7/11/2019

My dear Friend and president, DJT,

            I was up late pulling together a proposal for a "structured poster session" at the American Education Research Association annual conference. It's a big conference and since it's in my backyard, I thought I should participate. Our proposal includes 42 names on 10 projects. One of the projects sent me their materials at 11:10 and I had to edit them so the final proposal was submitted 20 minutes before the midnight deadline. What an adrenalin rush!

            So, as I am a bit bleary eyed this morning & wondering why I am spending my precious time writing to you. The short answer: it has become a habit and my day feels, somehow, off when I miss it. The longer answer: knowledge is power, and knowledge of your daily activities gives me power over my fears. Somehow knowing that you wrote an executive order about improving regulation related to kidney health helps me to know that, even though much of what you do is deeply disturbing, some of what you do makes sense. 

https://www.aljazeera.com/ajimpact/trump-executive-order-shake-kidney-care-industry-190710200842087.html

            As you well know, the press is having a heyday with your statement, "the kidney has a very special place in the heart." I know you were trying to say that the community of folks dealing with kidney problems is a passionate and compassionate group. It's too bad that your message got a bit garbled. That happens to me sometimes, too. My family teases me about my single TV appearance in Oct, 1981 when I was serving as a spokesperson for the Dartmouth Outing Club and asked to comment on fall in New Hampshire and stated, "I can sum it up in one word, pretty much majestic." Since then my husband has not let me forget that "pretty much majestic" is 3 words.

            Talking about counting words, I am running out of them so I won't have space to ask questions about Seema Verma and how she is "routing taxpayer dollars to GOP consultants" to burnish her image as the head of Medicaid. Tell her to talk to my former Chancellor Linda Katehi about the dangers of doing that.

            Best,

            RCA