1/21/23

My Dear Friend & POTUS, JRB,

             “We both married way above our station.”   What does that have to do with anything? I wrote you on 10/26/21 to “avoid quips about spouses” & on 12/15/21 that ‘I am not a big fan of your “I am Jill’s husband” schtick.’ How many more times will I have to tell you, that it is so 1975?

            Your other remarks at the mayor’s event yesterday were ok, although your rambled quite a bit, repeating several times that many of your cabinet members are former mayors. I liked how you positioned mayors as among the most consequential government leaders in citizens’ lives as they are problem solvers. I also appreciated your comments about destigmatizing mental health challenges.

            I wish you had recognized Mayor Quinton Lucas of KC. & his work with your Adviser Susan Rice. He’s got some powerful language about how cities end up being “punching bags” during campaigns & how crime issues end up being exploited by candidates. He led a panel to talk about solutions. Please find out what they talked about.

            Have you read that new book about your presidency by Chris Whipple? Do you agree that you have “freakish persistence”? Do you think that KDH is “the Unicorn in a glass box”? I’m afraid I don’t have time to read The Fight of His Life. My daily read of the news will have to suffice.

            Speaking of which, today’s Vatican Times ran a discouraging story about Burma. Deborah Lubov reported “the army set ablaze the ancient Church of the Assumption, in Chan Thar, a village inhabited by Catholics in the Sagaing region… During the 15 Jan attack, the soldiers also set fire to the nearby convent of the Franciscan Missionary Sisters of Mary.” One said her sisters, asked inhabitants of the village "not to oppose the soldiers & not to resist, to avoid massacres & brutality."

When you go to mass this weekend, please pray for the people of Burma & ask God to bring them peace.

            BYBS,