Yay for Marco Rubio (I find it hard to believe I just wrote that)

Dear Senator Murray - I do not usually get my news from Senator Marco Rubio. However, when I saw that Sen. Rubio had stated that The State Department has been prevented from talking to Congress, I was shocked. And I was thankful to Sen. Rubio for making this public. If this is true, I find it hard to believe that it is legal. It certainly is not a good omen. Congress _must_ be given the best information possible to do their job. NOT being able to talk to another office of government is an attack on our way of governance. I encourage your efforts to fight this kind of crazy politics. DJ Trump is President, not CEO of a corporation. Information must flow and be able to be vetted for accuracy. Not allowing State to talk to Congress is like Congress not being able to access news sources, the Library of Congress, their phones or the Internet. Thank you for being a light in the darkness that has descended upon our Nation. My sincere wishes for the best of health for you, your family and staff. GregRobin Smith

You Say You Are An Environmentalist - Hooray!

Mr DJ Trump, President. Recently, in comments made during a signing, I heard you say, 'I am an environmentalist', and I am delighted to hear you say so. I look forward to immediate and decisive actions to back up this statement. * Reducing Carbon Emissions. * Reducing reliance on Oil (Oil Exports, Oil Exploration) and on Coal. * Increasing study and support of renewable energy sources (wind power, solar, tidal, thermal, solar power transmission from Space and from the Moon's Surface). * Increasing support of National Parks, Wilderness areas, and protection of sensitive environmental areas. I am looking forward to the acts, proofs, and decisions that you make next to show the world how much an an Environmentalist you are. I wish you and your family good health GregRobin Smith

A Bit more Long-Term Vision in Needed. Something that goes beyond our cut-off nose.

DJ Trump - President Sir. Business negotiations and Political Negotiations have similarities. However, the nuanced differences of Political Negotiation seem to plague you. Your Administration, by narrowly viewing the importance of how powerful you should appear, has decided that continuing the bluster of campaign is more important than the sober business of governance and international relations. Your Administration is telling our Press to 'shut up'. Your Press Secretary rants blatantly false facts rather than deal with Truth. Our Country is already moving in ways that insult our neighbors and friends (Mexico is the most recent injury we have inflicted) and I worry about the next loss, and the ones assuredly about to come. As other countries think about how to deal with us, they will learn we are more concerned, it seems, with our National Ego than with our National Interests in government by a great, informed, respectful and involved People. It is going to be much easier to right the course now, before our Ship of State grounds itself, then to pull ourselves off the Shoals of Trouble - especially when our Neighbors have little reason to come to our assistance. In addition to your vaunted skills as a Business Negotiator, you must somehow acquire the abilities of a Political Negotiator. Judging by the extreme failure of the Republican Congress to allow much in the way of any benefit to come from their majority the last several years, I do not think you will find the help you need in the current crowd you run with. Sir, look outside your current advisors for reasoned, informed, and collaborative-minded people to assist you better. Our Nation's success, and future, depends upon it. Your duty to These United States demands it. I wish you and your family good health.

Dear Senator Murray. I am very concerned about (probably) ALL of President D. J. Trump's appointments. From the Secretaries in his Cabinet to, eventually, his Supreme Court nominees. I am so very grateful that you and Senator Cantwell are there. Your proven record of progressive, considered and informed thought is a barrier against bluster and regressive policies. Please, dig in. Resist and block all nominees that you know are wrong for The United States of America. I trust your judgment. I do not think the current administration 'gets a pass'. We cannot just 'wait and see'. The rules of political war were established long ago, and until we can re-establish a respectful, civil government, we must deny normalizing this reactionary trend. We cannot let it gain a foothold in our way of thinking. Keep strong, and let me know what I can do (I write President Trump - one letter for each day he is in office. I march now. Tell me what else I can do.) Thank you. I wish you and your family, staff and friends all good health and safety. GregRobin Smith Seattle

Personal Exceptionalism: There is no Magic Wand... no Magic Eraser.

D. J. Trump - President Sir. The term, "Ship of State" is used to describe how a country is run. As you stated in your Inauguration speech, the People are in Control. That means We, the People, are the Captain of this Ship of State. But when the people who direct the ship, who call out obstacles, who navigate by charts drawn up by mapmakers, whose experience is relied upon to get the Ship safely from Port to Port - when those people are called liars... what does the Captain do? When the people charged with the running of the ship make wild statements without facts, without reason... only to promote confusion and gain control, this cannot be for the good. In particular, your call that the Media are liars and whose work should be erased, and that Science is able to be changed by the wave of a magic wand. The professional journalistic class are the sober observers and researchers that keep our Ship of State's course corrected. And numbers. Numbers, aka The Science of Facts, are not to be ignored, or made up, for the sake of convenience. The ridership on Washington DC's subway system were not greater on your Inauguration Day than when President Obama was inaugurated. You lost the popular vote by almost three million votes. These facts are not open for you to simply state 'alternate facts'. We, the People, depend and demand that you - as President - only deal in facts. In the best information that is available. Not just what your whim and fancy decrees. This 'magic eraser' and 'magic wand' you keep using will only weaken you, and will break these United States as a candid world grows suspicious of what we mean, and what we will do. This Ship of State will crash into the shoals. This Ship of State will careen through the shipping lanes, causing other Ships to veer away from us to seek safety. Facts, sir. They are not made real simply because of Personal Exceptionalism. Just because you are a candidate for office, or now, President, does not make your thoughts right automatically. Your staff, your supporters, cannot brow beat those who call you out 'wrong' because the works of Professional Journalists and Scientists are inconvenient. Deal in the facts, sir. Our very country, and world, depend on it. History is not a kind judge to those who think they can power their sails by the bluster and flurry of their own shouting. I wish you and your family good health. GregRobin Smith

Walls Do Not Keep Out the Problem, just the People

D. J. Trump, President. Sir. I cannot help but wonder if the money planned on being spent on "The Wall" across the Mexican border were to be invested in job opportunities IN Mexico, if the effect would be to improve the lives of Mexicans IN Mexico, thereby negating the need for the wall and actually helping fellow Humans rather than just trying to wall them in their own desperate circumstances. I believe the Enlightened thing to do is to help others have a productive life, not just keep them off our lawn. I wish you and your family good health. GregRobin Smith

My Thanks to Buzz Aldrin

Posted on Buzz Aldrin's FB Page https://www.facebook.com/buzzaldrin/ Ben Franklin saw the first manned 'flight' when, in 1793, he witnessed the Montgolfier Brothers launch their balloon in Paris. Ben whimsically stated that he somewhat regretted being born too early (1706) and he would not live to see the many advances of Science to come. I can only imagine the wonder and excitement he would feel at the various accomplishments of faster-than-foot travel... The bicycle, the automobile, the plane, helicopter, jet, and rockets... and rockets to the Moon. Praise be to all those who helped propel the Science and who had the courage to ride those rockets into the skies, into space, around the Moon, and to land - and walk on and explore - our nearest neighbor in Space. Thank you, Col. Aldrin, for continuing to push for new horizons to be crossed. May your work, life, character, courage and dedication never fade. GregRobin Smith - aka 'The New Benjamin Franklin' http://www.space.com/16595-montgolfiers-first-balloon-flight.html