest speaker's mentioned, Sharon Parrott, caught my attention.  She said that incremental change is better than no change at all, and than many of our current public policies today came from incremental changes implemented in the past.  She also mentioned something about pilot programs and the need for more of them.  If we're not able to experiment with ideas, we can't know what will and what won't work; so, consider maybe offering some federal grants for innovative ideas and pilot programs going forward.  This could provide invaluable information that could change and shift public opinion in the future; it's also a great way to collect scientific data.  Also, have you thought about creating a government cryptocurrency?  Or maybe even a global UN cryptocurrency?  An interesting thought--though I've no idea what the pros and cons might be.  Still, if China's creating their own, there must be a way to do it differently that highlights the ways in which it isn't going to be used to monitor and suppress thoughts and creativity in its populous.  I do wonder if it will spur a return to a barter economy in their country for those people who are caught in the cracks of the system, penalized by it, or find their consciences bothered by how its used and distributed.  Maybe our own government cryptocurrency could be used as a way to end poverty.  I dunno.  Just more spit-balling, Sir.  Not always great ideas, but they're in my head nonetheless.

For now, though, I'm going to head off.  I hope your coming week is just as amazing as this last one was, and I look forward to seeing where we end up next week.  Until then, stay safe and keep truckin'.

With vast hope and great optimism,

~~ Jenni

Dear Mr. President (x2)

 Dear Mr. President,

I realize that I didn't get a chance to write to you last week, but that's because we were up at John's Mom's for Mother's Day, and it was just so nice to be able to spend the weekend there with Mom and Aunt Mary.  They (John and Aunt Mary) made some amazing dinners, and I did my best to help clean up and set the table and such.  I don't really do that much cooking; so, it was nice to be the recipient of others' kindness, and also nice to just be included as part of the family with the chores and such.  It made me feel welcome, and since I didn't have a computer (just my phone,) and since we weren't coming back until Monday, I figured missing a week wouldn't hurt too much.  That said, I hope you were able to celebrate the special women in your life--mothers, daughters, aunts, sisters, and granddaughters and great-granddaughters and such.  I think in every woman there is a mother; we may not all have children, but there are so many things to nurture in this world--from people to causes to animals and even nature.  And on Mother's Day I believe it's important to remember that and revere the women in our lives who have shaped us into the people we are today.  So, I really hope you got a chance to do that, too.

I just got off the phone with my mom in Texas before I sat down to write to you, and before that, I went out to brunch with Aunt Mary and her friend Virginia.  I feel like today I was surrounded by a lot of love and joy and contentment.  It was a good morning and early afternoon, and I felt like we talked about things that were important--from frustrations with how politicians choose to spend money to the way that society seems to be fractured--to the healing of Princess days and how changing the conversation can help to remove pain, stigma, and hatred so that we can start having conversations with one another again.  We aren't always going to agree about how to do things or what the best way to do them is, but we do all want to do good things for the world--or at least that's how I choose to believe things to be.

But sometimes talking doesn't really create solutions.  Sometimes it's important to put actions to words and to hold accountable those who say they're going to do something and then don't do them at all.  Let me see if I can explain better: Gavin Newsom recently talked about how we're all getting money from the government to help with the burdens that COVID imposed on all of us.  He's talked about giving out economic payments to those who are still unemployed or struggling because of circumstances, many of which were there even before the pandemic.  But then he said he'd like to use some of that money to pay off parking tickets.  And here's where I begin to wonder what the point of giving money to politicians is, because, while paying off parking tickets for the past year sounds nice, wouldn't it be nicer to just forgive parking ticket offenses and then offer that money to the cities?  Maybe ask those cities to return payments to those who had to pay for parking offenses in the last year?  But more importantly, how does paying off parking tickets really address the needs of people following this pandemic?  I mean, are aid groups actually meeting demand?  Are we really getting into poorer communities and getting people vaccinated?  What about rent and past due bills?  Have all our schools been able to upgrade their filtration systems and create both in-classroom and online opportunities for kids?  What about people without access to computers and cell phones and online access?  Or even just food and running water?

