My Introductory Letter to the Incoming Bush Administration; February 7, 2001
February 7, 2001
President Bush,
Secretary of State Powell,
Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld,
I have spent some time during the last few weeks mentally composing this letter and, at times, I was tempted to forgo sharing any of my past experiences with you and simply continue my format of sending a copy of current editorials from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch (under a cover letter) when they discuss foreign policy issues. But I decided to share some of my background and see where this letter goes.
It is my hope that your predecessors from the previous administration has informed you of my letter-writing effort to addressees of power and influence since 1991. The four page mass mailing letter I wrote on April 16, 1998 (enclosed) is a concise description and explanation of this effort on my part. One key exchange that I neglected to include in the 'Chronology' on the last page is described below:
In February, 1991, I stopped by an empty Catholic church in Poplar Bluff, MO to pray for a few minutes, anxiously waiting to hear from an extraordinary, religious woman I came to closely know two years earlier. I also asked God why doors were not opening for me at a time it seemed that they should be opening for me.
I then got up the courage to talk to a Catholic priest and, upon finding one, I asked him straight out, "Are you aware of Matthew 24:29?"
The priest cautiously replied, "I think it has to do with the Last Days."
I recited this scripture which I had memorized as a 9-year-old astronomer in 1963 and I then rattled off those three 1999 celestial events (described elsewhere in this letter).
The priest replied, "Yes, I've heard of that"---which struck me as odd.
I told him that Chapter 11 of the Book of Revelation speaks of Two Witnesses who are to prophesy. I sheepishly admitted to the priest, "I went to a psychiatrist to try to get a piece of paper saying that I was one of those Two Witnesses but I didn't get one."
The priest gently pointed out, "None of the prophets had a piece of paper."
That statement stunned me and I exclaimed, "That's right!"
Four months later (in June, 1991) I moved to my present home in Hannibal, MO. I was in my first year of disability retirement from my engineering career with the Soil Conservation Service in the USDA (since renamed the Natural Resources Conservation Service), going from $40,000 p.a. to $15,000 p.a., presently $19,000 p.a.---quite a cut in pay.
By this time, I had established a long history of mental illness since 1989, including six hospitalizations. (I was destined to have only one more hospitalization, a 3 day stay, in March, 1992.)
From my perspective, my hospitalizations were, in part, due to my effort to get to the bottom of the truth with a primary motivator being a common one for many individuals: the fear of failure. One fact that was certain at this time, June, 1991, was that I was very misunderstood by everyone and was extremely lonely. If I was genuinely predestined to be anything at all, it appeared I was predestined to be a BIG FLOP.
As is the case with most avid astronomers, I have long been a student of the calendar. And, at the age of 37, I was well aware that the 1990s would come and go whether I liked it or not. In the aftermath of being very angry at my family members in November, 1991, I quietly became determined to spend the following 8 years (and beyond, if necessary) writing letters to addressees of power and influence as lucidly, intelligently, and sensibly as one possibly could and, afterwards, I will have no regrets. I did not know if I would be successful or not but, as the 1990s unfolded, I was rather astonished by the collection of correspondence that I have received. I am enclosing this collection of correspondence under this cover to Secretary Powell. Secretary Powell is welcome to share them with President Bush and each member of his Cabinet and Vice President Cheney.
(Please do share with Attorney General Ashcroft as much of my 'heavy lifting' was performed under his watch when he was Missouri's governor.)
As I have told a few people, after I put pen to paper in 1991, the good mind that God gave me eventually came back to the fore and I was able to go ahead and do what I believe to be what I was meant to do. However, as I wrote in a letter to V.P. Gore after his concession speech on 12-13-00, this effort has not been quite as glamorous as I initially assumed that it would be.
In response to two letters to Ms. Shan Whiston, a well-regarded TV anchorwoman at WGEM-TV in nearby Quincy, IL, I received a phone call from Ms. Whiston in February, 1999, inquiring about my writing effort. After some initial nervousness, I told her, "By 1991, I realized that no one was going to tap that person on the shoulder and say, 'Hey, you are meant to do this', and by 1992, I realized that there are no perks that come with his belief system and that my place in scripture and 27 cents will buy me coffee at Hardees."
