1/4/2023

My Dear Friend & POTUS, JRB,

            Atmospheric river. I’m floating in one & worried that when the wind picks up, more trees will go down. The headline in the LAT “String of brutal atmospheric rivers imperils a CA already weakened by drought” does not ameliorate my concerns. I am not exactly sure what is distinctive about an atmospheric river, but I know we are due to get too much H2O all at once. As the Morton salt cylinder says, “when it rains, it pours.”

            I hope it doesn’t rain for your visit to the Brent Spence Bridge. The $1.6 billion federal investment in it should improve the connection between Ohio & KY. It’s wonderful that you’ve got a crew of politicians from both sides of the aisle to show your brilliance at bridge building. It’s too bad you are all old white guys.

            To counteract the problematic optics of the demographics of the crew celebrating the bridge, I encourage you to invite the 74 brand-new members of the 118th Congress to the WH for a welcoming party. The CSM features 4 of them in an article, about their wild 1st day yesterday. The most interesting guy is Rep. Wesley Hunt (TX-38), an African American Republican who is “particularly looking forward to working with 2 fellow incoming House members who were in his graduating class at the U.S. Military Academy….Mr. Hunt, who served in Iraq, believes veterans can be a unifying force for the GOP on Capitol Hill…’We fought the same wars. We lost the same classmates,’ he says.” The other new Congress people are also intriguing. It’s a whole new world!

            I am conflicted about the latest move of the junta to free 7000+ prisoners in celebration of Burmese Independence Day. I am happy for the families of those folks but am suspicious of Gen. Min Aung Hlaing. The latest photo of him shows him riding in a parade. He’s not in his usual military uniform, which makes me think he is trying to portray himself in a new light. I’m not sure who he thinks he is fooling.

            BYBS,