Ongoing Historian Contributor, Michael A. Smith, Provides Insight Re the Stephen Miller Appointment

 

The Saying and the Doing What the Stephen Miller Appointment Reveals About the Next Two Years Michael A. Smith On Friday, November 6, three days after voters handed control of Congress to the Democrats, President Trump recorded an interview with 60 Minutes in which he conceded that his deportation policy “might be too tough.” On the same day, he named Stephen Miller, the chief architect of that policy, as his White House chief of staff. Presidents often say one thing and do another. What makes this case worth examining is that the saying and the doing happened within hours of each other, and the doing is the more reliable guide to what the next two years will bring. The Contradiction CBS aired the interview, conducted by Ross Douthat, on Sunday, November 8. Asked whether his deportation policy had been too aggressive, the president answered, “I think it was too tough. I think it might be too tough.” He said the issue had “both helped and hurt” him in the midterm elections, and in the same conversation he gave himself an “A+” for closing the border. Exit polling reported by CBS found that 58 percent of voters believed the administration’s actions on immigration had gone too far. The concession deserves a careful reading. The president did not say the policy was wrong. He said it might be too tough, noted that many people consider it a success, and framed the matter chiefly as a question of political cost. That is the language of a man measuring the electorate, not the language of a man changing course. Read in isolation, the interview might suggest a president absorbing a message from the voters. Read alongside the personnel announcement made the same day, it suggests something else. Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer reduced the problem to a single line: “That’s not a course correction. That’s a promotion.” The remark is partisan, but the observation is accurate on its face. A president who believed his immigration policy had gone too far would be unlikely to elevate the official most responsible for that policy to the most powerful staff position in the White House. Who Stephen Miller Is Miller is not a newcomer to power. He served as a senior adviser throughout the first Trump administration and has been Deputy Chief of Staff since the second term began on January 20, 2025. He was a central figure in the 2018 policy that separated thousands of immigrant families at the border as a deterrent. Between administrations, he led America First Legal, an organization of former Trump officials that pursued litigation against the Biden administration, universities, and media companies. Miller’s relationship to Project 2025 requires precision, because imprecision here is easily exploited. Miller did not write Project 2025. America First Legal, however, was listed on the project’s advisory board until July 2024, when, as Democrats pressed the issue during the campaign, the organization asked to have its name removed. Miller told ABC News at the time that he had “zero involvement” with the project beyond a training video. Gene Hamilton, who leads America First Legal alongside Miller, drafted the Project 2025 chapter on the Department of Justice. The accurate description, then, is that Miller’s influence on the project came through proximity rather than authorship: his organization advised it, his closest colleague wrote part of it, and he has now been placed in charge of the staff that implements it. The promotion matters because of what a chief of staff does. The position oversees the entire White House staff and manages the daily operations of the presidency, including who and what reaches the president. Miller replaces Susie Wiles, the longest-serving chief of staff of either Trump administration, who moves to the president’s political operation. A deputy shapes policy in his own portfolio. A chief of staff shapes the whole machine. The Blueprint The Heritage Foundation has published its Mandate for Leadership series since 1981, offering each incoming conservative administration a set of policy recommendations. The 2023 edition, Mandate for Leadership: The Conservative Promise, became the centerpiece of Project 2025. Russell Vought, now Director of the Office of Management and Budget, wrote its chapter on the Executive Office of the President, and his Center for Renewing America sat on the project’s advisory board. How much of the plan has been carried out? Two sources with opposite sympathies offer nearly the same answer. The Center for Progressive Reform, working with Governing for Impact, reported in February 2026 that the administration had initiated or completed 283 of the 532 domestic policy actions the project recommended across twenty federal agencies, or 53 percent, within twelve months of the inauguration. The president of the Heritage Foundation has since claimed that more than half of the project’s recommendations have been implemented. When the authors of a plan and its sharpest critics arrive at the same figure, the figure deserves to be taken seriously. A caution is in order. The phrase “initiated or completed” covers actions at different stages, and some have been stopped or slowed in the courts. The figure does not mean that half of Project 2025 is settled law. It does mean that the document has functioned as a working agenda rather than as a think-tank wish list. A Plan for Divided Government The most telling evidence predates the election. On November 1, two days before the vote, Reuters reporters Nandita Bose and Tim Reid reported that the White House had spent months preparing for a possible Democratic takeover of Congress. According to a White House official and two people familiar with the plans, officials had identified executive actions on immigration, tariffs, housing, and spending that could proceed without legislation, and the White House intended to seek legal opinions from the Justice Department on what the president could do without Congress and how to defend those actions in court. Asked how comfortable the president would be governing through executive authority under a Democratic Congress, one source answered, “very comfortable.” The president himself said he would become “Mr. Veto,” issuing vetoes for “a month or two” before reaching compromises. Seen in this light, the Miller appointment looks less like a reaction to defeat than like the execution of a contingency already in place. That is an inference, not a documented fact, and it should be weighed as one. But it is the inference that best fits the sequence: a plan to govern around Congress prepared before the election, a lost Congress, and then the promotion of the aide most closely identified with the administration’s most aggressive use of executive power. The Strongest Objection Defenders of the administration will raise several arguments, and they deserve a fair hearing. Every modern president facing a hostile Congress has turned to executive power; President Obama famously spoke of governing with “a pen and a phone.” Heritage has advised Republican administrations for more than four decades, and the foundation has claimed that the first Trump administration adopted 64 percent of the recommendations in its 2016 edition during its first year. Project 2025 was published openly, and voters elected the president knowing it existed. A chief of staff is a manager, and a president is entitled to choose one he trusts. In the same interview in which he called his policy too tough, the president floated the possibility of an immigration deal with Democrats. These points are not frivolous. Executive power is not illegitimate in itself, and loyalty is not a disqualification for staff service. The question is not whether this administration will use executive power, but what kind of use it intends. Three features distinguish the present case. The first is breadth and speed: more than half of a 532-item domestic agenda set in motion within a single year. The second is preparation: the plan to govern around an elected Congress was drawn up before the voters had spoken, not in response to what they said. The third is design. Vought’s chapter treats the Office of Management and Budget as an instrument for extending direct presidential control over the federal agencies. Changes to the structure of government outlast any single policy, and they are far harder for a future Congress or administration to undo. If those structural changes prove difficult to reverse, then the midterm result will constrain the remaining two years of this presidency far less than voters may assume. That, rather than any single executive order, is the question to watch. What the Appointment Tells Us The appointment of Stephen Miller is not merely a personnel change. It is a statement of governing strategy. The election told the administration that a majority of voters wanted restraint, particularly on immigration. The president acknowledged that message in words on national television. With the appointment, he answered it in action. When words and actions diverge, the historian’s rule is to follow the actions. In a republic, elections are the means by which the governed correct those who govern them. The test of the next two years is whether that correction still works when the executive has prepared in advance not to receive it. Dr. Michael A. Smith is a historian, author, and college professor. Sources ABC News. “Pro-Trump Group Asks to Be Removed from Project 2025 Advisory Board: Sources.” July 2024. Al Jazeera. “Trump Says His Immigration Policy ‘Too Tough’ for Voters.” November 9, 2026. Altman-Devilbiss, Alexx. “Trump Names Stephen Miller Chief of Staff, Replacing Susie Wiles.” The National News Desk, November 6, 2026. Bose, Nandita, and Tim Reid. “Trump White House Maps Path to Govern without Congress if Democrats Win.” Reuters, November 1, 2026. CBS News. “Trump Says His Deportation Policy Might Have Been ‘Too Tough’ in 60 Minutes Interview.” November 8, 2026. Center for Progressive Reform. “Project 2025 Executive Action Tracker.” Updated February 2026. Figueroa, Ariana. “Trump Open to Immigration Deal, Calls Crackdown ‘Too Tough,’ Despite Miller Promotion.” States Newsroom, November 9, 2026. Heritage Foundation. Mandate for Leadership: The Conservative Promise. Washington, DC: Heritage Foundation, 2023. Rykowski, Peter. “Trump Admin Implements More Than Half of Project 2025, Heritage’s President Claims.” The New American, July 20, 2026.

