3/28/2025

My Dear Friend & POTUS, DJT,

            It’s Friday. I usually don’t write you on Fridays because I go to do math with the 4th graders first thing in the AM. I will be doing that today, but when I heard about the earthquake in Burma, I decided to take a few minutes to urge you to act.

            Every religion encourages altruism. It’s in our DNA. While individuals vary in their inclinations to assist victims, we are all inclined to put ourselves at risk to aid someone in trouble. Americans have been doing this for generations & I don’t see the instinct going away.

            I remind you of this because you have a couple of advisors who seem to have fewer of the helper genes than the rest of us & may try to dissuade you from sending aid to Burma. Please ignore them.

            The Disaster Assistance Response Teams that used to be employed by USAID could be reconstituted. Unfortunately, Burma’s governance is such a mess, it will be hard to know who is in charge. The next 5 days are critical to rescue efforts, so it’s one of those ask for forgiveness rather than permission situations. Just send some of our technical experts over there to get people out from under collapsed buildings. The trained dogs will be particularly helpful!

            As I try to imagine being in that situation, I am reminded that trusting one’s neighbors is critical to survival when disaster strikes. Please do more to renew Americans faith in one another. I want to know that I can count on my fellow citizens to dig me out if my building falls down.

            Send help to Burma now!

            BYBS,