You see, politicians talk a good game about helping people, but when it comes to putting money where they say their priorities are, somehow things go awry and the funding goes askew.

How about another example?  This past week saw more violence in Israel/Palestine.  We're actually on record to have less violence this year than in years past, but after the year we've had, I think a lot of people are beginning to question the right of any person or government to hurt others.  Even our friends aren't immune to this criticism, and I don't think that's a bad thing.  One of the things many people liked about your predecessor was that he was willing to call a spade a spade (although his views weren't always backed up by facts.)  But that opened us up to criticism, too, which, while he didn't believe it was a good thing, I think it really was.  It reminded me of that Old Testament idea that you shouldn't go looking for the problems in others' lives before first examining your own.  I've often felt that far too often we're too ready to throw stones at one another over perceived (and sometimes actual) wrong-doing, but when it's our friends or allies, we're willing to overlook those flaws.  I think it's important to acknowledge the flaws in our friends and others, but also to treat them with the same brush.  We can't, for instance, praise Israel for fighting back against bombers without also acknowledging that perhaps Israel shouldn't be throwing their weight and might around just to get what they want.  We can't say that Israel is always right and Palestine is always wrong.  The conversation and the dialogue should be more nuanced than that, and if we fail to acknowledge that--if we say on the one hand that we're a country of democracy and freedom, and then on the other hand side with and offer monetary aid to regimes that are acting in ways counter to those beliefs, why should anyone bother to believe us or act in good faith with us?  If you show that you are willing to excuse one thing in your friends, but not willing to do so with others, I imagine many people might call you a hypocrite--and with good reason.

On that front, may I just say that I feel the people of Palestine have a real grievance that needs to be addressed; Israel is choosing to treat them as lesser, showing a lack of respect and dignity to not only their leaders, but also just people trying to get by day after day in a land they once called their own.  There are generations of memories (on both sides now,) that need to be acknowledged and respected so that a dialogue can occur moving forward.  We can't pretend that only certain lives matter; we must acknowledge that all are important--otherwise we run the risk of becoming the monster to someone else.  The atrocities are occurring on both sides of the divide, but if we continue to say that one person's atrocities are fine but the other person's aren't, it's wrong.  And you can't create something good, and real, and lasting if you build it on shadows, and lies, and half-truths.  Peace starts the moment that people feel heard, believed, and seen.  But choosing to only see one side will never create peace.

And maybe there are people who don't want peace in the world.  Maybe there are people who prefer the war and the hatred and the violence.  Maybe, to them, that is the only real thing they know and understand.  Or maybe it's the only way they come out ahead.  I don't know, Mr. President.  What I do know is that I don't want to be a hypocrite and a liar; I don't want to praise people for doing bad things, and I certainly don't want to be aiding them.  The America that I want to believe in doesn't do those things; the America that I believe in values life, and freedom, and creating hope, prosperity, goodness, and happiness in the world for not just America, but others, too.  So if you wonder why our diplomatic efforts are met with skepticism or ridicule, even if most prosperous countries see it as just another part of the game (often ourselves included,) think about how others might view the things we've done.  Maybe it's time to start anew--to create a better dialogue moving forward.

Right now, the world seems to me to be about how the needs and wants of the few outweigh the needs and hopes of the many.  It feels like a sad place to be where even doing your best and abiding by the rules only ensure that you'll never have what you need or want in life.  And that doesn't seem right, somehow.  Continuing like this is creating a world of misery; that shouldn't be what we are aiming to do with our lives.

