I write southern historical fiction, local history, and I've written a devotional book. The two novels I'm writing are set in Virginia and the Carolinas in the 1760s. My weekly blog started out to follow my journey as a writer and a reader, but in 2025 it has been greatly expanded to include current events and politics in the United States as I see our democracy under attack from within. The political science major in me cannot sit idly by and remain silent.
Author: janetsm
In November 2025, I published Traveling Through History: A Collection of Historical Short Stories. In the fall of 2025, I published a devotional book: I Need The Light! 26 Weekly Devotionals to Help You Through Winter AND I Need The Light! Companion Journal and Diary. I write North Carolina local history and Southern American colonial historical fiction. I enjoy doing extensive research as well as the writing that research supports. My stories and novels-in-progress are about the common people. I'm the author of Harrisburg, Did You Know? Cabarrus History, Books 1 and 2 and a vintage postcard book titled The Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina.
Once-a-week, since November 25, I have blogged about a different story from my new book, Traveling Through History: A Collection of Historical Short Stories.
The sixth story in the book is “Whom Can We Trust? A Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence Short Story.”
Tradition tells us that Archibald and Maggie Sellers McCurdy built their log cabin in what is now Cabarrus County, North Carolina, in 1773. At that time, Cabarrus had not yet been formed out of the eastern part of old Mecklenburg County. Their house was on the National Register of Historic Places until vandals burned it down a few years ago. Sadly, I never did see the house, but I have seen photographs of it and detailed floor plans and exterior drawings have been preserved.
Archibald McCurdy’s gravestone at Spears Graveyard of Rocky Ri er Presbyterian Church, Cabarrus County, North Carolina
Those drawings and photographs made it easy for me to imagine the McCurdys’ lives. Theirs are names I’ve heard all my life. Archibald was a foot solider in the militia during the Revolutionary War. Maggie was a patriot in her own right, as she earned the name “She-Devil” by the British and Tories. I explain a couple of her feats in the Author’s Note at the end of “Whom Can We Trust?”
Marker placed at Archibald McCurdy’s grave by the Daughters of the American Revolution
The story is set in May 1775 at the time of the signing of the Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence. I was inspired by a story I’ve heard all my life about what Archibald McCurdy did on the day that document was signed.
You can find the paperback at Second Look Books in Harrisburg, NC, or ask for it at your local independent bookstore. Bookstores can order it from IngramSpark.
Since November 25, I’ve blogged once-a-week about one of the stories in my new book, Traveling Through History: A Collection of Historical Short Stories. The fifth story in the book is “From Scotland to America: A 1762 Immigration Story.”
Somewhere on the Kintyre Peninsula of Scotland. Photo by Andrew Hall on Unsplash. (Andrew, we might be cousins!)
I know baptismal dates and marriage dates for my ancestors in Campbeltown and Southend, Scotland, but I don’t know when the three brothers set sail to America. I don’t know how long they lived in Pennsylvania before taking the Great Wagon Road south to the Rocky River Community in present-day Cabarrus County, North Carolina, but I had fun imagining their journey for this short story.
I’m privileged to live on a little piece of land that has passed down through seven generations to my sister and me from the 1760s. We’ve been to Scotland and visited the farms where they were tenants of the Duke of Argyll in the late 1600s and early 1700s. I feel a bond with them. Writing “From Scotland to America” was one small way for me to pay homage to them. I grew closer to them as I pondered their lives, what they saw, what they did, how they must have marveled at “the New World” and how they must have missed their homeland and living by the sea.
This story is entirely fiction except for their names, where they lived in Scotland, and from whom my great-great-great-great-grandfather purchased his first piece of land in North Carolina.
The three brothers came from a place where no common people owned their own land, so it must have been an unimaginable accomplishment to come to America and purchase land. That was something none of their ancestors could have done!
You can find the paperback at Second Look Books in Harrisburg, NC, or ask for it at your local independent bookstore. Bookstores can order it from IngramSpark.
Don’t forget to look for my other books, all available on Amazon: I Need The Light! 26 Weekly Devotionals to Help You Through Winter; I Need The Light! Companion Journal and Diary; The Aunts in the Kitchen: Southern Family Recipes (compiled along with my sister, Marie); Harrisburg, Did You Know? Cabarrus History, Book 1; and Harrisburg, Did You Know? Cabarrus History, Book 2.
The following genealogy books that my sister and I compiled are available through my website (https://www.janetmorrisonbooks.com): Descendants of John & Mary Morrison of Rocky River; Descendants of James & Jennet Morrison of Rocky River; and Descendants of Robert & Sarah Morrison of Rocky River.
