3/25/2023

My dear Friend & POTUS, JRB,

            This letter has several random thoughts. Please bear with me.

            Thank you for doing something to keep aviation fuel out of the hands of the junta. It was reassuring to see that the US Treasury Department announced sanctions on 2 more people & 6 entities connected to Myanmar’s military. Please continue to monitor the situation.

            Today I encountered a story in the KCS about Tyrea Pryor, 39, who was shot & killed by Independence police officers last year while pinned in his car after a crash. His family is seeking justice. Please look into it.

Do you remember 1992 when Rodney King asked, “Can’t we all get along?” I continue to wonder about that.

It would save time & energy if we weren’t paranoid that China was going to take over the world. What good it does to perseverate on them as a “an increasingly disruptive global power?” I’m not sure how we’ll get there, but like John Lennon, I continue to “imagine there's no countries… nothing to kill or die for…”

            This sentiment emerged from reading about your visit to Canada & KMH’s visit to Africa. You spent your visit trying to reassure the kanooks that we are “two people” that “share one heart.” I’d say we’re one people. We speak the same language, practice the same set of religions, watch the same TV shows. Any differences between us are minimal.

KMH has a much bigger challenge as she engages in your admin’s “remarkable charm offensive” to win over the allegiance of folks in Tanzania, Ghana & Zambia. As Fatma Karume says, ‘When the elephants fight, it’s always the grass that gets trampled.’ We don’t want to get trampled. Tanzania needs to think about its own national security and its own national interest. It doesn’t bode well for Tanzania not to have China, Russia or the U.S. as a friend — we need to be friends with all of them.” She’s got a point, don’t you think?

BYBS,