Announcing Important Book: Hatemonger: Stephen Miller, Donald Trump and the White Nationalist Agenda by Jean Guerrero by

 But the duo packaged the hate that fuels white terrorism and sold it like cotton candy at an amusement park. Right-wing militias stocked up on weapons, preparing for revolution. In the midst of an impeachment inquiry, Trump retweeted a pastor’s warning of an impending “civil war–like fracture.” As early as 2017, Trump’s former advisor Roger Stone said, “Try to impeach him. Just try it. You will have a spasm of violence in this country—an insurrection like you’ve never seen.”

What these ideas express is not an excess of imagination but the opposite: the mind overtaken by a single fantasy.

...the face of demographic change was rampant,” wrote Acuña. White supremacists spread their ideas online, forming new groups, splintering, multiplying. They began cloaking racist ideologies in the language of heritage and culture for new recruits...

Guerrero, Jean. Hatemonger: Stephen Miller, Donald Trump, and the White Nationalist Agenda. William Morrow. Kindle Edition. 

He was growing up on right-wing talk radio, which was on the rise. The most notorious host, Rush Limbaugh, broadcast out of California’s state capital.

Guerrero, Jean. Hatemonger: Stephen Miller, Donald Trump, and the White Nationalist Agenda (p. 17). William Morrow. Kindle Edition. 

In Limbaugh’s world, wealthy white men were the aggrieved ones. Anyone else who complained lacked self-reliance.

Guerrero, Jean. Hatemonger: Stephen Miller, Donald Trump, and the White Nationalist Agenda (p. 17). William Morrow. Kindle Edition. 

Folks, I can understand the need for extremely tight use of excerpts from books with the implementation of AI Scraping... On the other hand, having a chance online to learn about a new book, sufficient enough to grasp the content is being lost for readers... I started reading this book, and may continue, I don't know... I already knew enough about these two men that I almost knew what to expect. However, the author has been amazing in her research (referencing as needed). So if you need to know what is likely to happen in our lame duck next two years, I can recommend the writing, the author's determination to create a comprehensive view of our new Chief of Staff under this president... 

We should all be alert to what could happen...

Women created feminism to “terrorize” men. Anita Hill was guilty of “one of the most heinous, malevolent attempts at character assassination.” He belittled sexual harassment claims by women and said, “I love the women’s movement . . . when I am walking behind it.” He peddled conspiracy theories. He expressed contempt for the poor. “The poor in this country are the biggest piglets at the mother pig and her nipples,” Limbaugh wrote. “The poor feed off of the largesse of this government and they give nothing back. Nothing. They’re the ones who get all the benefits in this country. They’re the ones that are always pandered to.” Miller was growing up in a world in which everything he identified with was under attack, according to Limbaugh. Miller’s father, meanwhile, was waging his own battles on the home and business front. In 1991, Michael Miller sued his former law firm, claiming he had been forced out in violation of their partnership agreement...