But enough of that for now.  I was going to talk about the disingenuousness of corporations--especially those in the fossil fuel industry, but that's just more of the same on a different scale.  And I did want to say that it's...refreshing to finally be able to walk around without a mask on.  I know that for some it isn't a welcome release; they've enjoyed the anonymity and the freedom that came with being able to hide their faces.  They appreciated the lack of expectations from others when wearing a mask that not wearing a mask often imposes on them.  But mostly, because I don't often see how others view me, I am just happy to be able to not have to remember "one more thing" when I'm heading out.  I can't tell you the number of times I've nearly forgotten my mask over the past year (or did forget it in one instance at a home away high rise in Seattle; I was so embarrassed when I realized it, but more so when I realized that no one had said anything to me.)  And I can't imagine what it must have been like being poor and suddenly needing yet another thing to buy.  I hope we created places where people could get free masks if they were needed, and if we didn't, maybe we should.  I have enjoyed the little extra fashion it brings to my outdoor activities, though, and I'll admit to my own relief when it became accepted that makeup wasn't always necessary when going out.  I do worry that there are still people who aren't vaccinated, but more and more, even here behind the Orange Curtain, I hear people saying they got the vaccine, even if they thought it was dumb or unnecessary.  Sometimes peer pressure isn't always a bad thing, I guess.

I am excited that we've got so many things going on in space still, but I wonder about the sustainability and pollution that our current methods create.  I've heard, mainly from space enthusiasts and business people that space exploration doesn't create much waste or pollution, but it's hard to take them at their word when their livelihoods are invested in such things.  I know the Netflix series on Space Force might have seemed dumb to many people, but I do think it brought home a lot of concerns about the military and space exploration in general.  It jokingly hinted at the environmental impacts our space programs are having, but I do believe thinking about these things is just as important as exploring the universe.  After all, if there is no Earth to explore from, how can we truly venture beyond it in any real or meaningful way?

As we leave behind our pandemic world, I find myself both afraid and hopeful, Mr. President--afraid that we will go back to doing things as we always have, and hopeful that perhaps, maybe, we won't.  Most of the time, we want to forget the bad things; I expect many people will want to forget that COVID ever happened.  But there are too many lives that have been affected by it for us to just say it's not okay to remember; and, while we do need to move on from this moment, maybe we should be okay with finding new ways to move forward.  I'd like that to define us as a country as we step into the summer of 2021.  Going back to the way things were led us to this point in history; if we do nothing, then the lives that were lost mean nothing.  And they can't mean nothing.  Please don't let them mean nothing, Mr. President.

I hope this coming week will be a good one for you; I hope you and the Democrats can find a way to work with the Republicans, and I really hope that the divides we've created in this country can begin to be torn down and healed so that we can begin down a new path forward in the spirit of hope, and peace, and love.  Mostly, though, I just hope we get more rain here in California; we really need it.

Until next week, then, Mr. President, stay safe and try to stay sane.  I can't imagine running a country is an easy job, and I certainly don't envy you your position.  I am grateful that you believe politics is about service to others, though; I wish more people would believe that, too.

~~ Jenni

REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

Dear Mr. President

 Dear Mr. President,

Well, here we are a few days past the 100-day mark of your first year as president.  It doesn't seem that long ago when we were counting votes and the capitol was stormed; then your inauguration, and that beautiful poem by Amanda Gorman....  COVID continues to march right on regardless of our accomplishments, though--regardless of yours, too.  But there was one thing that really made me happy to see--the economy is recovering; stimulus works.  People are feeling confident again, though I do wish your infrastructure bill would help out my parents in Bellville.  Things just seem to get more and more expensive for them as they live on their fixed retirement incomes, and that's frustrating to me.  Lack of regulations combined with lack of real, meaningful choices out in their little country community are more frustrating to me than they are to them, probably--but it shouldn't be that way.  So, hopefully our congressional representatives will figure it out in a way that actually helps people instead of just businesses and corporations.  I don't mind helping companies out, too, but helping people like my parents would make me feel better about their later years in life.

