2/13/2023

My Dear Friend & POTUS, JRB,

            Wasn’t that a great Superbowl? Exciting almost to the end. No one was badly injured. Most of the offensive drives were successful, & it looked like the players had fun. Did you notice the play when the KC offensive line did a circle dance around Mahomes (PM) before running to their spots? That’s PM’s brilliance. Who knew that football could be the site for creative genius?

I wish we were seeing more creativity in the Congress instead disruptive antics. According to an article in the WP today, most of the freshmen in the House want to get stuff done. Some are even trying to make friends with folks across the aisle. I liked Rep. Jen Kiggans’ (R-VA-2) quote, “nobody likes the screaming and yelling. We have to believe that we each have our individual areas of concern that we feel passionately about & acknowledge & listen to those opinions of others, but then work on that compromise.”

Freshperson Rep Hillary Scholten (D-MI-3) seems like a gem! She & Rep. John James (R-MI-10) sat together at the SOTU to “demonstrate the spirit of bipartisanship.” While I do not support their effort to keep Selfridge Air Base open, I like their plans to protect the Great Lakes. Projects like these bring folks together so I’m happy to see that they’ve found a joint interest.

Please contact former Ambassador to Burma, Thomas Vajda, to get his advice on what to call the NUG. They don’t fit the usual descriptors of elected leaders who are in an ongoing struggle for power. Kyaw Zaw, a spokesperson for the NUG president’s office wants us to stop using the words, exile, shadow & underground. Myanmar Now is calling the NUG, the “publicly mandated government.” Perhaps we should do the same.

BYBS,