Guerrero, Jean. Hatemonger: Stephen Miller, Donald Trump, and the White Nationalist Agenda (pp. 17-18). William Morrow. Kindle Edition. 

Recognizing that providing news videos may be somewhat duplicative, but, on the other hand, it does work to document that there are many considering what will happen beginning with the past election where the democrats will take back total control of Congress... And what that means for a possible new bout of "retribution" upon us during the rest of the year... Yes, by calendar, it will mean that during the upcoming very popular holidays, that the overcast darkness will continue without control, except from the lower courts... 

I was pleased to find the first video hosted by George Conway... Some of you may remember that he was very vocal during the first term of this president... AND, that his wife was working in the administration at the same time... It was an interesting drama being set before us as a married couple as they attempted to express their personal viewpoints... You know, like the introduction of "Alternative Facts..."

Now I do know about alternative history fiction, which is fun to some in exploring what could have happened at any given time of crisis... But, Facts?! I have a hard time accepting that Facts can be different for different people... And yet, that also rings true, doesn't it... Take for instance the fact that two individuals were murdered by ICE under Miller's plan of action, and which have yet to be brought into the court system for action... Facts are being manufactured as almost the majority of Americans have now realized... Just how long, if ever(?), will it take to attempt to free the Department of Justice and its branches, free from the stink of the corruption especially during this second term? The first video new group now underway to work within that time period to attempt to be ready to act on behalf of a NEW, hopefully, DOJ that will be ready to conduct their normal operations... This leader/past DOJ employee guesses it to be about two years before normalcy will return.  Personally, I think that is optimistic, knowing that processes often take so much time because of having to abide by the rules and laws... Which have been ignored over and over daily. But, at least, those with experience in this important supposedly free-standing administrative unit, might be able to expedite it if done right.

What bothers me most of all is that Hatemonger starts with research about Miller's early life... As you know, three books here on BRH by Trump's niece and nephew, have already shared much of what happened during their lives in response to Trump's takeover when his father died...

I am presently writing a review of Cleansing Season, which is written as a thriller, but is extremely open about how a serial killer "might" be created by his early life... Corruption which includes murder is rare across the nation, or at least it was once within my lifetime... But things have changed... Many had no basis for understanding how and why they were treated badly in their early lives--to a lesser or greater extent--but they do know, and remember, what did happen... And later, some, but not all, have overcome those early negative emotional teachings... Look for this book review next...

In the meantime, I do not expect anything to happen until January 3rd. It could get worse with Trump placing Miller in as Chief of Staff... A man who instigated ICE as they have been operating through this country... Hold on folks... We won the election, but it could get worse for the holiday season...

GABixlerReviews

What's Happening! Spotlight on The Steal: Four Right-Wing Hard-Liners, One Republican Presidency, and the Raid on America's Courts by Alex Wagner - It's NOT Just MY OPINION!

 Their progress mostly remained unnoticed until the alarm bells began ringing, long after they had left the building. While America’s system of justice was slowly being perverted, the country Aqua-Netted its hair and traded stocks, snorted coke and danced to Boy George—laughing at

 Reagan or praising him over the course of a decade, never really understanding that the red-sweatered president was merely a sunny figurehead atop a movement more cutthroat and angry than the glasnost-and Madonna-loving public could ever imagine. The full effect

