The Blue Lady Decides to Enter into Correspondence with Some Red People

Taking the long view. Drop by drop, gust by gust,
just water and wind make great changes. 

The big change is approaching. I listened last night to President Obama in Chicago and came away both inspired and hopeful. He does that to me.

I decided that I have to start doing some things as a citizen or I will just go crazy. I can't possible run for office or get involved in actual politics myself. That's just not me, and even trying would make my life very very unhappy. So what can I do?

I can start by writing. I'm a writer. I can write. Writing lasts. Writing is powerful. Writing makes a difference.



It's now my intention to enter into regular correspondence with the upcoming president, with copies sent to my 3 Congressional people so save some time. I intend to be brief, polite and to the point. No personal recriminations. If something good happens, I'll write about that. However, I have a feeling I will mostly be writing about things upon which he and I disagree.

So, here's my first letter.

Dear Mr. Trump,

I have to begin by saying I did not vote for you, and I was very unhappy when you were elected. However, you are going to become the president of the United States and as such you will be making policy that will affect me and will be speaking on my behalf to the world.

I have decided to take the advice of President Obama and not retreat into passive behavior, just watching what unfolds without at least making some effort, as a citizen, to make my true voice heard. It is my intention now to let you know on a regular basis my opinion on various subjects relevant to policies, practices, laws, and attitudes of the government of the United States.

I will not burden your administrative assistants with excessive rhetoric; I imagine they will be the only ones who will actually read what I write. But I do think it is accurate that my letters, especially ones written on paper, will be archived and become part of the public record. Someday scholars and other writers will be able to say how many of us did write to you to tell you their opinions, and how many of us agreed or disagreed with your policies, ideas and practices, and whether or not that made any difference to you or other people in government.

It is not my intention to oppose everything you might do in advance just because you are the one who did / said whatever. I will tell you when I agree with or like something you have said or done.

I will also keep to one subject per letter, so as not to get issues confused and mixed up. So with this my first letter I would like to take up the topic of global climate change which I think is the single most important issue facing the entire world right now.

Global climate change is a real thing. It’s already happening although scientists, who are used to speaking with an abundance of caution, will only say that after the fact, years from now probably. You know about it yourself because of what is happening to your golf course near Miami. The climate doesn’t care what anyone “believes” about it. Belief is irrelevant. There is consensus among scientists, very smart, educated people who know what they are doing and who have no political agenda except towards discovering knowledge which is accurate and can be trusted.

You have hedged at times about whether or not you “believe” in climate change. I think that you actually know that it is a thing to worry about. So please do worry about and then use the power of your office to do something intended to reverse or mitigate what is happening.

There are any number of actions you could take. I’ll leave details to the experts. But please become brave and strong and do as many different things as possible to help keep this planet a livable place for all our grandchildren and their grandchildren. Future generations will have nothing good to say about our selfish behavior if we don’t at least try.

Thank you very much for your attention.

Sincerely

I'm just one person who intends to be prickly, but I don't feel alone at all.
Making a way through the red lands can be surprisingly difficult.