My Emails to President Trump

 I have felt compelled to write President Trump occasionally to vent my frustration with his devastating policies, lack of ethics, and his overall arrogance. Though I have written rarely to former presidents before, as a citizen witnessing the erosion of trust in the office of this presidency, I feel it is important my voice is heard. Since the president has dismissed polls as fake news, I write to the White House so he cannot deny there is opposition and dissent with his administration. 

His presidency has been described as ruling through chaos. It seems he has this down pat; attention deficit disorder (ADD) as a style of management is in vogue with his GOP constituency. One can see by his abysmal failure to govern he demonstrates he is way over his head. Even if you think his critics are being harsh and unfair, one just has to look to his behavior to know we are in deep trouble. 

First of all, let's look at his countenance.When he is being serious, there is a mean, almost menacing look behind his eyes.Is this a Jedi mind trick or an insecure man's way of staring down his ego threats through the hypnotic use of glaring? Nixon had this same basilisk.If the eyes are the windows to the soul, then Trump's eyes reveal a man with no inner conscience. A recent illustration of this was the picture of our president with Comey (whom is considerably taller). It showed a puffed-up Trump physically overwhelmed by an indomitable presence. Behind Trump's eyes you could see his fear visually and knew this meant Comey would eventually be cut down to size. Even in pictures when Trump smiling or laughing, look at his eyes and see the fake celebrity photo-op glaze. It is like Melania's Slovenian Sphinx look, vacant and uncomfortable. About the happiest he has appeared is on his frequent golf trips. Hitting a ball may be the only thing he excels at. 

Next look at his behavior and those of our world leaders when around him. Tepid handshakes, dour faces, and his shoving, indicates wealth does not equate to being a confident, warm, and polite statesman. Diplomacy is a skill honed only if you have innate strategic and social sentience abilities. His bully demeanor, pretension, and braggadocio style makes him a threat to those very countries we've counted as our allies. Every one, except his admin and Russian pals, are treated with intimidation versus cooperation. Most telling was the picture of Melania swatting his hand away while walking down an airport runway-what a good unconscious 'tell' demonstrating how effective his relational quotient really is. 

Finally, look at his language. It is fraught with fear-based foreboding threatening annihilation if one rationally challenges his rhetoric. Direct combative challenges to the free press, the 1st amendment, the judicial system, and our intelligence community make him look like, Duterte, a ruthless ruler wanting to channel a fuhrer. Look at the carnage with only six months under his belt. People losing their careers because their allegiance to professional integrity, not the king. Instead of draining the swamp, Trump has created a blood bath further advancing his greed. 

Unlike Barack Obama's administration who invited contact, one has to work to find how to contact the White House. This is why I write to the President and invite everyone to drop him a line. Maybe if he gets enough written communications regurgitating what his policies have done to this nation, he may listen. Or if he does not, he cannot deny he is opposed, seen as ethically and morally bankrupt, and historically will be known as the most corrupt president we have ever elected. 

The Whistleblower's Requiem: Why Fraud and Abuse Is Not Reported

"Statement of Ethical Values
- Integrity. We will conduct ourselves with integrity in our dealings with and on behalf of the University.
- Excellence. We will conscientiously strive for excellence in our work.
- Accountability. We will be accountable as individuals and as members of this community for our ethical conduct and for compliance with applicable laws and University policies and directives.
 - Respect. We will respect the rights and dignity of others."-from my employers code of ethics

Every year I am  required to take my employer's ethics PowerPoint presentation. In fact, I just took this ethics training two weeks ago. In this presentation, we are given example after example of how to conduct ourselves ethically. All ethical violations are expected to be reported through our employer ethics or whistle blower hotline.

For months I had been hearing from community vaccine coordinators, whom I had been training on vaccine management best practices, that they have let expire tens, if not hundreds of thousands of dollars of funded adult vaccine (these are vaccines purchased by the government and given freely to qualified clinics to dispense to uninsured adults). The reasons are varied but the bottom line is the agency which oversees these vaccines failed to oversee and account for these vaccines. I was told multiple times from the vaccine coordinators that this agency not only told them not to worry about using these vaccines but it is okay for them to expire. And incredibly they did just that. At first, I didn't believe this was what true until I started running reports proving the vaccine loss they alleged was true.

As a vaccine advocate, an accountant of vaccines, and a taxpayer, I was shocked to hear of the exorbitant loss of unused and expired doses of vaccines. These vaccines were earmarked for uninsured adults who cannot afford the high cost of being protected from diseases such as shingles, meningitis, Hepatitis B, pneumonia, etc. This was not just the loss of vaccine but the opportunity to provide immunological protection to a vulnerable population reducing the burden and cost of getting the disease.