 of the work of these strange thieves would not be understood for decades to come, but it was in the shadows of the Reagan White House that the foundations were laid for the conservative judicial monolith that has, nearly half a century later, reoriented American society away from its expected magnetic north. As you read this, the conservative majority of the Supreme Court has finally overturned Roe v. Wade, brought religion back into the public square, ended landmark civil rights protections, and sanctioned discriminatory policies across the country. It is an outcome more spectacularly effective than even Weyrich and Meese and Bork and Coors could have imagined, back when they began their work in earnest, in 1981: a federal judiciary so deeply at odds with American public opinion—to say nothing of the last half century of social progress—that to envision it would have been, perhaps, delusional.

~~~

The day has come and gone and He has spoken through the millions who know His Truth, His Love! Even as those who were crying out for help and despair... When I came home from voting, there began a time of rest for me. I had done all that I could do before the election. I had read all the books I could, shared my understanding, even if faulty, perhaps... I turned away from my computer--from everything. The next day, I felt a deep feeling of Thanks, but not much else. I was tired and worn...

And through it all I would listen to spurts of news... but I was also always reading. I had come across a book that was not easy to read, but knew that I wanted to finish it, a little at a time... Another day goes by, glimpses of joy, awareness... Is it really true?

Finally finished and started a new book: The Steal by Alex Wagner, a news commentator I had come to know and discovered she'd written a book...

To the America that birthed Coors beer and away from the America that might actually be drinking it. 

Specifically, Coors believed the University of Colorado had become a petri dish for socialism—filled with a generation of druggy liberals who needed to be freed from their slavish devotion to civil rights and women’s liberation. This would be the foundation of Coors’ campaign for a seat on the university’s board. Just two years earlier, the Supreme Court had struck down so-called loyalty oaths—a grave mistake, in Joe Coors’ opinion. Professors no longer had to swear off political activities, which was an abomination in the eyes of Coors and other upstanding Colorado conservatives who believed this would throw open the doors of academia to all sorts of left-wing socialist activity. Coors vowed to prevent the sixties—and their anti-American vibrations—from infecting the campus of the University of Colorado. It was a herculean task. On November 8, 1966, Coors won his seat on the board, the same year Reagan was elected governor of California. By the start of the 1970s, Coors hired a staffer dedicated to his (and his company’s) political activism—a man named Jack Wilson. A former broadcaster from Denver, Wilson was eventually given the task of running Coors’ right- wing television station, a proto–Fox News network called Television News, Inc., aka TVN. Wilson and Coors believed legendary newsmen like Walter Cronkite and Harry Reasoner were “leftists” who had steered the country toward liberalism, and TVN was Coors’s attempt to rebalance the scales. Wilson, now enlisted to monitor the coverage on the network, solicited story ideas from congressional conservatives and complained sharply to Coors about the network’s coverage of Hubert Humphrey, the ACLU, and Martin Luther King Jr., who Wilson called “an avowed Communist revolutionary.” All that complaining got Wilson a promotion to head of the network, where he reportedly told his news director, “I hate Dan Rather. I hate all those network people. They’re destroying the country. We have to unify the country. TVN is the moral cement.” The news director, maybe unsurprisingly, wasn’t long for the job (he and Wilson, among other things, got into a fistfight), and his former position was soon filled by an up-and-coming young political operative named Roger Ailes. TVN ultimately went under, but Roger

Ailes—and the vision of a right-wing news outlet to save the country from moral turpitude—would live to see another day. Wilson’s relationship with Joe Coors, however, endured beyond TVN’s failure, and he was subsequently made the beer baron’s “personal lobbyist.” In his capacity as Coors’s personal assistant for political affairs, Wilson had been dispatched to find worthwhile conservative investments for Coors’ largesse. As part of this research, Wilson sent out letters to prominent conservative lawmakers asking if they might help guide the beer magnate toward projects that could offer a meaningful boost to the right-wing movement.- -Wagner, Alex. The Steal: Four Right-Wing Hard-Liners, One Republican Presidency, and the Raid on America's Courts (pp. 20-21). Flatiron Books. Kindle Edition. 

Yes, it, too, proved to be historically looking at today's world, but with humor, a bit of satire--or a lot... and I found myself enjoying the read... It had taken us back further than the present president. And started when most of us now living would at least know the president involved. Yes, republican. Have you noticed that there are many writing about times under this political party?

Frankly, I've been positive for some time that the word "conservative" has nothing to do with governing... It's been a manipulative word to be thrown out to those that have some fundamental learning of the word, whatever that may be, often associated with religion, and then pulled into a "must" type of situation where each individual is tossed and torn between what is right or wrong according to some vague experience that brings about an emotional reaction--positive or negative... The end goal is to incite fear, doubt... Oh, yea, it's the same for "progressive" but I tend to put the true meaning to that word and have found it a much better choice to make--if I have to make a choice...which I don't feel I should have to make...

One thing Wagner has done is researched the time period where she starts. You can tell it simply as you start reading... At least for me, there were names I had no knowledge of... You know what I mean, don't you? We have discovered that there are many rich men, or white men of influence that have pushed our country this way or that way, rather than just allow its people to govern as We The People...

Living in a diverse country, to me, is extremely refreshing--close to God as He chose to create each of us, don't you think? Often I wonder if I tend to over-compensate for those who differ in some way from what the white christian nation has traditionally taught... Then, my common sense stops me and shouts "NO!" Look where the country has gone by taking away freedom...to...be... What God Made!?! Yes, He has made each of us and there is nobody who is NOT worthy of His Love... That must be our guide, don't you think?!

