1/3/2026
My Dear Friend & POTUS, DJT,
Are you healthy? Am I? Is anybody?
My questions beg the larger question, "how do we define health?" which is, as usual is often the case, more complicated than one might expect. I don't have the time or space to survey the possible definitions & will just recite the one I like best, specifically, "Health is a state of well-being & the capability to function in the face of changing circumstances."
I ask because your decision to send our troops into Venezuela suggests that you are NOT well. The fact that you felt the need to defend your health to the WSJ this week also makes me wonder.
I doubt your sense of well-being because you must be experiencing tremendous inner turmoil over your violent actions in Caracas, given how you see yourself as a peacemaker. I know your decision has affected my sense of well-being as I am experiencing tremendous dissonance!
Bobby Ghosh, writing in TIME, reminds us that, removing one man from power is NOT the same as changing a nation’s fate. He evokes Operation Iraqi Freedom, noting that "despite its name, (it) delivered precious little freedom to Iraqis precisely because the Bush Administration believed that toppling Saddam Hussein was the main event rather than the opening act." He reminds us that to get a true change we will need to deal with the Bolivarian Armed Forces (FANB) & they are as corrupt as Maduro. The military higherups will need "a credible path to safety—& without that, it’s hard to see why they would cooperate with a transition rather than fight to prevent one." As you well know, WINTA, so best to get busy with some diplomacy. Doing so might soothe your soul.
If I had more time, I'd be musing about the health of children & whether preventing folks from using their SNAP $$ to buy soda will work. All I know is that the grocers of America worry that their cashiers will be flummoxed by the 2026 changes to SNAP in 5 states.
As you consider options in Burma, I ask that you be more creative than you have been in Venezuela. Do something non-violent & be a true innovator in peace making.
BYBS,
