9/2/2020

DJT,

            As Alexander Pope wrote in 1711, “To err is human” or as you said to Laura Ingraham in 2020, “people choke.” I believe you were talking about making mistakes in moments of stress, but it came off as rather callous. I’m sure you wish you could take those words back.

            I am thinking a lot about mistakes lately. I am trying to help our student teachers to “embrace mathematical mistakes”. Errors can be sights for learning. We call it “Productive Struggle,” when we are trying to figure something out, but aren’t sure what to do. So, mistakes happen & can lead to good things. The question then is, what should the consequences be when someone errs & how often do we let them err, before we take action.

            Take Peter Navarro for example. According to today’s WP, he has had his share of blunders. One was the $765 million loan to Kodak to enable them to go from being a bankrupt film company to a pharmaceutical. Another was paying Philips the inflated price of $15,000 for 42,900 ventilators that usually cost $3280 each. His biggest failures, though, are his “disregard for protocol” & his “verbal abuse.” I know that you struggle with those issues also, so maybe you can overlook them, but the other stuff suggests that he may be in over his head. I can tell you that he didn’t learn about procurement when he was getting his PhD in econ. Perhaps, it’s best to let someone else oversee CV purchases.

            I’m afraid folks on your team made another mistake when they told you that John Rode III (JR3) owned the camera store that was destroyed in the fire in Kenosha. You’ll remember that JR3 is the guy you posed with in front of the ruins. He sold the store to Tom Gram(TG) 8 years ago & TG didn’t want to talk with you because he didn’t want to be part of your circus. Please encourage your people to be careful when setting up photo ops.

            I hope that the WWII vets joining you in Wilmington today don’t catch CV. That would be a mistake!

            HYITL,