Diversity brings out our creativity... Each of us has a way to find our own truth, our own walk with God... Is it wrong of me to combine Madonna and Boy George together with the scripture of Jesus? I don't think so, although I took the time to consider the placement as I created this entire post... When man chooses to take our creative thoughts which are used to explore what is really right or wrong and proclaim them as "dirty," "wrong," we ignore what that artist, writer, painter, is trying to express through what they see in life... 

In fact, the book which I just finished is a perfect illustration of what some will call a "dirty" book and which should be banned... While I admit it is not an easy book to have read, yet, there is a story that needs to be told within that book--fictional or not. Why? because fiction is often used as a catharsis--as a self-help method of sharing something that a child might not be able to ever say to anybody. Yet, when we read such a book, it is a welcomed awareness that that one child was not alone... and, if enough attention is gained, perhaps that type of behavior might someday...be...stopped...

The fight is not over, remember that... Take a few days of rest when you need it, but always remember that this type of evil repeats over and over and over... And We The People are the only ones who can work to bring freedom to all of God's Children...

God Be with His Children

Gabby

Ongoing Poetry Contributor, John Herlihy, Presents The Age of Time--Sitting--Thou Has Made Me--The Identity of Me!

 

The Age of Time

by John Herlihy

 

Time makes all seem young,

As if things have just begun.

Time makes everything old ,

Like the story already told.

 

The dawn arrives oh so young, 

Of specks of light and mist spun. 

Then the dawn turns also old ,

Killed off by the day gone bold.

 

Seconds bleed into the minute,

A single breath oh so minute.

The minute as a four-leaf clover,

But soon the minute oh so over.

 

The minutes bleed into the hour,

Timely moments of special power.

But soon enough the hour is gone,

Takes its leave having sung its song.

 

That brings us to the endless day,

Forever young, having its own way.

Until the sunset rings its silent bell,

The day is over with nothing to tell.

 

Days not enough until months arrive,

A month has some heft, seeming alive.

Until months swallowed by the year,

Still, time never sheds a single tear.

 

Years roll onward making a decade,

All bundled together, never weighed.

As the decades pass, we feel the age,

Leading us on resolutely into old age.

 

The century seems old but time is not,

The trees has rings and subject to rot.

An aging presence in an ageless world,

One’s flag now folded, no longer furled.

 

The moral: time itself has no fixed age,

Seconds do the work turning the page.

-----

Copyright © John Herlihy

Sitting

by John Herlihy

 

There's an interesting thing about sitting

Not the sitting itself, that's not interesting

But the different places where people sit

And how they feel while they are sitting

All the places where people end up sitting

Even when there were no good places to sit

 

Sitting alone, waiting for friends to meet

Sitting quietly, sitting on the edge of a seat

Sitting under a tree in the coolness of shade

Sitting amid buds and blooms in a quiet glade

 

Sitting on a cliff edge, sitting by the seashore

Sitting on the horizon and wishing for more

Sitting in contemplation, sitting in abject fear

Sitting in love with the loved one sitting near

 

Sitting in rapturous wonder, sitting in despair

Sitting in expectation, sitting in silent prayer

Sitting in terror, in curiosity, in wonder

Sitting in a tropical storm listening to thunder

 

Sitting at the end of day with a stick broom

Listening to notes on a piano sitting in a room

Sitting in a dank prison cell as a crazed fanatic

Sitting feeling all lonesome in a cottage attic

 

Sitting  on a tree stump, sitting at a class desk

Sitting snug on a tree branch beside a bird’s nest

Sitting on the street curb, sitting in a church nave

Sitting in the shadows of a cemetery by a grave 

There now, I see a seat, let me sit myself down

My weary bones need a rest, with no one around

As I quietly sit, I hear the sweet notes of a piano

Soothing notes, lilting notes, ever so pianissimo 

- - - - -

Copyright © John Herlihy

Thou Hast Made Me

by John Herlihy

 

Thou hath made me strong and mighty,

As a mountain impervious to the wind.

 

That hath made me fluid and flexible,

A fountain whose virtues never pretend.

 

This fragile heart of mine never rests still,

Gently indeed lovingly beats by God’s will.

 

My voice speaks eloquently as magic flute,

Until a hush in the air, the silence absolute.

 

Thou hath made my mind and of my body,

As a vessel here on earth that is temporal.

 

Thou hath made my soul as a spirit eternal,

Guided by grace through journeys diurnal.

 

This frail vessel empties with exhaled breath,

Only to be filled again with inhaled breath.

 

I whisper entreaty as my head on pillows lie,

To remember God all my days until the day I die.

- - - - 

Copyright © John Herlihy

 The Identity of Me

by John Herlihy

________________________________________

 

What are the signposts that make up the totality of me?  

What are the symbolic signs that make up the identity of me?

 

Imprinted on my skin, the divine birthmark of me—  

signifying craftsmanship, authenticity, the humanity of me.

 

Imprinted within my body, the DNA profile of me—  

the red hair, the freckles, the gender of me.

 

Imprinted on my finger lies the fingerprint of me—  

the identity I go by, encapsulated in the name of me.

 

Imprinted on my face is the personality of me—  

the furrowed brow, the smiles, the frowns of me.

 

Imprinted within my eye, the retinal scan of me—  

the vision, perspective, the windows to the soul of me.

 

Imprinted within my feet, the very footprint of me—  

the pathway, the journey, the tracks left behind of me.

 

Imprinted on my mind lies the mind-print of me—  

a ladder of reason and logic to sort the puzzle of me.

 

Imprinted on my psyche lies the imprimatur of me—  

the moral reckoning, the sanction, the very seal of me.

 

Imprinted within my intellect, the hot wax stamp of me—  

the authority, the ownership, the legal validity of me.

 

Imprinted on my soul lies the soul-print of me—  

a daguerreotype displaying the shadow and light of me.

 

Imprinted within my design, the ciphered monogram of me—  

combining personal initials, essential branding, lineage of me.

 

Imprinted within my narrative lies the watermark of me—  

in my hard‑bound volumes of books, the history, the legacy of me.

 

Imprinted on my voice lies the very music of me—  

all the rhythms, the currents, the melodic flow tide of me.

 

Imprinted on all my actions lies the copyright of me—  

the responsibility, the ownership, the right to be me.

 

Imprinted on my silhouette, the aura of me—  

the energy field, the overall vibe, the living being of me.

 

Imprinted within my light, the shade and shadow of me—  

the hidden, the darker aspects, the unseen aspects of me.

 

Imprinted on my consciousness, the open window of me—  

the thoughts, sensations, emotions, the visible iceberg of me.

 