President Joe Biden, addressing a joint session of Congress Wednesday, assessed his first 100 days in office and laid out his plans for driving economic growth. MELINA MARA/PRESS POOL WSJ

By now you've worn through all the accolades of firsts from your speech to congress, though I heard concerns from many people about mask wearing and distancing still.  They felt like it sent mixed messages; some wanted there to be masks because we still have mask mandates (and are fighting a virus,) and others felt that there shouldn't have been masks and distancing because then it showed the efficacy of the vaccines.  I'm not sure how I feel about it at this point to be honest with you.  But my gut tells me that we should err on the side of caution when it comes to public health.  Which is why I guess it made such a stunning contrast to the then "West Coast Elite" at the Oscars--sitting around without masks on, flaunting their riches....  It really upset some people I know here in California to see that; though for myself, I can't say I really minded it all that much.  It disappointed me to hear that there were so few viewers, though--especially given how diverse the nominees were this year.  I wish I could say that the drop in viewership is just part and parcel of a younger generation that doesn't watch TV in the same way I do anymore.  But I feel like there's more to it than that--like people don't feel like Hollywood is connected to them these days.

So while this past week had a lot of issues worth discussing, I found two that really got to me.  The first is the way we set up congressional seats in the House.  The fact that our House is set to a fixed number of representatives seems silly to me.  I haven't spent a lot of time to figure out why it was done, mind you, but I feel like as our population grows and becomes more diverse, we shouldn't limit our House of Representatives to a number that was decided by what feels like "forever ago."  I think it bothers me because the House seats seem to not really represent people in a way that is fair; we don't give seats based on actual numbers of people.  We base it on some proportional measure that seems to favor a majority rather than minorities.  And sadly, I feel like that's hurting the ability of people to feel like they're really able to have a say in how our government works.

Anyway, I think it's dumb and should be changed.

Another thing that caught my attention this week was nuclear waste.  I know we've spoken about it last week, as well, but this is something that I don't think we can just shove under the rug and pretend it isn't a problem.  It is absolutely a problem--as are other kinds of waste in our country that are not being properly disposed of.  All I can keep thinking about are those barrels of DDT found off the California coast.  It kills me to think that either knowingly or unknowingly someone just decided to dump their problems into the ocean and let someone else deal with them.  I feel like, in a lot of ways, we've been doing that for far too long.  Pretending that everything is fine when it isn't can help people to get through difficult times, but if we never address the problems--if we let them fester, eventually they can destroy us.

I get that you're not the arbiter of all things that are done in the country, but please don't turn your back on these issues.  We've been needing a fixer-upper president for a while.  Stuff's falling apart and costing us a lot to continue to make half-assed repairs.  Fixing things takes a lot of commitment, resolve, and unfortunately capital, but not fixing things?  Not fixing things can lead to more problems, more costly outcomes, and lives lost.

Believe me when I say that I love the idea of being able to run freely through the world--no strings attached--no guard rails or training wheels, but I've also seen how dangerous it can be without them.  We can't rely on the people who are profiting off the labor of others to regulate their own businesses.  Doing so only gives them carte blanche to cut corners, risk peoples' safety, and foist their problems onto someone else.  Sound familiar?

And you know if Congress and administrations have been doing it, the private sector undoubtedly has.  And that's not fair to any of us.

I guess what I'm trying to say is: do your best to ensure accountability for things moving forward--even when it isn't in your best interests to do so.  Better to have a clear conscience at the end of the day than be surrounded by wealth and accolades, and the lies that are made to create such.

I heard that you will be getting a cat in the White House.  May I suggest adding to your stockpile of Resolve carpet cleaner if you haven't already?  It really does work, and make no mistake, animals are going to have accidents.  That said, I am looking forward to there being a cat as well as dogs at the White House.

