6/4/2023

JRB,

            Are you kicking back, enjoying some R&R? Did you find peace of mind at Holy Trinity yesterday?

            Did you see the nice things that Will Hutton wrote about you in the G today under the headline, “So what if Biden trips up? On the political stage his footwork is the fanciest seen in decades“ He says you read the DC “runes better than any alive” & abide by the 1st rule in DC politics: “always allow the defeated to save face because you’re soon going to have to cut another deal with them.”

            The NYT crew chose to focus on your age rather than your recent victory. They point out that you are “sharp & wise at critical moments” while also being “a little slower, a little softer, a little harder of hearing, a little more tentative in (your) walk...” They are miffed because you have “not given an interview to the news department of The Times, unlike every president since at least Franklin D. Roosevelt other than Dwight D. Eisenhower.” It’s time to talk to them so they give you better publicity.

Did you see the CSM piece calling you a “consensus builder,” pointing out “the constant suggestions in conservative media that (you’re) not mentally competent may have led to false confidence among Republicans that (you) could be played?” In describing similarities between you & KOM they wrote, “Both have a high tolerance for political pain. .. Both have long been underestimated..”

            Whatever you are doing, it’s working, so keep it up.

            Regarding Burma, please read Lorcan Lovett’s piece in the G. He writes, “It is a place haunted by a brutal civil war, but where nevertheless, the daily humanity of its people remains undarkened… Angelic & her 38 female fighters believe that however the revolution ends, the battle for gender equality will continue for some time. Serving as scouts, medics, & fundraisers, they are fighting an enemy accused of using rape & sexual violence as a tactic of war.” Please help them.

            BYBS,