Imprinted on my unconscious, the closed door of me—  

desire, memory, instincts, the invisible iceberg of me.

 

Imprinted on my spirit, the very breath of me—  

the ebb and flow, the waxing and waning of me.

 

These are the signatures that make up you and me—  

the thoughts, effort, identity, the very life of you and me.

—  

Copyright © John Herlihy 

 Thank you, John for 

again sharing your

Lovely and Thought-Provoking Words

Gabby

THE Book for NOW - Plausible Liars by Lin Wilder - Gabby Takes A Second Look! Personal Thoughts Incited by Novel...

My original review of this important book is available right now for those who have not previously read my thoughts... But when I learned that a second edition was out, I decided to read once again... and give Gabby a chance to explore the book with new eyes wide open... 

First of all, the addition of a book club section is fantastic and should be considered as a wonderful way by which we can talk about major issues while at the same time, joining together to love and support our neighbors who have gone through so much turmoil during the last few years...

ALL Neighbors...

THE SECOND EDITION

When the head of the Chicago LGBTQIA+ Book Club created a chapter-by-chapter Reader’s Guide, was so good, I decided a second edition of the book was warranted.

A Dr. Lindsey McCall Medical Mystery — Book 5

What happens when a doctor and an investigative journalist find themselves caught in a federal indictment?

In Plausible Liars, Dr. Lindsey McCall and Kate Townsend face a high-stakes legal battle where medical ethics, investigative reporting, and difficult questions of truth collide.

For readers who enjoy medical mysteries, courtroom suspense, and stories that challenge easy answers, discover the novel that has earned reader attention and award recognition. 

First, I'd like to explore the title... It's an important title, and, really, could be used as a stand alone phrase describing people, today, who are running our country in a totally unwarranted manner. 

Plausible is a word that rolls off your tongue--just like the lies that can slip out easily for many, but are also of major significance when done on purpose... Don't you think?

Plausible is an adjective that means seemingly reasonable, probable, or worthy of belief, even if it has not been proven true.  According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, something that is plausible appears fair, sensible, or logical on the surface, though it can sometimes be deceptively so. 

Key Meanings & Uses: Believable or Realistic: An explanation, story, or theory that sounds like it could be true. (Example: "She gave a plausible excuse for being late."), while Superficially Persuasive (with a catch) sometimes describes an argument or person that sounds convincing, even if there is room for doubt or hidden deceit. (Example: a smooth, plausible speaker)

It is not my intent to spotlight the ongoing interaction about the political scene now taking place and which we will be voting on within a few days... Rather, by spotlighting the reality of today's world, we must also recognize exactly how plausible liars have, perhaps, always, acted. Either as we listen to possibly realistic lies OR, more importantly to those who superficially use plausible lies as tools... Personally? I find at this point in our nation, there may not be as much of a difference as we think...

Consider this story from my own life... Years ago I went into job burnout. My doctor said that I had to choose between my job or my life. I chose life...and walked off the job after receiving a medical leave of absence. I knew I needed to talk to somebody and called my pastor. He and his wife came to my home where I was crying without being able to stop. I cried out, pray for me and they did... But as we talked, the pastor soon also talked to me about getting medical help. At that time, in order to gain prescriptive care I also had to visit a psychologist who could prescribed medication... At that time, the psychologist went through what I might need to do--I had already done all she suggested about on-the-job actions. I saw her, as required, to gain ongoing support...

At the same time, my older sister called and said to get to church to the altar to be blessed... She also sent her son who I ignored as he pounded on my doors. I have no idea what he could possibly have done and I felt was totally inappropriate for her to have sent him...

So why do I bring this up? Right now? After many years of reading and studying--and especially seeing the evangelical christians support a conman, I began to evaluate just how religion, itself, had really been a tool often used to persuade individuals into a blind trust that may or may not have been appropriate. In my case, attempting to shut out my obvious medical needs where my mind was out of control, could not have been appropriate. Yet, my family immediately expected me to go to the altar... Think about it, if you would, it was like my brain was split in two. One part thinking logically that I needed help. One part totally helpless and needing guidance and immediate support. 

In other words, if we are so blinded by religion that it is seen as the only way that God can help us, we are ignoring the fact that God is Love and has given the gifts of science/medicine to support all of His children... Thus, our need and love for our neighbors...

Lin Wilder, in exploring the issue of transgender activities drew a similar parallel where a teacher who had studied under one professor who had provided plausible lies had totally acceptable those lies that children, no matter what age, should be encouraged in their fantasies, even of wanting to be like his sister... And she immediately acted to not only support that brief thought of a child, but continued to act, continuously, in support of implementing what her professor had taught, and which she had fully absorbed--Without Question! Encourage a child of whatever age, to immediately respond to a need for sex change.

At the same time, however, another individual came to see the horror of the child when that teacher attempted to celebrate what that child had expressed just once of actually becoming his sister, giving him a dress and changing his clothes... And it was the woman who stopped that action who was criticized... Even at the end, after the child had changed into his earlier clothes, the teacher continued to assume that she had done the right thing in encouraging a very young child with such a major issue!

When we speak Truth as we know it, I have learned that it may or may not be true. At this stage of my life, I have no problem in differentiating. I have read many different religious experiences of people as a book reviewer. That never meant that I would automatically accept what was said as Truth, but merely willing to read one person's experience and acknowledge it... We Must Work to Know What is True, even if we doubt what our own family tells us... Or what a teacher has told us, or even what sounded right, but...still...there is doubt? You must learn for yourself what is True and that includes about your religious training...