Immediately I notified the regional director of vaccine agency involved, my medical director, my administrative director, and the clinical nursing supervisor of public health. To say it caused even a blip of concern would be an understatement. It was unbelievable to me that my colleagues in public health did not even register outrage at the cost and loss of this amount of the vaccine. 

I could not get my head wrapped around the institutional indifference I had encountered. Remembering my ethics training, I called the state whistle blower. That was a big mistake. The crackerjack ethics intake person could not even identify the Department of Health as being an agency under the state auspices he was suppose to be ethically counseling and kept wanting to dump me on the Federal whistle blower program. When he finally got the Department of Health is under our state government, he did everything in his power to be as unhelpful as possible. Quickly I realized that this is one of the many reasons why decent people who witness fraud and waste don't bother to report it. Not only are the ethics people uninterested in taking the information, but they couldn't even identify the very agency they are supposed to be providing ethical support. Exasperated, I gave up on the whistle blower idea. I had no idea of how to proceed but I wanted someone to acknowledge and accept responsibility for a costly systemic failure so it doesn't threaten the importance of continued funding for immunization.

An opportunity arose weeks later at our state conference. Coincidentally, state administrators were delivering a gloriously spun presentation on what a great job they did with the launch of their adult vaccine pilot; this included metrics on the number of vaccines which were administered. But they had no data noting the amount of wasted and expired vaccines. It was a risky political gambit to bring up the dirty laundry of vaccine waste in front of the whole state conference; doing this made me feel like a traitor. My disclosure brought audible gasps from the audience when I divulged how much vaccine was lost. Unbeknownst to me, the State Medical Director was also in that session and heard my every word. After the meeting, she met with me and vowed to audit the vaccine program. She is known to be a woman of integrity-I trusted her to do the right thing and she did. Now there is more oversight of this vaccine. 

What did I learn from this? Though my State and university does a spectacular job promoting the idea of ethics, it is well known their whistle blower program is the last thing you would do if you have a serious issue with ethics. Why? Because they are first and foremost assessing their liability for lawsuits. You would be sincerely deluded to actually think they care about the outrageous unethical violation you discovered. The bottom line for them appears to be about face and money saving. That's why people go to the media instead of becoming a whistle blower-at least the media take us seriously. Secondly, no matter what the ethics people say, the employer will protect the powerful directors and managers from the consequences of their alleged violations to avoid embarrassment and scandal. And finally, there is no one to defend you from retaliation in spite of their assurances you will be legally shielded. 

My colleagues at the agency I exposed have all frozen me out. Of course this is understandable; the emperor not only has no clothes but will have a hard time explaining where the clothes went. The question haunts me if I should have overlooked their costly mistake with silence. After all, they are all good workers and people I had previously respected. The grueling decision to speak out was agonizing. What always came back to me was, as an advocate and accountant of these very expensive vaccines, my conscience would not allow me say nothing. Because of this, I am in an unenviable position of exposing something I wish I had never learned. Until the day I retire, I will be considered a workplace snitch and be ostracized. Fortunately, they cannot retaliate openly against me because of my discussion about with their medical director. 

We live in a schizophrenic world when it comes to integrity in the workplace. On one hand we are taught to revere the truth and do the right thing. On the other hand our character is impeached and we risk losing our job if we do. We are seen as disgruntled troublemakers, traitors, and 'leakers' for bringing to light flagrant violations we have been told to we are required ethically to report.

Previously I wrote a blog about working in the 21st century. It was an indictment of how conditions have deteriorated for those of us trying to contribute meaningfully in the workplace. The only thing that brings me solace is that I have about a year before I retire. Those I truly feel sorry for are the ones who have many more years in the workplace.  

From Russia with Love

I remember Stalin killing 11 million people in World War II.

I remember my Polish kin telling stories how they were decimated by the Russians following the war.

I remember practicing atom bomb preparedness in the 60s because of Khrushchev's threats.

I remember Russia's invasion of Czechoslovakia.

I remember growing up with Ukrainians telling stories of Russia's ruthlessness, only to see it again.

I remember when another country could not influence our elections.

I remember when we were a county of immigrants seeking shelter from treacherous regimes.

I remember when the Soviet Union fell apart and there was hope for democracy.

I remember when collaborating with Russia was considered treason.

Now we have an administration so tied into Russia, we are sensing another invasion.

Money, greed, and power has supplanted the lessons of history.

Slowly and methodically Trump is attempting to desensitize us into thinking Russia is our friend.

Though we cannot yet prove it, they installed him as President to make us their newest conquest.

Almost all the President's men (and daughter) have financial ties to Russia.

I have not forgotten the lessons of history and how dangerous Putin is.

I have not forgotten the Pledge of Allegiance to the United States of America.

Those who forget the past are doomed to see it repeated.

