7/19/2024

July 19, 2024

My Dear POTUS, JRB,

Coming to you from Las Vegas Airport (LAS) where I am waiting for Pat, the mother of my daughter’s fiancé. Once she lands, we will be driving to Zion NP for our kid’s “elopement.”

Her plane has been delayed so I get to hang out with my fellow travelers sipping iced tea & glancing at the view of the mountains. I am not a fan of the activities that folks come to Las Vegas to enjoy, so I am laying low & keeping to myself rather than bantering.

Everyone here looks weary & wary, a bit haggard, impatient in their waiting & somewhat guarded since they are out of their usual habitat in an unfamiliar place full of strangers. The spot I have found provides a bit of a sanctuary but has a conspicuous lack of seating!

As I wondered about federal investments in this place, I noticed the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law provided $27.8 million to install runway drains & improve the pavement of a holding pad here at LAS I hope it’s a good investment. It’s the 5th busiest airport in the world in terms of take-offs & landings, but many of these are private planes. Do we really need to subsidize the billionaires in this way? I hope they are paying a high levy which includes not only their share of the infrastructure improvements but also accounts for their carbon footprint.

Do you think the workers here know that you had abbreviate your visit here due to your attack of Covid? I’d ask them, but they don’t seem to have time to talk.

Have you heard about Sir Charles Petrie’s analysis of the “profound transformation” taking place in Burma, where the struggle against the Tatmadaw has morphed from a fight by ethnic groups to control territory into the emergence of a new form of participatory governance?” It makes me hopeful.

I hope you are feeling loved as you weigh your options about your candidacy.

BYBS,