“I went to the woods because I wanted to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not when it came time to die, to discover that I had not lived.”

The first excerpt I highlighted on my second read was in the first chapter. I felt a response to this brief quote from one of the characters. Why would we NOT want to learn more than what was known after the first day in a garden of eden? And yet, many have become so insulated and so believing in a book that was written thousands of years ago, that no further information is of value? I find that incomprehensible... First of all, if we believe God is alive Today, then we must be ignoring His life by sticking purely to something said at a distant time, don't you think? Some continues to be Truth; some was intended for a season that is perhaps past...

“We’re friends. That’s all.” Had anyone ever called me their friend? Then I thought about how weird she is. Maybe even more bizarre than me, if that’s even possible, and I wondered why I felt so comfortable around her. “Are you happy?” I had just taken a big bite of my hamburger when Morgan asked that question. As usual, I didn’t know what to say to her. So, I put up my hand and made a show of chewing and wiping my mouth. She had barely touched her food. That’s why she’s so skinny. She doesn’t eat, unlike me, who eats continuously. Finally, I emptied my mouth, but still didn’t know how to answer. Are you happy? What kind of question is that to ask someone? “Joey, it’s a simple question. There are only two possible answers.” I picked up a French fry, but Morgan put her hand on mine and fixed me with those eyes that seemed to penetrate my soul. “I don’t know, Morgan. I don’t have any idea what happiness is,” I said. Then, right there in front of her and everyone else, I started to cry. But Morgan ignored my blubbering. “A few weeks ago,” she said, “I heard Michelle asking when you would get your top done. You said this month, in a week or so, is that right?” I nodded. Her emotionless reaction was helping me get control of myself. “Joey, is this your idea or someone else’s?” She can’t know about him. I’ve never said anything to her—or to anyone else—about him! “What do you mean?” I asked. Morgan just sat there, studying me. She acted as if she could have waited for hours. But as I sat there looking back at her, I smiled. “Can I tell you a secret, Morgan? Something I am happy about?” Morgan looked surprised but nodded. I told her I was off the testosterone and had started taking estrogen, thanks to her friend, Dr. McCall.

Do you miss talking to a special friend? I do... It seems that with all this technology now available, we rarely actually spend personal time with others... Our nation has lost its ability to take time to spend talking. Even our doctors are restricted time-wise and don't take the time to learn more than what is necessary to give us a pill... I know. Simply because I've lived through the evolution of that traumatic change and find myself resenting what has occurred. 

When you feel like communication is not really two-way, you become more attuned to seeing the results of the loss of the warmth of spending time with somebody with whom you are sympatico--that you can say anything and not feel like you are tied forever to what was said at one time which you later might not think of as a good idea... This book has a special character who has both limitations of communicating and yet has a wonderful ability to see through what is, possibly, not true, or that we may not even realize that we are unsure about how we feel... When that relationship develops between a young person and an adult, there is sometimes a subtle deference that can occur where somebody's opinions--their truth--can be extremely misleading... When planning to sign up to vote after moving to a different state, I was asked what I would register as. I said Independent, knowing that I wanted to look at the individual rather than affiliation to a party. The individual to whom I was responding immediately said, "If you're a Christian, you must vote republican..."

I had thought I was close to that individual. Since then there have been a number of times when I've questioned how I thought of her as my friend. You see, each of us is extremely complex. We think deeply, yet most of our thoughts belong only to ourselves. When we are suddenly thrown into a situation where somebody else's opinion is so different, how we receive it is often based upon the relationship between the two. If the adult is also a teacher, we have a tendency to accept what we hear as truth...

But what happens when two different adults present two different "truths" as they see it? Obviously the third individual would either be confused, decide which one is correct, or take the time to research the issue and arrive at your own conclusions... This becomes even more complicated if the difference of opinions/truth are presented as facts that you previously didn't know about. This book has several specific issues that are addressed which ultimately led to legal action. I realized that this could happen with many different topics, not just controversial issues, but those, simply, which had never been taught except from one perspective...

Take the issue of slavery, also ending in legal actions and war... And still the issue continues to be manipulated even today... Just One Issue, that affects millions of people! I met my first Black girlfriend in the 7th grade. We remained friends through graduation of high school. That is truth--my truth of having a good Black friend. Nobody can manipulate my mind about what is being done right now under DEI to hurt/destroy the lives of non-white people because of race. Truth can indeed be confirmed from our own truths...

Have you been presumed guilty for a crime you know is not true?

“Rich, are you sure?” Lindsey asked. “It feels like all I’ve done lately is drop in for a visit and then take off again.” Her husband began to hum, then sway with the girls from side to side, and then the three of them began to sing the following song. I’ve seen a lot of places I’ve been around the world I’ve seen some pretty faces Been with some beautiful girls But after all I’ve witnessed one thing still amazes me Just like a miracle you have to see to believe ’Cause God blessed Texas with his own hand Brought down angels from the promised land Gave ’em a place where they could dance If you wanna see heaven, brother, here’s your chance I’ve been sent to spread the message God blessed Texas First he lit sunshine Then he made the waters deep Then he gave us moonlight For all the world to see Well everybody knows that the Lord works in mysterious ways He took a rest then on the very next day God blessed Texas with his own hand ….

 