By the way, don’t forget the people of Ukraine and their struggle to remain a free and independent nation.
There was a tragedy in Los Angeles last weekend. It was followed hours later by a tragic expression of hate on Truth Social.
I struggled over whether to blog about this. I concluded that if I remained silent, I was complicit. I concluded that if I did not speak out, I was giving the President of the United States permission to continue to demonstrate his lack of humanity.
I am aware that he does not need my permission to do anything. I am merely one citizen. One voter. He does not answer to me. He has proven repeatedly since January 20, 2025, that he does not answer to anyone. I hope that sometime in the next 37 months, he will be answerable to someone. If he will not be held accountable for his behavior by the United States Congress in the next 37 months, he will eventually be held accountable by our Creator.
His words about the murder of Rob and Michele Reiner were shocking but not surprising.
Rob and Michele Reiner were Hollywood icons. As far as I know, neither of them ever hurt anyone. They loved their son and had, no doubt, done everything in their power to help him with his addictions.
Photo by Sean Foster on Unsplash
But when “the leader of the free world,” “the most powerful man in the world” due to the political office he holds responded to the news the Reiners had been found murdered in their Los Angeles home with vitriol, I was shocked.
It is shocking that a human being can be so callous and devoid of empathy. It was shocking, but it was not surprising. (Yes, I’ve already said that, but it bears repeating.)
As the current President of the United States always does, he made light of these murders AND he made it all about him. Not only did he say despicable things about the Reiners, he said they were murdered because they had Trump Derangement Syndrome.
I find him so repulsive that I refuse to mention his name today except when I have to.
He more than insinuated in his social media post that the Reiners were murdered because they did not like him. (Can you spell narcissist?)
It turned out that they were apparently murdered by their son, who has a history of drug addiction. We might never know what triggered these acts of violence, but it is doubtful it had anything to do with the Reiners’ political opinions.
As everyone who knew Rob and Michele Reiner or appreciated their work has mourned their untimely deaths and the profound tragedy of the indications that they died at the hands of their son, we are also left to once again deal with the embarrassment caused by the words of the President of the United States.
The President of the United States is supposed to be a person of integrity and character. It is not spelled out in the job description, but in the 236 years we have had a President, it has been or at least evolved into a position in which we expect a level of respect, empathy, leadership, and encouragement. Until 2025. We would like to have it in 2025, but we no longer expect it.
What we expect from the current United States President is disrespect, ridicule, mean-spirited words and actions, name calling, belittling, racism, and a total lack of empathy for anyone in the nation or the world who is struggling, suffering, or grieving.
Therefore, what he said about the murder of Rob and Michele Reiner was shocking, but it was not surprising.
How many more despicable things must he say before someone in a position of authority does something?
How many more despicable things must he say before some people who claim to be Christians stop defending and supporting him?
His behavior would not be tolerated if he were an employee in any other job in America, so why is it tolerated when he has the job of United States President?
Then, the plaques about the former U.S. Presidents
Mr. President, the fact that this week you added plaques under the photographs of yourself and other former U.S. Presidents along that wall you’ve tackied-up at the White House, goes right along with the way you started the week by saying hateful things about Rob and Michele Reiner.
The little bits I’ve heard of what you said about President Biden and President Obama on their plaques are so far beneath the dignity of the office you hold, words fail me. Only a very tiny, insecure person does such a thing.
You have turned the wall beside an outdoor walkway leading to the Oval Office into a Wall of Horrors. We can only hope it and the Oval Office can be returned to their former simple elegance when you are gone.
Then, there was your nationally-televised yell-fest
Wednesday night, those of us who tuned in out of curiosity, heard and watched the U.S. President have a yell-fest. For 18 minutes, you talked yelled as fast as you could. It was a bizarre display, even for you, and you have set the bar incredibly low with your earlier speeches and “weavings” you are so proud of.
Considering the purpose of the yell-fest was apparently to tell us how great you think you are and how cheap groceries are thanks to your leadership, you certainly sounded angry.
If you were lucky enough to not hear Wednesday night’s tirade live, it is quoted in its entirety here: ttps://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2025/12/17/read-donald-trumps-speech/87820921007/. To really appreciate it, though, you needed to hear it live with all the anger his tone of voice showed. He was practically gritting his teeth at the end when he spit out, “To each and every one of you have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. God bless you all.” He was obviously too angry to even fake a smile.