So I'm not much for sports, and today is such a nice day, I mostly just want to head back to it; so, I think I'll end here for now.  I know it wasn't a lot this week.  I guess I'm just waiting for another shoe to drop, I think.  Life has kind of been like that of late, and I don't know when it will ever not be that way again.  Which reminds me: this is Mental Health Awareness Month.  The corona virus has left a scar on the world and our collective psyches.  We need to address that if we're going to truly move forward from this.  No platitudes or half-hearted words are going to truly help us; so, ...think on it.  This disease has killed more people than wars have, and we have a lot of memorials to past wars.  Maybe we need a national memorial to honor our dead for this--a place where we can reflect on just how big this really was, and to remind us of just how fragile our place in the world really is.  And it can serve as a reminder of how planning for the worst could save lives in the future.  If that simple tenet that we teach to members of our own military had been followed, things might have gone very differently than they did.  Also, having a place to go to share our collective grief can also help us to find healing, too.

And with that, I'll say my farewells and hope that your upcoming week is a good one, Sir.  Keep fighting the good fight and know that you are not alone (though I'm sure you know that already; I expect some of us out here could stand to remember it too, though.)

Until next week!

~~ Jenni

Dear Mr. President (A Day Late)

This past weekend we spent some time up at John's Mom's place, and I decided not to take my computer.  That is why I didn't get up my usual post yesterday.  While I felt like it might be better to wait until next week to write this, I decided that I wanted to simply say a few things; so, I'll keep this short and sweet.  Sorry for the delay.

Dear Mr. President,

This letter to you is going to be rather short as I haven't had a lot of time to spend thinking about and learning about politics this week.  But I did have a few moments to reflect this week, and I wanted to share those thoughts with you--abbreviated though they may be.

It's a strange thing to have to still be talking about racism to me, but here we are in 2021, and the problems that colonialism created are still haunting us to this day.  Derek Chauvin's trial dominated most of the beginning of last week (as well the weeks preceding it.)  And I think many people were grateful to see that perhaps our laws in this country might be what many of us hoped for them to be--just and fair.  The idea that someone could murder another person (accidentally or otherwise,) and not have to face consequences for it isn't just, and far too often that has been the outcome of such cases.  To see our laws working as they're meant to be--to know that a man who disregarded the health and well-being of a citizen of our country to the point where, in his custody, that man died, and to know that he will be serving jail time for this offense is...a relief.  But it's telling that such a simple act of justice was in doubt; it speaks to a psyche that has been damaged and traumatized, and one that we need to continue to seek to heal by continuous acts of justice such as this.  Then, perhaps, one day black people won't feel like they have to fight simply to exist.

I even heard it last night as I watched the Oscar's--a respected and honored Oscar woman speaking about the need to "fight" for her people.  It was one of the few moments last night when I found myself uncomfortable.  Through no fault of my own, I was born a very white albino woman, and it has afforded me some amount of privilege in my life.  And while I am also legally blind, and thus considered disabled, I don't feel like I've ever had to fight for my rights in quite the same way as that woman has.  She won last night for Best Song, "Fight for You" and her name is H.E.R. (birth name, Gabriella Sarmiento Wilson.)   When you have to stand up and say that you are going to "fight for your people," what does that say about us?  I can't imagine what it would be like to be a minority based on the color of my skin.  I can't begin to understand the depth of pain and suffering that happens every day because of a lack of recognition of past (and oftentimes, present,) truths.

And so it was an awkward moment for me--knowing that in some way her words weren't meant for me.  She was speaking to the trauma of the American Black Experience; she was speaking to her fellow black men and women here and around the world who feel like their pain has been marginalized, forgotten, or in many cases, purposefully swept under the rug to hide inconvenient truths.  And I think the reason I really felt uncomfortable about it was because there was such a division in our world--something that I had been complicit in by my own tacit actions.  And while I am trying to do better, I hope one day that these amazing black men and women will also be fighting for me, too--that one day I will be someone they can speak to and with, instead of about (though I can certainly hope that it won't be because of or for the reasons that she had to say those things last night.)

