5/14/2025

My Dear Friend & POTUS, DJT,

            Thanks for being you – not afraid to break with convention, willing to talk to the enemy of a friend, always doing your own thing. While I often don’t like the decisions you make, I admire your insistence on following your leadings.

            As I told a student yesterday, our greatest strength is also our greatest weakness. You & I share the tendency to dive in & give something a try without a detailed plan. We’re ready to bail, but we’d rather get going than waste time. In your case, the wrecking ball you’ve used to dismantle the government has done more harm than good & only time will tell if you can repair the damage, but I give you credit for being so active in your 1st 100 days in this term.

            Yesterday, my sister tried to convince me that your presidency is no big deal. I disagreed noting your policies have terrorized numerous people. Rather than debate, we found common ground in hoping for change & in that vein, I invited her to give me the lowdown on Paul. She introduced me to “the road to Damascus” where Paul encountered Jesus & went from being a persecutor of Christians to a proselytizer.

            Speaking Damascus, it’ll be interesting to see if Syrian leader Ahmed al-Sharaa (AaS) will live up to your expectations that he can unify his country & mollify the Druze. As you know, we labeled AaS a terrorist back in the day. Hopefully, he’s seen the error of his ways & can govern without resorting to violence.

            That kind of transformation does still happen. The example in the news today is Jose Mujica, who just died at age 89. As you may have heard, he started out as a guerilla fighter & eventually became Uruguay’s president. He made his mark on the world by being “the world’s poorest president” living on a modest farm & driving a VW bug. According to NPR, “He oversaw an economic boom, a surge in foreign investment & a reduction in poverty … while avoiding corruption scandals. His progressive policies included legalizing abortion, marijuana & same-sex marriage, as well as the resettlement of war refugees from Afghanistan.” I wish more leaders were like him.

            Since I believe that God is change, I remain optimistic. I have hope that you, MAL & VVP can transform yourselves. In the meantime, I will do my best to be a mirror to your Light so that it can overwhelm the darkness that too often overcomes you.

            BYBS,