Return to Sender

24 Unanswered Letters to the White House

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Published by: Independently published
Release Date: February 8, 2020
Pages: 400
ISBN13: 979-8611428344

 
Synopsis

This compilation of letters, from January 30, 2017 to February 2, 2020, reflects the author's continued and good faith efforts to elicit a meaningful response from President Trump's White House, all to no avail. The book contains a chronological record of chaos and moral turpitude perpetrated on the American people by the man now in the Oval Office. If you read these letters, you will see play out again the misogyny, the racism, the stupidity, the bullying, the childishness, the lies and more lies, the cruelty, and the parallels to Nazi Germany. You will see the abuse of power, the obstruction of justice, the bribery, and the stonewalling. You will see everything sacred and honorable about our country being trampled and ground into dust. You will be reminded that the only cure for this desecration of our Constitution and our values is to vote this unworthy and unstable man out of office. Be strong, and we will strength each other!

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Praise

“Bruce Berger is a great researcher for the facts regarding #45's revolting behavior and the negative impacts on the protection of the U.S. Constitution and the democracy it is designed to uphold… Berger's Return to Sender is a must-read for those who believe in justice.”

Excerpt

More than three years after Trump’s inauguration, after writing to the White House 224 separate letters, after receiving no response – not even a squad of angry Secret Service agents driving up to my door – I feel it’s time to make these letters available in book form. Not that I’m looking for trouble, by any means. It wasn’t even my idea to compile these letters. It’s an idea that has been suggested to me by many of the readers of my Facebook page, brucejberger. When I speculated in a post that I might well do what they had asked, the response was overwhelmingly positive. ​

So let me explain briefly what these are. I sent each of these 224 letters to the White House before anyone else saw it. It’s easy to do. On the White House website, one scrolls to the bottom – you have to ignore the pictures of Trump and the lying headlines – and clicks on the email icon. That brings the erstwhile letter-writer to the place where the email can be sent. One obviously needs to give a valid email address, residential address, and telephone number. After sending each email, I then posted it on my website, http://brucejberger.wordpress.com, and from there sent it to Linked-In and Twitter, as well as to Facebook. Most of the reader comments on my letters are postings on the Facebook page, brucejberger. ​

When I started this campaign, I didn’t think that it would go on for as long as a year, and as I approached the first anniversary, I decided to stop. Enough was enough, right? When I mentioned my intention to readers, however, their response was one of dismay. My readers wanted me to continue. And then I thought back to how many readers, in their comments, expressed gratitude that I had written these letters to the White House, how I had said what they, too, wanted to say and felt unable to, how my writing brought them courage and helped many get through the day. So, although I had thought about quitting, I decided not to. The readers are always right. ​

In Nazi Germany of the 1930’s, crazed adulation of most of the population was the rule. Many who might have spoken out were silent. I understand that they were properly afraid for the lives. But, in a democracy such as ours, to be silent is to be complicit. I’m not suggesting Trump is as evil as Hitler, but does he have to be as evil as Hitler to present an existential threat to our republic, for the survival of which so many have died? Does he have to be as evil to threaten our lives and those our children and grandchildren?

I have realized during the past three years that the main function and effect of these letters is to give hope to my readers. It’s so easy to despair and drop out, leaving the field to those who love Trump and his vile message and behavior. To despair and drop out is to concede defeat. Although my readership may be minuscule compared to the scores of millions who must vote Blue in 2020, each and every voter is important, and so I see that my main mission is to keep spirits up and to make readers commit to vote Trump out of office. Hence, my frequently repeated motto, borrowed from what we Jews sing in our synagogues when finishing the chanting of a book of Torah: “Be strong, and we will strengthen each other!” ​

A hundred years hence, when historians look at this sorry period of our country’s saga, whatever happens from here on, I want them to find a record of people who stood up to Trump. I want them to understand that the vast majority of us did not fall under the spell of the cult leader and did not give up. So be strong, and we will strengthen each other. And now, the unanswered letters.