Dear Kellyanne –

I saw your recent segment on AC 360 where you lamented that Donald Trump’s pre-inauguration coverage isn’t as celebratory as it has been in the past for other Presidents-elect. You seemed mystified, saying “We get no respect.” We both know you’re smarter than that, don’t we?

But OK, I’ll play along. Let’s talk about why the press might be focusing on something other than who Melania is wearing to the inaugural ball.

For the record, I’m going to base my characterizations here on the President-elect’s own words in context. That’s in debates, his recent press conference, and, of course, on Twitter. I’m going to stick with temperament over policy.

While his tux is being prepped for celebration, most (yes, most) of the American people are alternately numb, grieving, angry, frightened and flummoxed by his ongoing behavior since the Presidential election in November. We are wondering how this happened. And while our brains tell us there are a series of reasons he won and that we need to go “within” and examine our own role in this, we cannot help but think  we’ve given voice to people who opted to elect a dangerously arrogant, thin-skinned man with no moral center because he figured out what they want to hear.

This isn’t about losing an election, as much as you want to make it that simple. We’re trying to reconcile how our neighbors, family and friends could ignore the myriad ways he has shown himself to be unfit to lead a nation as powerful as the United States.

Back to your interview with Anderson Cooper, though. BuzzFeed decides to publish an unverified document containing potentially damaging, salacious material about the President-elect, and aside from all the debate on whether releasing it was a good idea, I ask you, why were so many people ready to believe it? You think those were all Democrats? You know why, Kellyanne. Because your boss has shown himself to be the kind of person who would do it. Plus, with regard to the part about the Obamas, it was believable because he spent an awful lot of time trying to discredit the President with his birther obsession. To boot, lots of us didn’t even care about the sexual component; we were (and are) more concerned about how easily he can be blackmailed and put all our lives in jeopardy. Clearly this is not keeping him up at night.

Also troubling, each time something negative comes out about this man, and we all know it will continue, he has given us reason to ponder whether it could be due to any number of groups he’s pissed off:

~ Most of the Republican elite (the Bushes would take this guy down in a heartbeat), not all of whom will admit their disdain for fear of their own jobs.

~ Our intelligence agencies. He has had no qualms about discrediting them.

~ Some of our military leaders because, hey, he’s smarter than most of them.

~ Mexico, China, Russia … a few countries just to get the list started.

~ Democrats for obvious reasons.

All of this before he even raises his hand to the Bible. All of this.

And we’re supposed to demand from our press that they get on that hot topic of what color Ivanka will be wearing to the ball?

Get over yourself, Kellyanne. Anderson Cooper knows you’re a fast talker trying to do a job. He treats you with respect. But you want him to engage in fluff with you after that orchestrated debacle of a press conference with its piles of paper and the pomposity of the President-elect? (Btw, can you pass on to him that, yeah, I believe Hillary would be much better at handling Putin than him. Being a bloviator doesn’t make him strong on foreign policy; it makes him sound weak and insecure. Maybe you could tell him that the fact that he’s even still mentioning her name makes him look like he can’t get her out of his rearview mirror.)

Stop the put-upon act, Kellyanne. I’m from Jersey, too. We can sniff out B.S. a mile away.

I sure hope you’ve found a pretty frock for the upcoming festivities, what with all the damage control you’ve been doing since the day you were hired. Maybe get a matching umbrella for the ongoing shit storm.

Sincerely,

Nancy Colasurdo