You are not great, Mr. President. You are a sorry excuse. You are a profound embarrassment to all reasonable Americans.
The Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
Yesterday, Trump claimed to be “surprised” when the trustees he appointed to the board to which he named himself the chairman renamed The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center of the Performing Arts in Washington, DC, The Donald J. Trump and John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.
Since he has been referring to it as the Trump-Kennedy Center for several weeks, claiming it was a slip of the tongue, why would he say it was a surprise yesterday? The truth just is not in him.
Congress named it as a memorial to President John F. Kennedy in 1964, so it is questionable that the Trump-appointed trustees have the authority to change the name. As long as there is a Republican majority in this do-nothing Congress, though, nothing will probably come of this.
This isn’t the first thing Trump has named for himself, of course.
Last week he renamed the United States Institute of Peace the Donald J. Trump Institute of Peace and had his name chiseled into the entrance to the building.
The White House ballroom that originally was going to cost $200 million, he now says just months later, will cost $400 million. There is speculation that he will name it The Donald J. Trump Ballroom. Why wouldn’t he?
He’s going to build an arch in Washington, D.C. that will supposedly dwarf the one in Paris. After all, the bigger, the gaudier, the better in Trump World.
It is surprising he renamed the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of America. I wonder why he didn’t name it the Gulf of Trump?
It will always be the Gulf of Mexico to me. And it will always be the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.
Anything he names for himself can be changed back to its rightful name when he is gone.
Only 37 more months? Unless he renames the Constitution of the United States of America the Constitution of Donald J. Trump. He said when he was campaigning that he thought the U.S. Constitution should be abolished.
Buckle up, folks, it’s going to continue to be a rough ride. We’re only 11 months in. It just seems like 11 years.
The fourth story in my new book, Traveling Through History: A Collection of Historical Short Stories, is “Making the Best of a Tragedy: Elizabeth Steele’s Story.”
I learned of Elizabeth Steele (sometimes spelled Steel) a few years ago while doing research for the writing of my historical novels. What a fascinating woman!
I must choose my words carefully, because I don’t want to ruin the short story for you.
She was a Patriot during the American Revolution. In fact, she met General Nathanael Greene and the generous gesture she made for the American cause in the dining room of her tavern in Salisbury, North Carolina, as he was on his way to the Battle of Guilford Courthouse just might have made a difference in the ultimate outcome of the Revolutionary War.
The story tells of a tragedy that befell her husband at Fort Dobbs. A lesser woman would have been crushed by the trauma, but not Elizabeth Maxwell Gillespie Steele!
I can’t wait for you to read her story and become as enthralled with her as I am! She plays an important role in my first historical novel (tentatively titled The Heirloom) and she will have a part in the subsequent novels I have drafted and planned.
Grave marker for Elizabeth Steele at Thyatira Presbyterian Church in Rowan County, NC
It was an emotional experience for me when I visited her grave at Thyatira Presbyterian Church in Rowan County, North Carolina. I have spent so much time with her in my imagination and writing that I feel as though I know her and she is my friend and mentor. She, no doubt, has influenced some of my political rants on my blog!
If a woman on the frontier in the backcountry of North Carolina could do what she did in the 1700s, why should I do less for my country in the 2020s?
Traveling Through History: A Collection of Historical Short Stories, by Janet Morrison
You can find the paperback at Second Look Books in Harrisburg, NC, or ask for it at your local independent bookstore. Bookstores can order it from IngramSpark.
Today is Bill of Rights Day in the United States. The first ten amendments to the U.S. Constitution are known as the Bill of Rights. Those amendments were ratified on December 15, 1791, when nine of the 13 states in the union at that time voted for their adoption.
The U.S. Constitution is a living, breathing document. Even when it was written, many people knew it was inadequate for the new nation because it gave the national government too much power and gave individual citizens and states too little power.
In fact, the U.S. Constitution itself was not ratified (adopted by three-fourths of the states) until there were assurances that amendments were going to follow. The process, though, was not as simple as one might imagine.
For Americans in 2025, the first ten amendments to the Constitution are taken for granted. They make sense to us. They appear to us as a neat little package we easily call the Bill of Rights; however, did you know that when the first Congress of the United States convened on March 4, 1789, they considered 145 proposed amendments?
I would have loved to have been a fly on the wall in their meetings in New York City over the next six and a half months to hear the debates! Can you imagine?
On September 25, 1789, the Congress submitted 12 of those 145 amendments to the states for consideration. Ten of the 12 were approved by the required nine states over the next 27 months and the Bill of Rights became the law of the land on December 15, 1791.
