My dear RBG,

I love you. You know that. You have been a beacon of hope for so many of us, a gifted champion for the downtrodden. I hope you live forever.

But Donald Trump is right. You acted completely inappropriately when you spoke out about his candidacy. As Ben Carson said in an interview I saw with him, most people believe that the Court is completely politicized anyway. The last thing we need is to feed into that perception, further eroding trust in SCOTUS as an institution.

I don’t care if you gripe to your friends, or fulminate to Elena and Sonia. A Supreme Court justice has got to stay out of politics in public. It’s Caesar’s wife: not only must the Court be impartial (to the extent it can be), it must be seen to be impartial. That’s why you guys don’t applaud during the State of the Union, right?

Love,

A VBF (Very Big Fan)

P.S. Absolutely no love for making me agree with Donald Trump and Ben Carson. 

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Dear Donald Trump:

You think RBG is actually going to resign over this? Hah! As Willie Wonka might say, “You’re funny.”

No love,

A “hater.”

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Dear Bernie Supporters who walked out after he endorsed Hillary Clinton:

For months now you and he have been saying that his candidacy was about more than him. You’re both right: at this point, it’s about your egos.

You have two choices: vote third party (or not at all) and bask in your self-righteousness if Donald Trump wins the White House. You could be like the Nader people from 2000, who blamed the Democratic Party for not doing enough to “welcome them.” Never mind that you have consistently misrepresented Hillary’s record for months, or that the platform will represent many of Sanders’ positions (not all, but hey, a lot). Never mind that you are willing to turn America over to a party that wants to eliminate reproductive rights for women, whose standard-bearer exudes xenophobia and misogyny with almost every utterance. Nothing matters more than “refusing to settle,” right? I’m sure your ideological purity will be of great comfort to the rape victim who cannot get an abortion because abortions are illegal across the country. (Oh, and don’t forget, the next President will be responsible for the filling of at least one SCOTUS seat, ensuring that the Republicans’ reactionary agenda will be enshrined in law for years, possibly decades, even if January 2021 features the inauguration of President Warren.)

Or you can recognize that wars are not won in a single campaign. That change may take a long time. Don’t be fooled by the rapid ascendancy of the Tea Party: like the actor who has toiled in bit parts for fifteen years before becoming an “overnight sensation,” the far-right has been building its ground game ever since Goldwater lost the 1964 election. You can recognize how much can be accomplished at the local and state level, and that you can elect someone who will not set the country back, even if you don’t think she is going to move the country forward. You’ve achieved a lot — let’s build on it, okay?

Love,

Someone who actually agrees with you on almost all issues of substance.

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Dear Chris Hayes and Rachel Maddow:

Love you guys. But I am going to take a break because I just can’t take all this anymore. Between the violence and the politics (and the way they overlap) everything seems overwhelming, and even your intelligent perspective on the news of the day can’t make it better. I’ll go back to Google News for now.

See you after the conventions.

Bye for now,

A (most of the time) follower.

PS. Who am I kidding? I’ll be tuned in tomorrow.

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Dear Tampa Bay Rays,

Damn. Oh well, the Buccaneers’ season starts in about a month.

Sincerely,

Disappointed.

PS. NY Mets, you are on notice: get your freaking act together.