I was so heartened to hear about your stance last Saturday regarding the Armenian Genocide.  I am grateful that you finally acknowledged something that our government has been too cowardly and craven to do for years.  It felt...good that after so many years America was finally willing to acknowledge a wrong-doing by another country--one that the Armenian people hold dear to their hearts.  I am hopeful, too, that by acknowledging their pain and their suffering, we may be able to help them begin to heal from it.  Hiding from the truth only hurts us in the end; so, I believe this was incredibly important.

I continue to look forward to all the great work you have planned ahead--from infrastructure to taxes and health care.  I have seen your continued dedication and your administration's tireless efforts to work toward a vision of prosperity and hope for our country's people and its future; and while I know that it isn't going to be easy to get people to see beyond their own interests, I am hopeful that they'll be willing to try...eventually.

I got my second vaccination this past Thursday, and am now just waiting out those two weeks until I can safely venture out into the world again.  And while I'll still need to don the mask and continue to wash my hands (after all, that's a sound way to stop many diseases,) I'm really looking forward to when I get to visit my parents this summer without the mask.  I really, honestly, can't wait.  It seems like it's been forever since I felt that way.  Relief coupled with hope; excitement coupled with cautious optimism--and that underlying fear that we may be dealing with this for a long time to come.  I want to hope, but I also want to have a realistic path moving forward is I guess what I'm trying to say here.  Going back to the way things were isn't good for anyone; so, please let's not keep making the same mistakes.  I'm pretty okay if we make a few new ones to learn from, though.

April 23, 2021. (Photo by JIM WATSON / AFP) (Photo by JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images)

Last but not least--Earth Day.  While it was overshadowed for me by getting my second shot, I've been thinking a lot about how to shift my mindset from a consumer to a protector--from someone who is encouraged by our corporate businesses to discard the old and buy "new new new!" to someone who seeks to buy into companies and ideas that conserve resources instead of merely expending them.  I've been considering the idea of the "whole life" of products lately--like what happens to the plastic containers and packaging that house the products that help me to be my best self, and I am thinking that this is something we need to do more of going forward.  We shouldn't create waste without knowing how we're going to dispose of it--how it will effect the local and global environment, and we should be encouraging companies that take those kinds of views into consideration rather than just rewarding those who are looking merely to make a short-term profit.  Those are responsible things to be doing as protectors and stewards of this world and this life we've been given, and I hope that people will begin to start viewing things that way if our leaders will, too.

And so with that, Mr. President, I think I'll get back to trying to catch up on everything I missed this past weekend while I was taking a bit of a break from the world.  I hope your week ahead is a good one, and I'll catch up with you next Sunday.  Until then, lead well, be safe, and do the right thing.


~~ Jenni

Dear Mr. President

 Dear Mr. President,

It was really hot today--not the normal kind of hot you'd expect mid to late April, though perhaps I could expect it in May.  No.  This was one of those days where the heat snuck in from the outside and smothered things on the inside making it hard to do much of anything at all.  Yeah.  It was one of those kinds of days today.  Which is fine really, since I don't really plan a lot on the weekends if I can help it.  Those are days where I'm meant to relax and try to catch up with myself a bit after working through all the craziness that happened during the week.  And I have to say, I think I had an almost perfect weekend save for that heat.

I finished a few books this week/weekend--nothing but pleasure to read, but I'm also in a new book club and we're currently reading Camus' The Stranger.  Trying to understand that book is like going back in time and trying to untangle a narrative that I feel is still depressingly relevant.  The stories of colonization and slavery, segregation and religious intolerance around which that narrative is entwined leaves me wondering if we've actually ever really addressed the problems, or if we've just been covering things up and dealing with the symptoms as best we can hoping time and memory will make the problems just magically disappear.  Which, for the record, I don't think works too well.  And when we gloss over things--pretend they don't matter for long enough, we start to believe the lies someone else long before us told us.  And I don't think that's a healthy thing either.

There are some old enmities still floating around in the dark spaces of our current conversations, and I guess I just feel like those shouldn't be overlooked in our biases and the way we look at the world.