I tried in vain to find a list of those 145 proposed amendments online this weekend. It would be interesting to know what they were about and why only 12 of them were submitted to the states for consideration.
Even without knowing what the other 133 proposed amendments addresses, I can safely say that our lives have been much simpler since 1791 with a ten-amendment Bill of Rights instead of a 145-amendment Bill of Rights!
The Bill of Rights, condensed version
The First Amendment guarantees us freedom of religion, speech, and the press.
The Second Amendment guarantees us the right to bear arms.
The Third Amendment guarantees that in a time of peace, no citizen will be required to house a soldier without their consent, nor during a time of war except as prescribed by the law.
The Fourth Amendment guarantees us to be secure against unreasonable searches and seizures. (Unfortunately, I do not believe ICE and the U.S. Border Patrol are currently being held to that.)
The Fifth Amendment is more complex than the first four. It addresses the protection of our rights to life, liberty, and property. It talks about indictments, military actions, double jeopardy, not having to testify against yourself, due process of law, and the taking of private property for public use without just compensation. (The “due process of law” clause has been ignored in some cases this year by the Trump Administration. We have not heard the last of this.)
The Sixth Amendment guarantees us a speedy public trial by an impartial jury in the jurisdiction in which the alleged crime was committed when we are accused of a crime. It also addresses the right to obtain witnesses and assistance of legal counsel for our defense.
The Seventh Amendment addresses our rights in civil cases.
The Eighth Amendment protects us from excessive bail, fines, and “cruel and unusual” punishment.
The Ninth Amendment protects us from being denied our rights or disparaged by the rights that other people have. Just because a right is not listed in the U.S. Constitution, it does not mean that we do not have that right or those rights. Just because a right is not mentioned in the Constitution, the government cannot infringe upon it.
The Tenth Amendment states that powers that are not specifically delegated to the federal government by the Constitution are, therefore, rights of the states or of the people.
Just for fun, when did the Eleventh Amendment come along?
Thinking about the Bill of Rights today, I was curious to find out how long after December 15, 1791, was the Eleventh Amendment ratified and what is it about? We never hear anything about it.
In 1793, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Chisholm v. Georgia that individuals from one state could sue the government of another state. The Eleventh Amendment was ratified in 1795. It protects states from being sued by individuals from another state or country. It established the principle of state sovereign immunity.
How many amendments have been proposed since 1787?
Since the U.S. Constitution was written in 1787, approximately 11,985 amendments have been introduced in Congress. Most of them never made it off the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives or the floor of the Senate. Twenty-seven amendments to the Constitution have been ratified.
Janet
P.S. On Friday, the National Trust for Historic Preservation filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to try to stop the construction of President Antionette’s 90,000-square-foot dance hall at the White House. The suit argues that President Antionette did not go through the legal review process for the project.
The courts have not been able to stop him on anything else, so it will be interesting to see where this case goes. I suppose if it goes all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court his buddies who form the majority of the court will vote for Trump to proceed with his little dance hall. Or, if they vote to stop him, he will just ignore their ruling. After all, he has already demolished the East Wing of the White House to make room for it.
“Let them eat cake.” Or, as he proclaimed last week with the Christmas season fast approaching, a child only needs one pencil.
In addition to the Western Hemisphere, the document addresses Asia, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa – in that order.
Photo by The New York Public Library on Unsplash
Asia
As only a document coming out of the Trump White House can say, the Asia portion of the strategy begins with the words, “President Trump single-handedly reversed more than three decades of mistaken American assumptions about China: namely, that by opening our markets to China, encouraging American business to invest in China, and outsourcing our manufacturing to China, we would facilitate China’s entry into the so-called ‘rules based international order.’ This did not happen. China got rich and powerful, and used its wealth and power to its considerable advantage. American elites—over four successive administrations of both political parties—were either willing enablers of China’s strategy or in denial.”
That’s rich, coming from Trump who had so much of his Trump brand merchandise manufactured in China! And his daughter had her line of jewelry made in China! The Trump family took full advantage of the “mistakes” of precious U.S. Presidents and got richer and richer at the expense of the American factory worker.
