2/24/2026

Feb 24, 2026

My Dear Friend & POTUS, DJT,

Are you ready for your SOTU? Of course you are! Why am I even asking? You love to speak to a crowd. 

I’m afraid I have to miss it because I’ll be at the Sacto library listening to Renée Watson. Her latest book, All the Blues in the Sky, received the 2026 John Newbery Medal, so I’m eager to hear what she has to say about using literature to ignite kids’ imaginations. Her semi-autobiographical novel, Piecing Me Together, tells the story of Jade, a poor African-American teenager at a predominantly white Portland, Oregon high school who struggles with the prejudice of the people surrounding her. I hope you can convince the Mothers of Liberty that it is safe for their kids to read books like this so they will stop trying to ban them.

Back to the SOTU, I hope it won’t be too long! About a half hour would be ideal, but you should have a hard stop at one hour. 

If you want to shock the nation, you could emulate Gerald Ford’s 1975 SOTU where he only spoke for 41 minutes & said, “the state of the Union is not good.” You could steal his ending by saying “as our 250th anniversary approaches, we owe it to ourselves & to posterity to rebuild our political & economic strength. Let us make America once again & for centuries more to come what it has so long been--a stronghold & a beacon-light of liberty for the whole world.” 

Please do your best to avoid nasty remarks.

When things settle, please talk with FBI guy, Scott Schelble, about his visit to SE Asia. I hope he has some new insights into how to address the scam centers. At his press conference yesterday, he stressed it was a regional issue & talked about working with folks in Cambodia, Vietnam & Thailand, but didn’t mention Burma. I hope he has some ideas about how to deal with the junta that he didn’t share in the press conference.

BYBS,

RCA