Dear Donald

I have resisted the temptation to write to you for years.

Dr. Errington Thompson is a critical care trauma surgeon, author, and talk show host. Listen to the Errington Thompson Show, available through Podcast and download at: www.whereistheoutrage.net
by Errington C. Thompson, MD –

I figured it wouldn’t do any good, but I have decided it would do me some good. So this is for me and not for you.

Foolishly, I believe that most people want to do good. You can reason with them if you can calm them down and get them out of their frenzy. Then again, when I was on my psychiatry rotation in medical school, I met a patient who thought that the Richardson, TX (a suburb of Dallas) police were beaming ideas into his head.

That was the first time it became clear to me that reason does not work with everyone.

But that is your genius. You don’t let anyone calm down. You keep them in a state of frenzy. You promote one crisis after another.

So, how did you end up here, Donald? You are sitting in a cold courtroom with sketch artists drawing your melancholy face. Just three years ago, you were sitting in the White House as President of the United States. That’s a long drop.

You are not on trial for having sex with a porn star. You aren’t even on trial for paying a porn star for sex. You’re on trial because you tried to lie about those payments.

You claimed they were legal expenses—a campaign finance violation. You tried to hide these payments from the public because you thought it would hurt your election.

This is the funniest and most ironic thing about this whole case. The folks who love you don’t care if you slept with a porn star. They love the fact that you don’t play by the rules. So you are on trial because you underestimated your followers. (Well, you underestimated their tolerance for your appalling behavior, and overestimated their character.)

Probably the worst part of this ordeal is that the facts in this case are not in doubt. According to these facts, someone, Michael Cohen, has already gone to jail—for doing what you ordered him to do! You are really between a rock and a hard place.

The GOP

Do you feel that your grip on the GOP is slipping? Not too long ago, it seemed that if you asked the GOP to jump, they would snap to attention and ask, “How high?” Now, someone you endorsed, Mike Johnson, Speaker of the House, decided to back funding for Ukraine. Ukraine. The country that defied you. The little nothing country that had the nerve to stand up and say “No” to Donald Trump. Johnson turned his back on you like there are no consequences to crossing the Don. What is going on? Have you lost your power?

The Middle East

Don, I’m sorry, but I blame a lot of the chaos in Israel and Gaza on you. When you were president, you told Israel that they could do whatever they wanted. Israel is not acting like a country whose foundation is based on the Torah. Instead, they are running through Gaza like Thanos from The Avengers. They are killing men, women, and children. They are killing militants, civilians, and journalists. By some accounts, over 100 journalists have died covering this stupid, fruitless war.

Now, Israel and Iran are playing a perilous game of chicken. They are throwing weapons at each other to show political hardliners in their respective countries that they are tough. All we need is some miscalculation where hundreds (if not thousands) of civilians die, and then we have World War III on our hands.

Again, this is your fault. Iran was complying with a nuclear treaty that was working. You tore up that treaty because… Why did you tear up that treaty? I remember the claim that it was because you thought Obama didn’t know what he was doing. When, in fact, it was you who was clueless. (Many observers suggested that you actually opposed the treaty simply because President Obama, a Black man and your nemesis, had brought it about.)

There is unrest on college campuses. Sorry, Don, but these are students who are informed, and they are frustrated. Israel is wiping out Gaza using American weapons. They (the students) believe that’s wrong. They want the killing to stop.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has called the protestors an “antisemitic mob.” He is wrong. Most of the protestors want the violence to stop. They don’t hate Jews. They hate Israel’s  bombing of civilians.

Don, this is the kind of nuance you don’t understand. Or at least you pretend that you don’t understand.

Back to You

Donald, I hope you are getting used to sitting in a courtroom. You have three more trials after this one. The case in Georgia, where you tried to interfere with counting the votes, is pretty straightforward. You wanted to change the outcome of a close election by any means. Any means. That’s illegal. You knew it was unlawful when you called the Secretary of State of Georgia and asked him to find over 11,000 votes.

Ok, Donald. It is just you and me. You can tell me. Be honest. (Yes, I typed that with a straight face.)

Why did you take those documents out of the White House? You took those specific documents out of the White House for a reason. Why? There is something that ties all of those documents together. Were you expecting a big payday? Was this a quid pro quo? Are the documents connected to the $2 Billion the Saudis gave Jared Kushner, your son-in-law?

