My Dear Friend and President, DJT,
This is the 158321th word that I have written to you on the 342nd page in my Word document. That's a lot of words, don't you think? Have you read any of them? I like to think so, but I doubt it. Nonetheless, as the saying goes, "Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty," and so my vigil continues.
Did you see the article in yesterday's NYT about discussions between your diplomats and Venezuelan "rebel officers?" Apparently, a group of disgruntled military commanders wanted some encrypted radios so they could pull off a coup and met with US officials on 3 occasions. Unfortunately, news of these meetings bolsters Maduro's argument that the US is, as always, messing with the internal politics of Latin America. He likes to tout himself as running a democracy. I guess you disagree and have slapped some economic sanctions on him and his cronies and have even tweeted some military threats at him. According to the NYT the mutinous officers aren't any better than Maduro being "unsavory pillars of the cocaine trade" and renowned human rights abusers. It's really a mess and my opinion is to stay out of it! You have your own messes to deal with.
Reading the article got me thinking, what does democracy mean? What does it mean to you, dear Donald? David Frum at the Atlantic claims Venezuela, along with many countries around the world, including our own, is heading toward autocracy where those on the inside grow rich by favoritism and "the power to protect the guilty" and "government allies own more and more media outlets each year." He claims that Hungary, South Africa and the Philippines have become "repressive plutocracies" where "rulers rely less on terror and more on rule twisting." We're not heading in that direction, are we?
Until I can answer that question with certainty, I will continue my vigil. I encourage you to take a look at Frum's article and let me know what you think.
As always, your Friend,
RCA