8/17/2023

My Dear Friend & POTUS, JRB,

            I see that you are headed to Scranton today to pay your respects to Ellen Casey. I appreciated your eulogy to her, especially this part, “Honesty. Decency. Integrity. Character... Kindness was not a sign of weakness – it was a sign of strength.” I hope your presence at her funeral will bring some solace to her family & help you to process your grief.

            As you acknowledge the passing of influential women, please also pay tribute to Ada Deer, a leader of the Menominee tribe of WI & a trailblazer on many fronts, including being the 1st woman to lead the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Her community would appreciate hearing from you.

            Are you ready to BYBS at Camp David tomorrow? You can feel proud of the accomplishment of getting Yoon Suk Yeol & Fumio Kishida together to affirm their nations’ security is linked & commit to consulting each other in the event of a regional security crisis. Daniel Russel writing in the NYT calls it “a pivotal opportunity that cannot be wasted” to send a message to the world “that the paradigm in Asia has changed.”

            Are you thinking about this as “triangular diplomacy”? The US acting as a go-between to help feuding partners see the benefits of collaborating?

            Perhaps you can play that role in Burma to get the NUG working with the the Sagaing Forum in the Anyar region. An article in today’s Mizzima suggests that folks in Burma tend toward an uncompromising “do or die” mentality which prevents real progress against the junta. Everybody is fighting, but groups within the resistance movement can’t get over their conflicts with each other to coordinate activities.

            I hope your success in getting rivals Japan & Korea to set aside their grievances due to the legacy of Japan’s colonial occupation will inspire the factions in Burma to do the same.  

            WINTA,