Dear Mr. President

Dear Mr. President,

Through no particular rhyme or reason, this week has been a tough one for me; as I settled down today to write this letter to you, my inclination was to skip it.  With so much going on in the world, and with so many things I'd like to be doing, taking the time to write this letter just seems like one more chore to get through today.  But as I looked back over the past week at all the things your administration has been doing, I found myself smiling--being pleasantly surprised, and feeling in some small way like what I've been writing here matters.

Probably my favorite moments were Dr. Jill's press conference about Joining Forces, and then the videos of the White House Easter bunny.  But I also loved the sit-down with your Cabinet as they talked about your Jobs Plan for America--an infrastructure bill that, in my mind, is long overdue.  There was one photo that caught my attention, as well--something that resonated in my soul.

The POW/MIA flag flying atop the White House once again speaks to me of our continued commitments to our military families, something that was again echoed in the First Lady's project.  I hope you will speak more on this in the coming weeks and detail for us just how many people are still MIA or a POW in the world; their families deserve that attention and recognition, but more importantly they deserve a chance to heal and to be reunited with their loved ones.

Saying those things, I still find myself frustrated at the double standards that we hold--the choices that we are required to make in order to survive in a global economy.  There are enough criticisms of the MLB move alone--not even getting into the gun debate, or relationships with China and Russia, and our policies and actions in the Middle East.  One person's hero is another person's villain.  But I guess I am grateful that you are trying.  If our minds could be as wide as the world, our thoughts as broad, perhaps we could truly create a lasting good.  I don't if our country's founders had that vision in mind, but I do hope it is one we can embrace.

I want to say more on all of these things, but right now I'm just feeling drained and tired, Mr. President.  So, in lieu of our ofttimes longer conversations here, I think I'll leave it at that for today.  You've got so much on your plate, and I don't know how one sane man can keep track of it all.  So I'm glad you're not doing it alone, 'cause I'm pretty sure trying to do it any other way would be pretty insane.

Do good things and be kind to others until next week, Sir.  And give my love to your friends and family.

Tiredly, but not retiring from the fight,

~~ Jenni

Dear Mr. President

 Dear Mr. President,

I noticed you've been pretty busy again this past week, and now that you've gotten at least something through the Senate for pandemic relief you can start looking forward to future, likely non-bipartisan, fights that are already underway.  Like, for instance, the fight over voting rights, which from everything I've heard has to do with Republicans wanting to curtail the ability for minorities and normal people to vote.  I especially enjoyed the message you sent to Congress by way of your Executive Order.  I don't expect the Order will stand for long, but hopefully by the time it wends its way through the courts, our lawmakers will have decided whether voting rights are important enough to get rid of the filibuster.  That said, I think it's probably about time, since the way current filibusters work is a load of crap anyway.  Maybe they can figure out how to actually make the filibuster be what it was intended to be rather than a simple impediment to actually getting any legislating done.

That said, I do hope you'll turn your attention toward infrastructure in our country and consider a Green New Deal Works Program.  It's something I really think we need.

This coming week I'll be making use of my blog to highlight some voices that I've found that have helped me to make sense of the climate debate over the years.  I'm excited to talk about them in no small part because as our climate has begun to change, it's important that we consider those changes as we put forward new laws and new ideas for building and transportation, and a host of other issues.  I expect it's something the Department of Defense has been doing for a while now, and if they haven't, then I think we're are pretty likely screwed until they do.

There was something that caught my attention this past week, though--something that the Republicans decided to harp on, but is something that interested me more for what I learned from it than anything else.  It has to do with the fact that your administration, like many administrations before it, has decided not to release the White House call logs.

Now, at first, I had no idea if this was something new or just business as usual, and when I found out that this really isn't anything new, I was almost content to let it slide.  But hear me out here: I don't know if there was a debate around this very issue when phones were installed in the White House, though I have to imagine there were.  All that aside, things have changed since the first days of those early telephone calls.  In a lot of ways, during the pandemic, phones and video chats and the like were some of the only ways we had to communicate with one another safely.  So this prompted me to consider that perhaps we should reconsider these ages-old precedents regarding phone logs.  I don't think every call should be noted, but when someone from outside of the White House calls to discuss business that is related to the running of the country, I do think it's important that we, the people, get to know about that business--maybe not all of the specifics, of course.  But it doesn't seem fair to hide business behind a smoke-screen any longer, Mr. President.  I don't know what sharing those phone logs would entail, or how much work it would be, but I do hope that you and your staff will revisit this stance and consider setting a new precedent for future generations.  If you do manage it, I will happily await the next thing that makes Republicans irate.

