Trump will leave behind a crumbling national infrastructure, a White House bathtub ringed with bronzer, and a clear pathway for a more strategic successor.
Once all the votes are counted, two things will be true: One, the United States will have its greatest electoral turnout since 1900, potentially as high as ⅔ of eligible voters. And two, nearly half of those voters will have cast ballots for Donald J. Trump.
Pause for a moment and ask yourself: How does that happen? How does a man get this close to reelection after demonstrating catastrophic incompetence as President, abusing the office to enrich himself, flagrantly violating federal law, and apathetically allowing a preventable pandemic to spread unchecked and kill a quarter-million Americans?
There is only one…
Sometimes a haircut is more than just a haircut, and that’s fine.
For every queer person, coming out is a defining experience, not unlike a volcanic eruption. It is preceded by a slow build of pressure as we come to terms with our own identity and consider the potential ramifications of telling the people most important in our lives. Next comes the moment of declaration, a release that catches some people by surprise, and may be violent or traumatic. Coming out is transformative, sometimes destructive, and creates change that cannot be undone.
Like an eruption, that first coming out shapes the world we will occupy as queer people — and some of…
If Americans want to fight racism, we must stop lying to ourselves.
There’s this phrase I’ve heard for most of my life, but especially in the last few years: “This is not who we are as Americans.”
I heard it after Trump won in 2016. I heard it when Nazis marched on Charlottesville, Virginia, and I’ve heard it a lot in the days following the attempted coup by Trump loyalists in Washington. Each time it’s been in response to a demonstration of the racism and white supremacy that poisons America.
And here’s the thing: It’s a lie. This is most definitely who we are.
In addiction treatment, the saying goes that “the…
An open letter to incoming President Joe Biden
Dear Joe,
You won’t remember me, but we’ve met. It was 1993, and I was 14 and part of a group of high school students from Pennsylvania, New York, and Delaware who collectively drafted a clean water bill. Our sponsor was Harris Wofford (wish he were still with us to see this day), but you made a point to come over and introduce yourself. You shook our hands and told us to stay involved in our government. So here I am, taking your advice and staying involved.
First of all, congratulations. After devoting most of your life to the service…
