June 17 2020
Dear Mr. President,
So many issues, so much discontent, angst, unknown and tension. How do you pace yourself to act on behalf of all Americans, grow the economy, plan your reelection and enjoy family? It seems like too much for a man of your age and your pre-existing conditions. (I don’t know any of them due to HIPAA Laws, but I am sure there are some).You know how much I depend on you for answers to my questions and to share your thoughts on my ideas and suggestions. Everything is floating around in my mind now and I may actually need to write you another letter later today. It’s also possible that “reflecting” (I miss counting VPPence’s constant use of that word) and writing may soothe this anxiety.
For a few weeks now the worry has centered on the just cause and reactions to extreme policing, especially of people of color, and the counter reaction of those who view extreme policing as necessary. Do we have a completely lawless society or, in your words, only “a few bad apples”, “a tiny amount”? You meant police officers and but many see only a few people committing heinous crimes. Does that make our people basically good and only a few people are “bad apples”? You had a pretty good response yesterday to re-thinking military style policing. (Never let it be said that even your “enemies” and the “Fake Media” couldn’t offer (mild and faint) praise for the executive orders). Plus, there was the terrific visual of seeing you and a group of white men, plus one of color, in, what appeared to be, a group hug. You exuded strength and courage by ignoring social distancing and masks. The only way for you to show even more strength would be to stand when they stood and not sit with them surrounding you. The photo of that group is almost as powerful as the photo of you holding a Bible.
Okay, enough of that, here is my question/concern that you could help me with. I am as addicted to unimportant action shows as you are to Twitter and FOX. I love NCIS, even the LA version. Recently I binge- watched Jack Ryan on Amazon Prime. I know I’m not alone. There is a LOT of shooting, killing and mayhem that occurs on these shows and the “good guys” never seem bothered by this. They have a gun fight with the “terrorists” or “drug lords” or whomever is the designated “bad apple” in the episode and then go out for dinner or a drink. Most of the “enemies” are people of color or of ethnicities other than Caucasian. Do you think watching these shows will lead me and others into racism, distrust of “others” or even violence?
This is a serious question. When we were growing up, television was thought to corrupt our young minds. There were studies that violent shows led to violent behavior. It wasn’t true. We seemed to understand that the action on tv wasn’t real life. I’ve never been in a gun fight. But, it did lead to teenage crushes on the heroes – Bat Masterson, Wyatt Earp, Maverick, Leroy Jethro Gibbs and Sam Hanna – among a whole bunch more. Did it also contribute to a belief that crimes were committed by people of color or “otherhood”? Maybe we need to rethink this genre. Maybe, you could re-think your addiction to Twitter and FOX?
I also watch the White Collar crime shows. Do you like those? Surely you know a lot about that type of crime due to the amount of law suits filed against you and the number of friends convicted of fraud, lying, and money laundering. It can be confusing to the American People when you call them “good men” and you call the FBI and CIA and Intelligence analysts “scum”, “dirty” and “corrupt”. Didn’t you have any crushes on any of the guys convicted of those kinds of crime? It doesn’t seem like you have had any crushes on the crime fighters.
Let’s try and support each other’s attempts to control our attraction to shows about lying, cheating, stealing, drugs, terrorism and general badness. We could watch PBS specials instead and then discuss them. How about it?
Dear Mr. President 