I wasn't able to find your wife's appearances in full on the internet, and while I have cable, rummaging through the cable mess in order to watch the programs she's been on has been...more time consuming than it was worth in all honesty.  I hope you'll consider letting her do her own little bit on the White House Facebook page--as I've really been enjoying those little snippets from various members of your WH staff.

The call you made to an essential worker on Friday was pretty touching, though I have to wonder what her son's expression meant.  I feel as though, having watched that, that her son, like many other black Americans, probably doesn't have a very good opinion of you right now.  I can't say I know what to do about that, but it's something to consider.  I know you can't be everything to everyone, but Black America seems unwilling to trust the government in a lot of ways these days, and if we want this country to succeed, I think that's something that needs to be addressed.

I don't think we'll talk about the Cuomo stuff tonight, Sir, but I think your party really needs to sit down and have a talk with itself.  The days of the "good old boys" club is over; things are changing, and either the Democrats change with the times, or they're going to get left behind.  People make mistakes; they're not always great at their jobs.  But that doesn't mean they get to abuse their power; that's part of what causes distrust in the government--no matter what party you're in.  Maybe remind your fellow democrats that they are meant to serve as examples of what is best in our country.  Maybe if they start doing that, they'll get more respect.

I have lots of other idea floating around in my head right now, but I think I'll leave it here for this week, Mr. President.  I know you're doing the best you can, and I hope these letters are finding their way to you in some small fashion.  But even if they're not, I feel a lot better for having written them.  It helps me to focus on the things that I believe are important to me and for the country, and that, in my mind, can't be anything but good.

I'll catch you next Sunday, Sir.  Until then, I'll be looking forward to seeing your roadmap going forward--COVID-19 plans and all.

~~ Jenni

P. S.  I watched a press conference by your COVID team this last Thursday (was it?)  Anyway, it had been a while since I'd watched one of those.  And while I thought your team did a good job, I found it troubling that your team lead, Acting Administrator Slavitt felt like he wasn't willing to be honest with the reporters asking questions of him.  In some cases, it felt like he was skirting issues, and it just didn't feel good watching that.  I was impressed with Dr. Walensky, even though she sadly didn't have much of a speaking role at the conference.

All in all, I feel like many of your staffers aren't doing a good enough job of actually listening to the questions being asked of them, and often they don't actually give answers to questions that were asked.  This can lead to a lot of frustration and spark conspiracies where there likely aren't any.  So, remind them to listen, take notes of the question if they need to in order to be sure they answer it, and not to be in such a hurry to give "an" answer instead of a good, thoughtful one.

Dear Mr. President

 Dear Mr. President:

I can't say I really wanted to write this tonight--not because I didn't want to write to you, but more because I didn't want to have to go mucking about to see what all you've been up to this week.  As per usual, you've been pretty busy--from foreign policy to national emergencies in Oklahoma and Texas, (and Portland as well, I hear;) and then there were the little things, like congratulating NASA and posting some videos of you and Jen answering some twitter questions.  I must admit, the latter was my favorite when it came to catching up this week.  These things humanize you.  They help us get to know you, and it is greatly appreciated.

I see we officially rejoined the Paris Climate Agreement, and I heard you were interested in working with Iran on the nuclear deal again.  I also saw you were flexing some military might down in the China Sea.  These are all good things, I think, but I do think we need to be looking into those SolarWinds hacks--figuring out just how bad they were and working to ensure that national security information and infrastructure is, if not impervious to hacking, at least strengthened to better ensure our safety.

There was also the national emergency situation with the cold weather in Oklahoma and Texas this past week, and just hearing from my parents about their own difficulties, I can assure you that any help the government can give is a good thing there.  But it brings to light some of the problems in our current infrastructure--things that we really need to address.  With the climate changing, this kind of weather isn't going to be as strange as it seems to us now.  Colder winters.  Hotter summers.  Wetter Springs, and drier autumns.  We need to look at our roads, our buildings, and our green technology and ensure that it is climate-proofed for the future.  For far too long we've taken shortcuts and looked only at the short-term gains rather than considering the long-term efficacy, reliability, and sustainability of the things we build.  That needs to change.

As an aside, my parents are on well water, and their well froze over.  Most of the small towns near the big cities (like where my parents live,) ended up being raided for water, and my parents were lucky my dad's a volunteer firefighter.  They were able to get some water from one of the stations where he works, but otherwise, they might well have had to do without it.  They managed some water from HEB (local grocery store) on Friday, and they're hopeful that their well will unfreeze soon, but...that's certainly not a given.

