Reporter's Note: I write to the President of the United States every day, and I have done so since he was inaugurated. It gets tiresome sometimes. At least that’s what he says. Ha!

Dear Mr. President,

My younger daughter and I spent a little part of the morning walking around Columbia University and Barnard College. She is moving along in her high school years and showing an interest in such things, so I thought it would be good to take advantage of the opportunity while I was working in Manhattan. They seem to be quite nice although it was so hot I was almost hallucinating. At one point I imagined I saw Nancy Pelosi and John Boehner dancing a Cajun two-step in front of the library. Turned out to be two guys loading folding chairs onto a golf cart.

The heat has been quite dazzling hasn’t it? I went for a long run on Tuesday in DC before I headed up to New York and strayed far too close to the noon hour for comfort. For six or seven miles I was cranking along like a champ, but then the blast furnace of July seized me and everything started falling apart: legs aching, feet cramping, and the miles seemed as if they were stretching into eternity. I’ve always noticed that perception is one of the first things to go when situations heat up.

Spend too much time in the sun, or rip into a heated argument, and it can be really hard to remember precisely where you started, or where you are going.

I think that is worth bearing in mind as you continue down the old debt ceiling trail. Dems are ripping into Repubs, Repubs are slamming Dems, and sometimes it seems as if they are doing so regardless of what has been proposed. You know what I think? I think that is one of the key stumbling blocks. It’s not about the deal…it’s about too many people who are, in too many ways, crazy from the heat.

Call if you can.

Regards,
Tom

Follow Tom on Twitter @tomforemancnn.

Find more of the Foreman Letters here.