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.




Wednesday, January 11, 2023

My Democratic Party Affiliation: A Matter of Identity

1.  Did you change political parties at any point?

Answer:  I have always been a contributing Democrat, and my husband has always contributed to the Democratic Party as well.  We are both longtime supporters of President Biden.

There was a point when it became clear to me that my family members' lives were under active threat from far right factions of the FBI that I asked my husband to temporarily change his registration.  I think I changed my own registration briefly as well.  We continued to contribute to the Democratic Party, but the temporary shift probably bought my family a modicum of safety during a particularly perilous time.

2.  Did you believe that the temporary shift actually did protect your family members?

Answer:  My stalker indicated that there was celebration within his ranks when we made this temporary change, so I think it may have protected my family members, albeit briefly.

3.  Why did you soon re-register as a Democrat?

Answer:  I am a person who needs to be true and honest about myself.  I realized that I might lose my life for speaking the truth about the FBI's engagement in knowingly falsified law enforcement reporting for anti-demcratic objectives.  But if I was going to perish for my beliefs, I was going to do so as a Democrat.

I think one of the elements of the FBI's unconstitutional "target of interest" program which is most disturbing is the agency's apparent attempt to separate "targets" from the truth of who they are.  Virtuous people are mischaracterized as criminals.  Chaste Americans are defamed as predators.  Loyal citizens are slandered as "spies."  Moderate democrats are cast as "communists." On and on it goes.

At a certain point, you realize that the truth is integral to any life worth living.

It is necessary to stand up and express who you are, even if that brings extreme risk.  

This is the way I feel.

4.  Your husband has now re-registered as a Democrat as well.

Answer:  Yes, he has.  But again, my husband has fully supported me throughout my endeavors to bring attention to the FBI's perpetration of falsified law enforcement reporting against law-abiding American citizens.  I don't think that support would have been possible unless he fully believed in my efforts.  He is  a Democrat in his principles, his contributions, and his faith in our country's future.  I daresay that our marriage could not have weathered this challenge otherwise.

5.  Why do you say that?

Answer:  In reflecting on my efforts over recent years, my husband has said that he has never seen anyone try harder to do anything.

My husband grew up in a blue collar family that was sometimes on public assistance during periods when his father experienced lay-offs -- and he went on to be the first person in his family to earn his college degree and, following that, to earn his Master's Degree and Ph.D. in electrical engineering from Stanford.

So for him to say that he has never seen anyone try harder to do anything -- this is quite a statement.  And I think it's true.

He has honored me with his belief that my labors to illuminate this issue are important.

6.  You have given everything you have to your attempt to call attention to the insider threat to our democracy represented by far right factions of the FBI.

Answer:  Yes.  It seemed that it might be possible to make a contribution to the civil liberties and human rights of many people beyond myself, beyond my family.  I could not relinquish that hope.

7.  What would you say to those who would question whether you are loyal to the Democratic Party?

Answer:  I think my voting record speaks for itself.  I voted for President Clinton twice, Al Gore, John Kerry, President Obama twice, Hilary Clinton, and with great enthusiasm, President Biden.  

But beyond that, I would say that it's important not to fault "targets of interest" for their efforts to protect the lives of their family members.

When we love people greatly, we strive to shield them from predatory harm.

8.  What does being a Democrat mean to you?

Answer:  To me, it means that I stand for equal rights among Americans of divergent backgrounds, races, professions, religions, sexual orientations, socio-economic strata and political beliefs in expressing that our common interests as Americans vastly outweigh our differences.  We are a nation of immense diversity, brought together with a promise of the principles expressed within our Constitution and Bill of Rights -- and that is central to our strength.  

To me, being a Democrat means that I bring a generosity of spirit to my engagements with other Americans.  It means that I stand for their civil liberties as vigorously as I stand for my own.  It means that I speak for their human rights as passionately as I speak for my own.  It means that I extend respect and dignity to my fellow citizens.  It means that I celebrate the unique talents we all have to offer to this country I love so profoundly.  It means that I have faith in our shared future.

All of this and more.

9.  You have faced many challenges throughout the period in which you have been wrongly designated a "target of interest."  Yet, now you want to serve your country.

Answer:  This is my greatest desire -- to stand together with President Biden and his administration in support of our democracy.

If I have the opportunity to contribute to the civil liberties and human rights of other Americans -- well, this would lend tremendous meaning to my journey.

10.  Many other democracies around the world are experiencing the same fragilities as our own.

Answer:  Then perhaps their electorates, too, can be strengthened by hearing the truth.

11.  Can the truth about falsified law enforcement reporting vanquish the autocracy it was meant to secure?

Answer:  I believe it can.

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The FBI is a deeply divided agency.  There are many FBI employees who view their vows to the Constitution with the utmost seriousness and honor, and who strive to defend the fundamentals of our democracy with courage, fortitude and commitment.  The fact that some segments of the FBI appear to have embraced a lawless course is not a justification to assail the FBI in general.  The safety of FBI agents should be protected, just as the safety of the American citizenry should be protected.  As President Joseph R. Biden has so rightly expressed, violence is never justified in any circumstance.  The rule of law must always be honored and upheld.  It is our shared determination to preserve the civil liberties and human rights of ALL AMERICANS that renders the United States a democracy.  We must never abandon this promise.  All of our most cherished freedoms depend upon it.

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