ofthisandthat
Weekly Letter to the President
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INAUGURATION, January 20, 2009
Drunk in its stale air
For two hundred years.
Fettered in mind and body,
The soul, the safe escape
To let me breathe the cries
Of my heart singing
Tears of mel-an-choly.
The tears flow free today
Washing the stains of blood
And sweat in brotherhood.
Raise the curtain then an'
Let the world look in
On this promised land --
We breathe free today.... almost.
--- Arshad M. Khan
We will be known forever by the tracks we leave.
--- Native American proverb
October 30, 2020
Mr. President: It's the last lap of the election on this coming Tuesday. The polls are
against President Trump but on the iconic photograph of a victorious beaming
Truman holding a newspaper headlining a Dewey win showed many years ago . . .
the polls are not always right.
Nobody knows how strongly Trump supporters love their man or dislike Democrats in
general and Joe Biden in particular. On the other side Trump is hated vigorously by
many. The intensity of these feelings determine exactly how many will turn up to vote
on a cold, possibly rainy November day. So we have to wait and see. The jubilation
and the disappointments too have to wait.
Coronavirus infections are hitting a second wave in the US contradicting President
Trump's claims of the epidemic being over. The new wave could also be ringing the
death knell for the Trump presidency.
Europe has the same problem. A 100,000 people could be being infected daily in
England according to a new study by Imperial College, London. It estimates infections
doubling every nine days. Actual cases being reported there were 24,701 on
Wednesday. Germany is experiencing a new surge with 16,774 cases on Thursday.
It is again imposing restrictions on bars, restaurants, gyms and theaters.
France too has been severely hit once more. On Wednesday there were 36,437 new
cases. President Emmanuel Macron announced a second wave 'that no doubt will be
harder than the first' he said. He has announced a lockdown allowing people to leave
home for only medical reasons and necessary work.
There are now nearly 46 million cases in the world. The US has the most (9.3 million)
with India second (8.1 million). The latter reports a suspiciously low death rate of 88
per million. It is 709 in the US, 749 in Brazil, 560 in France, 680 in the UK where
Boris Johnson has been about as cavalier as Trump in tackling the epidemic. A sober
and efficient Merkel has kept the grim reaper's tally at only 125 per million. By the
time this article is published, all these numbers will be higher.
Trump's bete noire Dr. Anthony Fauci is an ever present face on TV reminding us
almost daily how many lives could have been saved if Trump had listened to the
expert scientists. It has prompted Joe Biden to proclaim repeatedly that he would
follow the advice of experts.
That is also good news in the fight against global warming, which has exacerbated
severe weather events. The Atlantic hurricane season exhausted the alphabet
names this year and is into Greek letters. The latest being hurricane zeta. Warming
is a hoax for Trump who claims it's a plot to destroy our 'big beautiful economy'.
Trump of course has kept us out of wars. So there's the voter's choice. The
Obama/Biden record of the rape of Libya (unnecessarily destroying the billions of
dollars worth special water system bringing water from the south to the capital Tripoli)
and making Afghanistan the good war, and Trump with his climate hoax. Good luck!
Did you know there still is a Green Party?