Shan replied, "Huh."
Towards the end of our conversation, Shan asked me, "What do you hope to achieve? What is your goal?"
When I finally realized she was referring to my 'religious calling', I replied, "Oh, gosh, I don't know. Uh, to have a cohesive effect. Uh, that current world leaders to try to solve the world's problems before Christ returns."
(Because of Ms. Whiston's initiative to call me, I try to send her a copy of my subsequent letters.)
In early 1999, I shared in one of my letters to Israel and her Arab neighbors (their embassies) my speculation that Christ's return is contingent with the attainment of a genuine and comprehensive Mideast peace agreement. I continue to see this as a good working speculation.
With the election of Mr. Sharon, we are faced once again with a new political landscape in the Mideast. But one truth remains true: Only Israel and each of its remaining neighbors (the Palestinian Authority, Syria, and Lebanon) can make the strategic decisions, compromises, and agreements, under the auspices of the United States, that can lead to the ultimate goal of a peaceful Middle East.
My only involvement will be to continue to use editorials from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch concerning foreign policy issues and mail a copy of them to the embassies of the foreign nations involved.
I will be the first to admit that my letter writing effort can only be influential at the margins. Even at that realization, it has been very rewarding and satisfying to be, in all likelihood, the only Christian astronomer to mount such an effort.
Also enclosed is a photo I took of Hale-Bopp Comet on Easter Sunday, 1997--to be sure you receive something in this letter you find to be of tangible value. (It is difficult for me not to resort to humor.)
A reply to this letter from the addressees will be appreciated but not altogether expected.
Good luck to all three of you in all arenas of foreign policy.
encl. 4-16-98 letter
Sincerely yours,
Supersweet101 (signature)
cc: Embassy of Russia
" " Israel
Palestinian Authority (c/o Jordan)
" " Jordan
" " Syria
" " Lebanon
" " Egypt
Vice President Cheney (w/ 4-16-98 letter & photo)
Christine A. Bertelson, St. Louis P - D
Shan Whiston, WGEM-TV, Quincy, IL
P.L.O. 1730 K St., Suite #1004, D.C. 20006
President Bush,
Secretary of State Powell,
Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld,
I have spent some time during the last few weeks mentally composing this letter and, at times, I was tempted to forgo sharing any of my past experiences with you and simply continue my format of sending a copy of current editorials from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch (under a cover letter) when they discuss foreign policy issues. But I decided to share some of my background and see where this letter goes.
It is my hope that your predecessors from the previous administration has informed you of my letter-writing effort to addressees of power and influence since 1991. The four page mass mailing letter I wrote on April 16, 1998 (enclosed) is a concise description and explanation of this effort on my part. One key exchange that I neglected to include in the 'Chronology' on the last page is described below:
In February, 1991, I stopped by an empty Catholic church in Poplar Bluff, MO to pray for a few minutes, anxiously waiting to hear from an extraordinary, religious woman I came to closely know two years earlier. I also asked God why doors were not opening for me at a time it seemed that they should be opening for me.
I then got up the courage to talk to a Catholic priest and, upon finding one, I asked him straight out, "Are you aware of Matthew 24:29?"
The priest cautiously replied, "I think it has to do with the Last Days."
I recited this scripture which I had memorized as a 9-year-old astronomer in 1963 and I then rattled off those three 1999 celestial events (described elsewhere in this letter).
The priest replied, "Yes, I've heard of that"---which struck me as odd.
I told him that Chapter 11 of the Book of Revelation speaks of Two Witnesses who are to prophesy. I sheepishly admitted to the priest, "I went to a psychiatrist to try to get a piece of paper saying that I was one of those Two Witnesses but I didn't get one."
The priest gently pointed out, "None of the prophets had a piece of paper."
That statement stunned me and I exclaimed, "That's right!"
Four months later (in June, 1991) I moved to my present home in Hannibal, MO. I was in my first year of disability retirement from my engineering career with the Soil Conservation Service in the USDA (since renamed the Natural Resources Conservation Service), going from $40,000 p.a. to $15,000 p.a., presently $19,000 p.a.---quite a cut in pay.
