I thought I was mad this horrible week, but I was wrong! I hadn’t yet read Anthony Kennedy’s retirement letter, or really just its salutation.
![My dear Mr. President.](https://compote.slate.com/images/4cfe4650-4f5e-48bf-a117-0b9bd6de207c.jpeg?crop=1515%2C1010%2Cx0%2Cy0)
![My dear Mr. President.](https://compote.slate.com/images/4cfe4650-4f5e-48bf-a117-0b9bd6de207c.jpeg?crop=1515%2C1010%2Cx0%2Cy0)
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![My dear Mr. President.](https://compote.slate.com/images/4cfe4650-4f5e-48bf-a117-0b9bd6de207c.jpeg?crop=1515%2C1010%2Cx0%2Cy0)
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![My dear Mr. President.](https://compote.slate.com/images/4cfe4650-4f5e-48bf-a117-0b9bd6de207c.jpeg?crop=1515%2C1010%2Cx0%2Cy0)
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![My dear Mr. President.](https://compote.slate.com/images/4cfe4650-4f5e-48bf-a117-0b9bd6de207c.jpeg?crop=1515%2C1010%2Cx0%2Cy0)
It turns out all it took to send me into a frothing, incoherent rage was a single moment of civility.