2/20/2022

My dear Friend & POTUS, JRB,

            Now that the Olympics are over VVP might make his move. No one knows. It may be that even VVP hasn’t decided. A story in today’s NYT cited Churchill’s quote that Russia is “a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma.” I posit that VVP likes it that way & will keep us guessing for as long as he can. Fiona Hill makes the point that he’s keen on the “narrative” & feels like he can buy anyone in the USA. I worry that he is in the same kind of bubble that our last POTUS was in, surrounding himself by “yes” men who tell him what he wants to hear. Please beware of that!

            Speaking of which, Robert Reich opines that you are letting Larry Summers & Jason Furman scare you away from calling out corporations for passing on price increases to consumers. He claims that if we had more meaningful competition, they wouldn’t be able to do this. He wants you to go after Amazon, Starbucks, McDonalds & Chipolte. I encourage you to give that some consideration.

            On a lighter note, I loved seeing the photos of Jill with her 2nd grade visitors to the WH for 2/14. That was clearly a joyous occasion for all involved. I also loved seeing the photo on today’s KCS cover, where they featured super cute, Cohen, trying on glasses under the headline, “Black Joy means everything.” Unfortunately, on my e-version of the paper all of other photos were replaced by ads. I wrote a letter to the editor about that. Maybe you could, too.

            Please continue to hold the people of Myanmar in the Light & encourage ASEAN in their efforts to ameliorate the situation.

            BYBS,