10/26/2021

My dear Friend & POTUS, JRB,

            I only had time for a quick scan of the news this AM. My lingering question is: INFLATION???

            I spent my reading time seeing how the various media outlets covered your visit to East End Elementary. Mycentralnewjersey had 29 photos of you & the kiddos, as did NJ.com. The NYPost focused on how you made a boy’s tower topple & likened that to the collapse of your infrastructure project. Apparently, you took responsibility for the fall & no tears were shed. Fox News reported on your quip about how annoying reporters are & rambled on about all of the times you have snubbed the media.

            Did you really introduce Tammy Snyder Murphy (TSM) by saying, “He’s the governor of the state. He runs the state. And this is his wife, who runs him and me and everybody else?” If so, you need to stop that mode of discourse. I know you think it’s funny, but it positions women in the domicile, nagging their husbands. I doubt that you have spent time with the Murphy’s in the privacy of their home so you have no idea what their marital dynamic might be. So, let’s just avoid quips about spouses & which one might be dominant.

            I loved all the photos of you & those cute pre-schoolers. The best was the one with you doing some math with a little boy who was constructing quantities. Attending to the details of children’s thinking is at the heart of good math instruction & it seems like you might have a knack. I noticed that you showed him your four fingers. What did he have to say about that?

I had never seen the tool he was using & I wondered if he paid attention to the numerals on the boards & if he was counting as he put the pegs in the board. Even if he wasn’t he was developing one-to-one correspondence, fine motor skills & concentration. All good things for a pre-schooler to experience.

            I’m delighted that you are joining the ASEAN meeting today. When the topic of Myanmar comes up, LEAN IN!!!

            BYBS,