This document case is straightforward. You took the documents. You were asked to return the documents. You said you had returned everything, but you lied: you knew you were still hoarding documents. You even went out of your way to hide the documents. Your only hope in this case is for your handpicked judge, Aileen Cannon, to somehow come through for you.

Finally, there is the insurrection case. It sure seems like you were the ringleader. You were the one that a handful of your lawyers bought hairbrained ideas to. You were the one who approved of the ideas—like the fake electors. You supported the plot dreamed up by one of your lawyers who is now facing disbarment for his behavior.

Stupid Question

So, Don, how do you feel about gun control? No, I’m serious. As a trauma surgeon, I see the real effects of gun violence. I have had to walk into the waiting room and tell a family member that their loved one has died from gun violence. Yep, I know. You don’t care. I wish you did.

April 20 was the 25th anniversary of the terrible shooting at Columbine High School in which 12 students and one teacher died at the hands of two students. In medicine, when we have an awful event, we call them never events. These are events that should never happen again.

Columbine should have been a never event for the US. We should have taken whatever steps were necessary to prevent this kind of tragedy from ever happening again. Instead of seriously confronting the problem, we have weakened laws that were designed to protect us from gun violence. We allowed the assault weapons ban to expire. I know that all of this violence isn’t your fault, but you were president. As president, you are in a position to help curb the gun violence. I would argue that you made the problem worse.

There have been so many school shootings over the last 25 years that it is heartbreaking. We have become numb to the violence. We can’t keep the details straight because so many incidents have happened. There was Sandy Hook (27 dead), Robb Elementary (22 dead), Santa Fe (10 dead), Virginia Tech (33 dead), Parkland (17 dead) and Nashville (7 dead). Yes, there were more, but I’m already depressed.

This list is sickening. More guns aren’t the answer. Tennessee just passed a law to allow teachers to carry concealed weapons on campus. This is a HUGE mistake. Teachers are not some strange version of Jason Bourne (a rogue “killing machine” created by the CIA) or Jack Reacher (ex-military, who is lethal with a gun). They are teachers, not armed security guards. How long will it be before some teacher makes the wrong decision and shoots a fellow teacher or student? When another shooting occurs, and the teacher does not stop it, are they going to be blamed for not acting like a TV/Movie hero? Of course, they are, while Republicans throughout the country will offer ever more “thoughts and prayers”—but not one word of legislation.

More Trouble

Finally, in Arizona, a grand jury indicted Mark Meadows, Rudy Giuliani, and others in the fake electors scheme. I may be reading the tea leaves completely wrong, but it seems that the House of Cards, the World of Donald Trump, is falling apart. Donny, I’m getting my popcorn. I’m going to watch every second of this disaster.

Wishing you good health,
Errington

Postscript

Donald, did you see this preacher on Instagram? The preacher states that some of his parishioners bring politics into the church. He then corrects them and states that politics is a civic duty. The Bible tells us that our duty is to love our God with all our heart and soul and love our neighbor as ourselves.

He then states that some have told him about putting the Bible, the US Constitution, and the Bill of Rights together. He rhetorically asks, “Isn’t this a great idea?” He then emphatically says no.

He correctly states that the US Constitution and the Bill of Rights are from THIS world. This is the document of the people, for the people, and by the people. The Bible is about God. It is not a secular book, but a holy book (for those who believe).

This preacher calls putting the Bible together with our constitution blasphemous. He states that his parishioners, those who are excited about this, do not understand the Bible and have not read the Bible. He is 100% correct.

But Donald, to be fair, it bothers me that you didn’t think of this. Instead, you thought this was a great way to make money. You felt that your faithful would be happy to shell out $60. You never thought that you would alienate Christians. If you went to church, if you read the Bible, you would’ve never, ever wanted to merge the Bible with any secular document.

Maybe, just maybe, this is one get-rich-quick scheme that you might live to regret. (Oh, by the way, how are those nausea-inducing golden tennis shoes selling?)

 


NOTE: The views and opinions expressed here, as well as assertions of facts, are those of the author. They do not necessarily represent the views or opinions of The Urban News.