By this time, I had established a long history of mental illness since 1989, including six hospitalizations. (I was destined to have only one more hospitalization, a 3 day stay, in March, 1992.)
From my perspective, my hospitalizations were, in part, due to my effort to get to the bottom of the truth with a primary motivator being a common one for many individuals: the fear of failure. One fact that was certain at this time, June, 1991, was that I was very misunderstood by everyone and was extremely lonely. If I was genuinely predestined to be anything at all, it appeared I was predestined to be a BIG FLOP.
As is the case with most avid astronomers, I have long been a student of the calendar. And, at the age of 37, I was well aware that the 1990s would come and go whether I liked it or not. In the aftermath of being very angry at my family members in November, 1991, I quietly became determined to spend the following 8 years (and beyond, if necessary) writing letters to addressees of power and influence as lucidly, intelligently, and sensibly as one possibly could and, afterwards, I will have no regrets. I did not know if I would be successful or not but, as the 1990s unfolded, I was rather astonished by the collection of correspondence that I have received. I am enclosing this collection of correspondence under this cover to Secretary Powell. Secretary Powell is welcome to share them with President Bush and each member of his Cabinet and Vice President Cheney.
(Please do share with Attorney General Ashcroft as much of my 'heavy lifting' was performed under his watch when he was Missouri's governor.)
As I have told a few people, after I put pen to paper in 1991, the good mind that God gave me eventually came back to the fore and I was able to go ahead and do what I believe to be what I was meant to do. However, as I wrote in a letter to V.P. Gore after his concession speech on 12-13-00, this effort has not been quite as glamorous as I initially assumed that it would be.
In response to two letters to Ms. Shan Whiston, a well-regarded TV anchorwoman at WGEM-TV in nearby Quincy, IL, I received a phone call from Ms. Whiston in February, 1999, inquiring about my writing effort. After some initial nervousness, I told her, "By 1991, I realized that no one was going to tap that person on the shoulder and say, 'Hey, you are meant to do this', and by 1992, I realized that there are no perks that come with his belief system and that my place in scripture and 27 cents will buy me coffee at Hardees."
Shan replied, "Huh."
Towards the end of our conversation, Shan asked me, "What do you hope to achieve? What is your goal?"
When I finally realized she was referring to my 'religious calling', I replied, "Oh, gosh, I don't know. Uh, to have a cohesive effect. Uh, that current world leaders to try to solve the world's problems before Christ returns."
(Because of Ms. Whiston's initiative to call me, I try to send her a copy of my subsequent letters.)
In early 1999, I shared in one of my letters to Israel and her Arab neighbors (their embassies) my speculation that Christ's return is contingent with the attainment of a genuine and comprehensive Mideast peace agreement. I continue to see this as a good working speculation.
With the election of Mr. Sharon, we are faced once again with a new political landscape in the Mideast. But one truth remains true: Only Israel and each of its remaining neighbors (the Palestinian Authority, Syria, and Lebanon) can make the strategic decisions, compromises, and agreements, under the auspices of the United States, that can lead to the ultimate goal of a peaceful Middle East.
My only involvement will be to continue to use editorials from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch concerning foreign policy issues and mail a copy of them to the embassies of the foreign nations involved.
I will be the first to admit that my letter writing effort can only be influential at the margins. Even at that realization, it has been very rewarding and satisfying to be, in all likelihood, the only Christian astronomer to mount such an effort.
Also enclosed is a photo I took of Hale-Bopp Comet on Easter Sunday, 1997--to be sure you receive something in this letter you find to be of tangible value. (It is difficult for me not to resort to humor.)
A reply to this letter from the addressees will be appreciated but not altogether expected.
Good luck to all three of you in all arenas of foreign policy.
encl. 4-16-98 letter
Sincerely yours,
Supersweet101 (signature)
cc: Embassy of Russia
" " Israel
Palestinian Authority (c/o Jordan)
" " Jordan
" " Syria
" " Lebanon
" " Egypt
Vice President Cheney (w/ 4-16-98 letter & photo)
Christine A. Bertelson, St. Louis P - D
Shan Whiston, WGEM-TV, Quincy, IL
P.L.O. 1730 K St., Suite #1004, D.C. 20006
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