Speaking of old things, I have been reading a lot about making more seats on the Supreme Court, and I don't have any good reason to like the idea, but I do.  Just the same, I know that some of the best group work happens in smaller groups (scientifically speaking) of about 4 to 6 people.  Still, I love the idea of having thirteen supreme court justices--one for each of the original 13 colonies of the United States.  And think about how having a larger court might make decisions to retire less...worrisome over time?  Still, some voices might get lost in that large array of justices, but maybe that isn't a bad thing either.  Maybe our justice should reflect more ideas than just those of four or five people.  I guess what I'm saying is that without studying the matter a whole lot, I still like the idea and the number 13 for no other reason than that it sounds pretty cool.  Not a great reason for making decisions; I know.  But it is what it is.

I can't speak much on the childcare and military withdrawal efforts you worked on this week as I don't have kids of my own, nor am I much involved or well-versed in our current military goings-on.  So I will leave that to better and more informed voices.  I did want to say how glad I was to know about your allowing transgender people to serve in the military once more, though.  It may be the only way that they can get the care they need, sadly, since we're not about to go and overhaul our whole health care system--even if we really should.  But I guess I just wanted to say thank you for that.  From where I'm sitting, it feels like a good thing; I just hope that one day all of society will stop being so hung up about all of that.  But I guess if we're still holding on to old ethnic and religious grudges, I'll likely be waiting a long time for trans acceptance as an established thing here in all of America, too.  Still, it's a step in the right direction.

I felt really happy to see that states and cities were stepping up to help you all with the border situation.  I know it's only a stop-gap measure and that you're all working on the real problems, but those aren't likely to be solved any time soon either.  So it makes me proud to see Americans working to help solve the problems rather than just condemning them.  And you should be proud of those mayors, governors, and city officials, too.  We do need to look at a longer-term plan here, though, and I hope you've got something in the works.

The biggest thing I wanted to talk to you about tonight is nuclear energy--which inevitably means I need to speak to you about nuclear waste.  I know that you've said moving forward that nuclear energy needs to be on the table, and while I like the idea of it (especially with our newer technologies and methods,) we shouldn't start something without figuring out what we're going to do with our nuclear waste.  It's a problem Japan is having to deal with.  That Russia had to contend with.  That the EU on Russia's borders are having to monitor.  And the thing that's making our relationships with other countries such a nightmare right now--not nuclear waste specifically, but nuclear proliferation.

The only solution I've come up with in over twenty years of thinking about the problem is to send it into space toward the Sun.  But, of course, there are the hazards of getting it into space, and then what does it do to the Sun?  And if the ship explodes...etc. etc. etc.  But the more I think about it, the more I am still convinced that shipping nuclear waste to the Sun is not a bad idea.  I mean, the Sun is full of nuclear reactions--right?

I guess my point here is that before we start building the nuclear energy dreams of our future, we should look at the costs associated with it--especially the costs of the waste it generates.  We are spending millions of dollars dealing with that right now, and if we continue down the path of nuclear power generation, it isn't going to magically decrease or become less of a problem unless we figure out how to deal with it now.  That's not something we should be leaving to future generations; it's not something that should have been left to us.  But here we are, and there you are.  And I just want you to really stop and take a moment to consider this thing before we get sucked into some "great American Dream" that becomes a great American tragedy because we didn't think about the whole life cycle of something we create.

And with that, I think I'll end for today, Mr. President.  It's late; I'm tired, and I just spent the whole day looking at a screen (reading.)  And I guess I just want to rest a little.  Hope you're having a good week, and hopefully this next one will be even better.  John and I are set to get our vaccine shots on Thursday; so, we'll see how that all goes.  And I guess until next week, let's both do our best.

Until then, Mr. President....

~~ Jenni

Tom Brenner / Reuters
President Joe Biden and Japan's Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga arrive for a joint news conference in the Rose Garden at the White House on Friday, April 16, 2021