My Third Novel's Conclusion, My Heartbreak

My heart begins to break when I think about completing this particular book -- because this narrative has sustained me like no other story I've known. It's both more personal and more universal than my other works. But beyond memory and archetype, it's a cri-de-coeur about needing to become the person one is destined to be. And in the writing, I have met my own life's work, my own fated journey -- having the sense all the while that the pages are suffused with a resonance, an energy, an electrified field that defies explanation. Writers hope and pray to be overtaken by a work in this way -- to be conscripted into passionate service of a profound story. To experience it even once in a lifetime seems a great privilege. I still have several months before this novel is complete, and this constitutes my reprieve. Because I'm not ready for the beauty to end.




Thursday, November 17, 2022

A Letter to Michael Herzen: A Commitment to the Spoken Truth

 An email communication transcription follows herewith.

Sent from: lanemacwilliams@gmail.com.  To: mikeh@4herzen.net, mherzen@4herzen.net, mh@4herzen.net. Date: November 16, 2022 at 8:36 AM

Re:  A commitment to the spoken truth

Dear Uncle Mike,

It has recently been suggested to me that you have provided coerced falsified witness statements to federal investigators at the express direction of your FBI handler.

It has further been conveyed to me that the falsehoods you have extended have attested to unreliability, instability or psychological illness on my part, and/or that you have falsely alleged that Ken or I are involved in some unknown "espionage" or "terroristic" exploits.  I am given to understand that you have been compensated to affix your signature to these false claims, and, simultaneously, that you have been motivated by threats your FBI handler has leveled against your children.

As Voltaire once said, "No snowflake in an avalanche ever feels responsible."

Yet, your lies matter in this circumstance, and I would like to tell you why.

I have informed you in the past that I stand as a whistleblower of FBI malfeasance with regard to the agency's engagement in knowingly falsified law enforcement reporting for anti- democratic objectives.  I have not taken this stance out of self-interest or for profit.  I have not taken this position for acclaim or approbation.  No.

I have taken this principled stance for no other reason than that our democracy depends upon our willingness as Americans to tell the truth.  Our civil liberties, our human rights, and more than these, the bonds of fellowship that define our families, our neighborhoods, and our nation depend upon our ability to defend the truth when it is being assailed by prevaricators from within federal law enforcement.  Totalitarianism depends upon the cowardice of the common man, while democracy relies upon his courage.

The FBI has threatened your children if you do not comply with its unlawful demand to lie on the agency's behalf.  Yet, I am fighting for your children and grandchildren and all who will come after them in seeking free speech, free assembly, a free press -- in seeking sovereignty itself as an inalienable right.  Won't they one day ask what stance we took in defense of their freedoms?

Can you be proud in your answer?

Though it may be difficult for us to grasp, several million law-abiding Americans are currently being unjustly surveilled and harmed through the FBI's unconstitutional Nationwide Suspicious Activity Reporting Initiative.  It is not an exaggeration to say that their fates may depend upon your commitment to speak truthfully about my family's lawful conduct.  The fates of these several million are synonymous with the fate of our democracy.  These men and women, so wrongfully targeted, matter to us all.  All.

Uncle Mike I challenge you now to remember my parents.  Recall my father's integrity, my mother's compassion.  Would my parents, under threat from corrupt FBI agents, have lied about your children?  They would not.  Would my parents, for pay, have signed their names to deceitful statements for the sake of expediency or self-interest?  They would not.  Would my parents have sought to protect their own children if it meant the betrayal of yours?  They would not.

Uncle Mike, find your courage in the place you abandoned it so recently.  Gather it up in your arms and reclaim it as your sovereign right.

You are more than Voltaire's "snowflake in an avalanche."  You are a man.  A man with conscience and character, a man with independence and insight, a man with sovereignty and self-determination.

Use these gifts to speak the truth to investigators from the OIG Hotline.  Correct the falsehoods you have spoken under pressure from others.  Retract the lies corrupt men have demanded of you.

Stand for what is just and truthful and heartfelt and clear.

Your integrity at this moment matters to us all.

With love,

Lane


No comments:

Post a Comment