Weiner's Weiner Problem

This week Anthony Weiner plead guilty to soliciting sex with a minor in a tearful media moment designed to make him appear a victim of a 'disease'. I also have a disease, it's called spondylolisthesis, which is a deterioration of the discs in my back. It has not, however, made me repeatedly tweet pictures of my genitals to minor children for the purpose of seeking sex. 

Okay, I get it, the kind of disease he has is a repetition compulsion which follows an addictive model. But the point I am trying to make is that using a 'disease' as an excuse to sexually exploit children somehow dismisses the devastating impact it has on the most vulnerable casualties he has hurt. The indication here is that the 'disease' is responsible, not Mr. Weiner. 

Feeling any compassion for Mr. Weiner's problem leaves him no understanding that his all consuming obsession exonerates him as the root cause. The focus of his 'disease' is his inability to control his urges, not those he perpetrated them on. He shows little insight into how his sexual depravity affects his victims throughout their lifetime. Most people think victims of sexual crimes can easy overcome this with therapy and TLC. This is not so. 

Mr. Weiner's social status and money allowed him to get a light sentence for his crimes. This would not be so if he was another race or poor. Having to register as a sex offender for life is a small price to pay. His victims may not be as lucky.

It is of note that his wife, Huma Abedin, filled for divorce from him this week. Staying with him after his first sexting debacle proved her steely denial and unwavering loyalty made her blind and complicit to the seriousness of his 'disease'. Maybe after seeing the pictures of how he used their child in the last sexting scandal has woken her up to he would have used any prop to consequate his repetition compulsion. Her sentence will also be lifelong: this was no doubt a factor in causing Ms. Clinton to lose the election, her reputation is now ruined by her extremely poor judgment, and there is little doubt her name will forever be linked to a humiliating 'disease'.

Ivanka's Daddy Problem

A newspaper headline today touted Ivanka's upset with her father during his PR fiasco about grabbing pussy. Evidently, she was sadly disturbed that he wouldn't apologize to women of the world for his 'locker room talk'. Yet, in spite of being horrified by his predatory behavior, she moved into the White House and remains his closest adviser. I believe that is called identification with the aggressor. The following is a definition from Dr. Jay Frankl:

"When we feel overwhelmed by an inescapable threat, we “identify with the aggressor” (Ferenczi, 1933). Hoping to survive, we sense and “become” precisely what the attacker expects of us—in our behavior, perceptions, emotions, and thoughts. Identification with the aggressor is closely coordinated with other responses to trauma, including dissociation. Over the long run, it can become habitual and can lead to masochism, chronic hypervigilance, and other personality distortions."

Ivanka's image is that of a post-millenial feminist: a woman wanting all the benefits of being a free white woman of privilege, but not one willing to oppose the misogynistic rhetoric and politics of her slimy father. As a female cake eater, you can't have it both ways, Ivanka. 

As a woman raised in the feminist movement of the 70s, women fought hard for equal rights. History has forgotten how women of my age used to be fired from their jobs for being pregnant, had no access to credit, had virtually no representation in Congress, and were almost unilaterally denied any career advancement. I remember it all too well. Hilary Clinton's loss had more to do with her being a woman than her politics. We still live in a patriarchal culture wanting to deny woman equal rights, access to birth control, and bitterly opposed to women as political leaders. But all one has to do is look at women's movements around the world to know we will continue to move forward and we are an unstoppable force. No wonder why Hulu's resurrection of Margaret Atwood's brilliant novel, "A Handmaiden's Tale", is so popular-we are frightened to see the comparisons to Trump's America.

Too bad Ivanka's elitist upbringing has isolated her from the reality of women's daily struggles. She could be a potent force championing women's issues. Not knowing the definition of complicit is a sad indictment of her denial and lessens the chance of any insight changing her clueless self-absorption. This daddy's girl may know daddy is unbalanced mentally/morally/politically, but she will use her darling daughter charms to push her and her husband's agendas. Forget what she espouses in her interviews. She is skilled in the art of 'meaningful' emotional media engagement. Being booed in Berlin at the W20 Women's Summit demonstrates that women who work to better the world see her for what she really is. We see by her behavior she is just another parasitic hypocrite engorging her wealth by pretending she cares about causes only if she can also promote her brand.

Being a daddy's girl, Ivanka has her dad wrapped around her fingers. Just today the State Department finally took down an ad promoting her book off their website. There are no ethics too egregious to cross with Ivanka and her daddy. Sadly, she like her father are both ardently addicted to fame, power, prestige, and money. We live in a new world where the 1% can now do whatever they want. The costs of maintaining their Mar a Lago lifestyle at the taxpayers expense is only one example of their duplicity.

Thanks to Jane Goodall for taking Ivanka to task for using Ms. Goodall's words in Ivanka's vapid attempt at promoting her women who work book. Without understanding what abysmal assaults women are facing from daddy's politics, Ivanka will just be another one of his Barbie doll girls with no insight, no intelligence, and no substance.