“Kate, sorry to bother you. Are you somewhere you can talk?” “Sure, Jeff, just give me a few minutes. Can I call you back in five?” Kate’s editor, Jeff Simmons, sounded very different from the cheery man she’d talked to two days earlier when he welcomed her back to Texas. It was only 7:00 p.m., but Lucinda and the boys were already down for the night, and Kate didn’t want to wake them with her conversation. At Kate’s enthusiastic agreement, Steve had accepted an invitation to dinner with the dean of the medical school and a few other chairs of medical departments. They had narrowed the list of potential houses to three—two if Steve nixed one after sleeping on it—and planned to return to Palo Alto on Sunday morning after placing an offer. Kate was pleased with their progress but was tired. None of them slept well because of the almost constant sirens of ambulances and police around the medical center. Furthermore, although the three-bedroom suite had felt spacious when they arrived, it felt cramped for the five of them after nearly a week. Even JH, who was usually phlegmatic, was getting irritable. Kate pocketed her key and walked outside into the warm evening. “Hi, Jeff, what’s up? You sound—” “Worried? The wolves are circling, Kate. Jaworski’s using all of his leverage to keep you out of the local Texas media circuses. And mostly, he’s managing to hold them off. But he’s heard rumors that the Northern California Federal Court impaneled a grand jury to indict you and Lindsey McCall on a conspiracy to commit a federal hate crime against the American transgendered community and unintentionally murdering a teen named Joey Carmichael. Jaworski’s worried. He doesn’t hold any heft with the US Justice Department. “I’d guess you know about Lindsey’s involvement with detransitioning a transgender female-to-male teen at Cal Poly. He’s dead. Because of your articles about Lindsey’s wrongful conviction for her mother’s death four years ago, they think they have enough to indict both of you for conspiracy.” John Jaworski was a senior partner of Fulbright and Jaworski, one of the leading law firms in Texas. He was also President of the Board of Trustees for the Houston Tribune, wielding enormous power in the state. Jeff said, “Someone at the Transgender Law Center has the Attorney General’s ear.” Kate’s mind reeled. She thought That poor kid died? Lindsey’s being accused of causing it? This is happening so fast! But she said, “I’ll need to look up the definition of a federal hate crime.” Jeff had worked with Kate for fifteen years and thought he knew her well. However, she occasionally managed to stop him short with her unflappability, like now. Kate didn’t even sound surprised. Shaking his head at her calm reply, Jeff said, “I’ve got it right here. Are you ready? “Fire away.” “‘In violation of 18 USC 249: prohibiting willfully causing bodily injury to another because of actual or perceived race, color, religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability.’ Co-Prosecutors are from the Transgender Law Center, the ACLU, and the Southern Poverty Law Center. Jaworski’s source says there may be more because this isn’t just hot, it’s sizzling.” 

In the book, two professional women have lived lives, in good faith working to help others. While at the same time, others who disagreed with their opinions, chose to act on their perceptions of what truth was actually happening... Have people all over the world had this happen on an ongoing basis, and, especially, when some are acting for personal gain or power... Just how do we see a past AND a future if we are unable to talk and give out opinions so that we come to at least an understanding of what is right or wrong related to any given issue?

Instead, they understood what this could do to Rich’s hard-won battle for serenity. The consequences of his intense need to “fix” those who misused their power could be very bad indeed. Following his confession, Rich regarded the priest. “How do I deserve a woman like that? She’s the one in handcuffs, and yet she’s worried about me?” “None of us deserves anything, good, Rich, but what we do deserve,” the priest paused to finger the crucifix he wore under his collar, “he already bore. And yet he rains down his mercy and goodness on us daily.” He looked at the exhausted man before him. “If you don’t get some sleep, you’ll be no good to anyone.” 

“Behold, I am sending you out in the midst of wolves. Be ye therefore as wise as serpents and as harmless as doves.” Father John’s words fell like a blessing on the group. As well as a tacit “Go for it...”

Both sides were on the lookout for their ideal juror. The US attorney and his prosecution team sought younger, single, areligious, college-educated people. Race was immaterial. The defense wanted people who were married with kids, blue-collar, and Christian, believing that race and ethnicity were irrelevant in this case.

Are we so tied to politics that we have become so predictable?

Are we so predictable that lawyers think of us, first, as an individual within a certain race, financial status, or education, that we do not have the ability to form our own opinions? As we read the book as written, readers may find their emotions being instantly involved in one way or another. Important for me was that the several involved characters were in turmoil and needed guidance... Are we past that point in the United States? Are we unable to have the sympathy and, possibly, empathy, to place ourselves into a given situation and evaluate our own beliefs and/or moral code? This book may help you find that ability to look beyond your own personal opinions and seek truth in various ways, rather than just from those who have vested interests in controlling lives based upon a desire for power, recognition as an expert, or "relevant" in whatever today's world might attempt to seduce you with?

“Each human being is created in the Creator’s image and likeness. When he breathes life into us, he also breathes knowledge of his law: our conscience. Uniquely among all God’s creatures, we have an intellect and a will to develop that conscience.” The volume of his voice dropped. “His great gift to humanity: free will, Zach. Either we choose to follow the laws we know to be true—or declare ourselves gods.”

He took her trembling hand. “Child, don’t be sorry. Never apologize for using one of the best cleansing agents our gracious Lord has given. Tears.”

...Or do you see two women who stuck their necks out in completely unrelated situations instead? Two women who could have easily decided to do nothing, fully aware of the risks they were taking in this politicized climate where so little can be discussed but so much condemned?”

Do they know how precarious their freedom is?

This is a special time period for the nation--indeed, for the world...

I believe each of us has heard the voice of God as from the Pope, other politicians, religious leaders, teachers, medical personnel...

We watched the fear, pain and suffering to children who do not understand

Mostly, because we adults, also do not understand...

But we have Hope... Just as the Two women in Plausible Liars

knew that what they were doing was what was being guided by God...

Now is our time...

We face the loss of democracy

We've already watched murders in the streets

Inciting wars and death across the world...

I believe it is a time when God is depending upon His followers

of any and all religions, to fight hate, violence, and greed...

Simply because I know He Loves Us ALL

Gabby