9/22/2021

Sept 22, 2021

My Friend & POTUS, JRB,

            I invite you to join me in the Biking for Burma Fund-athalon. It’s a healthy, fun way to keep the people of Myanmar in your thoughts. I’m afraid news of their plight is subsiding from the press so efforts such as these let them know that they are not forgotten. Of course, in addition to biking, you can make a donation to Partners Asia, which provides $$ to community leaders to distribute to their neighbors where they see fit. It rests on the idea that locals know better than anyone where the needs are.

            Going for a bike ride will take your mind off of the rush of legislation that needs to happen before Sept. 27. It’s too bad that folks like Rep. Jim Clyburn are casting doubts on your ability to make the deadline. As House majority whip, he knows what’s up, so it must be rather disconcerting to hear him talking that way.

            I understand that you are having lots of meetings with Congress people at the WH today. Will Rep. Sharice Davids (KS-3) be coming over? She is a self-described “infrastructure nerd” who knows all about renewable energy, especially wind. As a member of the Ho-Chunk tribe & LGBTQ person, she has learned to keep fighting against all odds. She’d be a great person to have on your team!

            It’s too bad that you can’t spend more time with our international friends who have convened at the UN this week. I understand that ABdPJ took Amtrak down from NYC to DC to meet with you. Our cozy relationship with Australia and the UK makes it look like the Anglosphere is on the rise again, which I find disturbing due to its ugly history of colonial exploitation. When the QUAD folk come on Thursday, please make sure to spend more time with Modi & Suga than SJM to make it clear that you are not favoring English-speaking White men.

            BYBS,