11/07/2019
My dear Friend and President, DJT,
One of the things that I enjoy about writing these letters is that I get to learn about new people - often they disrupt my stereotypes and expand my thinking. My favorite example of this is Lt. Col. Merryl Tengesdal, who was Deputy Operations Group Commander and Inspector General, 9th RW, Beale AFB, CA. You will recall that Merryl is the one and only Af.-Am woman to fly a U-2 spy plane. She's got all kinds of accolades. I got excited reading her story and it reminded me that that we have brilliant people doing amazing things that you might never expect.
Today I got to learn about Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman (ASV) who you have been tweeting about lately. I know that you doubt his loyalties, but I think he's fascinating! How many people do you know who have an identical twin? I only know one pair, and they have finally gone their separate ways after spending the first 18 years of their lives inseparable. As you know, ASV and his twin, Yevgeny, have offices across the hall from each other in the WH. They were lucky to have each other when their mom died, and they left the Ukraine at age 3. Being Jewish immigrants in the Bronx could not have been easy for them, so I presume they got pretty tough. It seems that toughness served ASV well as he went through West Point and did his tours of service and got hit by a roadside bomb in Iraq. That toughness will help him to weather your assault on him. It's hard to believe that he would risk his position at the WH and make up some lies to tell Congress. I'm afraid you look kind of silly trying to sully his reputation.
Speaking of looking silly, your guy Bevin looks kind of silly in his refusal to concede the Kentucky election. Please encourage him to accept his defeat like a gentleman and get on with his life. The folks in Kentucky would like to get on with theirs.
Best,