A lot of people who aren't your most ardent supporters have been talking about your immigration plans, and a lot of them are pretty upset about the fact that we've closed our borders due to COVID but see that we're still accepting people into the country seeking refuge and help.  It's frustrating to see their words and feel a twinge of understanding.  But I also know that there are problems at our borders, and maybe it's time that people saw that.  Maybe help them understand what's going on at our borders and then try to explain better our policies in that regard.  I didn't catch anything about it during your Town Hall; so, I'm mentioning it here, because as I said, I've been seeing a lot of that coming from your opposition.

So much has happened this past week that I don't know if I mentioned my disappointment with the whole impeachment last weekend.  I expect I might have said a thing or two, but I think a lot of us were disappointed at how glib, smug, or downright derisive some of our public officials acted.  A lot of people are still angry, sir--on both sides obviously.  But from where I'm standing, the House and the Senate look like giant piles of crap right now.  Not only were there no repercussions for elected officials for their conduct (while regular people are standing trial for their actions,) but COVID relief feels like it's stalled.  And sure, we get that things don't move fast in Washington D. C., but our lives don't just stop while we wait for laws to get made.  We've got bills to pay, and mouths to feed; and frankly, most of us just want to see some parity.  What are we paying taxes for if the people who are taking that money as payment for their service aren't actually doing anything to serve us?  It gets ..old, Mr. President--really old.

And I get that you've been working to salvage things as you can--especially with mortgages, foreclosures, and student debt.  You're doing what you can, but Congress needs to get their heads out of their behinds and start doing the work that's going to help the people.  Also, I wanted to congratulate you on getting more work done on vaccines and getting them to the states.  I know there's still more work to be done, but on this count, at least we are seeing that progress is coming--if not necessarily here yet.

I want to touch on something I read the other day though regarding student loans.  You mentioned during your town hall that you weren't willing to go beyond forgiving $10,000, and I really think that's a mistake.  Check with your Treasury Secretary; look at the figures.  The people hardest hit by debt are lower and middle income families, and they can't afford it.  And if that's holding together something in our economy, then there's something wrong with the way we're running our economy.  I'm not saying you have to do more than the 10K now, but don't discount doing more, please.  There are a lot of people struggling right now, and words like never and not possible aren't things we should be saying.  Not to mention that the more educated we are, the better prepared we'll be to deal with hardships and setbacks, Mr. President, and that's a worthy investment, but it's not worth a lifetime of debt.  It just shouldn't be.

I'm pretty sure I had a lot more to say to you than this, but I guess there'll be more in the weeks and months to come, hopefully.  One thing I did want to highlight was the call you made to NASA about the Perseverance Rover landing on Mars.  It sounded a little stilted on both ends, by the way--the video that was released of it.  But nonetheless, I am grateful that you did it.  The men and women of our space programs deserve a lot of respect, and the fact that their hard work merited your attention, respect, and congratulations was important to me.  So thank you for honoring their work and achievements as you did.

I'm actually a lot more excited to hear that you want to visit them and see the work they're doing.  If you do, you can rest assured I'll be following all the news about it.

I have to say, that's one thing I am really glad to see you doing--listening to scientists and inviting experts in their fields to offer you their thoughts and opinions.  I hope I get to see a lot more of it in the coming weeks.  I am also looking forward to hearing about your wife's media appearance on Thursday.  I hope she does a lot to lift up marginalized voices and highlight the work and accomplishments of not only great people, but also great people of color--and also women.  I know there are a lot of girls and women who were excited by your choice of Kamala Harris as your running mate, and I really hope that Jill Biden will continue to build on that rapport that your Presidency has built with the women of this country and abroad.  Your wife has a chance to advocate for us, and I really hope that she'll speak about the inequalities and injustices in this country (and also the world.)  If we can't talk about the problem, there will never be a way to solve it.  When you name a thing, when you point it out--when you see it for what it is--only then can you truly understand it.  So I will wish her luck and look forward to seeing what she has to say.

Also, congratulations to you and your staff on your first full month in office, Sir.

And with that, Mr. President, I believe it is time to go and feed the cat his treats.  He's been very patient since about the third paragraph of this letter to you, but I don't know how much longer he can be patient.  Also, I don't want to incur his wrath. He has claws.

I look forward to writing to you next week and seeing what you've got on the agenda.  Stay strong, don't forget your coffee, and keep the pineapple off Jen's pizza.  Until next time, Mr. President!

~~ Jenni