The document goes on to state, “… the Indo-Pacific is already and will continue to be among the next century’s key economic and geopolitical battlegrounds. To thrive at home, we must successfully compete there—and we are. President Trump signed major agreements during his October 2025 travels that further deepen our powerful ties of commerce, culture, technology, and defense, and reaffirm our commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific. America retains tremendous assets—the world’s strongest economy and military, world-beating innovation, unrivaled “soft power,” and a historic record of benefiting our allies and partners—that enable us to compete successfully. President Trump is building alliances and strengthening partnerships in the Indo Pacific that will be the bedrock of security and prosperity long into the future.”
Several hundred words later, the Asia section of the document ends with, “We will also harden and strengthen our military presence in the Western Pacific, while in our dealings with Taiwan and Australia we maintain our determined rhetoric on increased defense spending. Preventing conflict requires a vigilant posture in the Indo-Pacific, a renewed defense industrial base, greater military investment from ourselves and from allies and partners, and winning the economic and technological competition over the long term.”
It appears that Australia was thrown into that last paragraph as an afterthought.
Europe
The European section of the National Security Strategy begins by throwing Europe under the bus, as Trump likes to do. He is critical of every country, including his own. Nothing is good enough. After laying out some supposed statistics (I say supposed because, sadly, I don’t believe anything the Trump Administration says), the document says if the current trend in Europe continues, “the continent will be unrecognizable in 20 years or less. As such, it is far from obvious whether certain European countries will have economies and militaries strong enough to remain reliable allies.”
The paper goes on to address the threat Russia poses with its nuclear weapons and the need to “reestablish conditions of strategic stability across the Eurasian landmass, and to mitigate the risk of conflict between Russia and European states.
I find the following statement in the NSS interesting, considering the Trump Administration’s propensity to make it more difficult for U.S. citizens to vote and its blatant efforts to prompt states to gerrymander Congressional district lines to assure him of retaining the Republican majority in the U.S. House of Representatives.
That statement: “A large European majority wants peace, yet that desire is not translated into policy, in large measure because of those governments’ subversion of democratic processes. This is strategically important to the United States precisely because European states cannot reform themselves if they are trapped in political crisis…. Not only can we not afford to write Europe off—doing so would be self-defeating for what this strategy aims to achieve. American diplomacy should continue to stand up for genuine democracy, freedom of expression, and unapologetic celebrations of European nations’ individual character and history…. Our goal should be to help Europe correct its current trajectory. We will need a strong Europe to help us successfully compete, and to work in concert with us to prevent any adversary from dominating Europe…. We want to work with aligned countries that want to restore their former greatness.”
The document then addresses NATO and its future as “certain NATO members will become majority non-European.”
The Middle East
This section of the NSS begins by addressing energy and how the Middle East is not as important in that arena as it was for decades. It touts the fact that the U.S. is now an energy exporter. It also boasts that Trump has “revitalized” U.S. alliances in “the Gulf.” It says the threats to peace in the Middle East are not as strong as the news headlines indicate. It brags about the U.S. June 2025 Operation Midnight Hammer attack on Iran’s nuclear program.
Africa
The NSS document starts this section by criticizing past American policy in Africa as spreading liberal ideology. Instead, the Trump Administration seeks to partner with “select countries” to create trade to replace the foreign aid of the past.
This section of the document ends with, “The United States should transition from an aid-focused relationship with Africa to a trade- and investment-focused relationship, favoring partnerships with capable, reliable states committed to opening their markets to U.S. goods and services. An immediate area for U.S. investment in Africa, with prospects for a good return on investment, include the energy sector and critical mineral development. Development of U.S.-backed nuclear energy, liquid petroleum gas, and liquified natural gas technologies can generate profits for U.S. businesses and help us in the competition for critical minerals and other resources.
In other words, what’s in it for Trump? He can only see the world through the lens of business. That lens only sees how he can personally benefit financially.
I hate to have such a distrust for and poor perspective of a U.S. President. I don’t enjoy writing any of this.
What we have here in the United States is obviously a Wizard of Oz situation.
The White House quietly released the November 2025 National Security Strategy (NSS) and posted it on the White House website. Since it is the announcement of the official U.S. foreign policy, there is usually a bit of fanfare with its release, but not this year.
Most Americans will never hear about it, much less read it.
It begins with a letter signed by Trump but obviously written by someone else. Probably Stephen Miller. Why do I say that? Simple. It is written in complete sentences.
The letter
That letter is enlightening because it does list the “eight raging conflicts” Trump claims to have put an end to in “just eight months” this year. In case you’re having trouble keeping up with the wars Trump has ended, here’s the list as found in this letter: Cambodia & Thailand, Kosovo & Serbia, the Democratic Republic of Congo & Rwanda, Pakistan & India, Israel & Iran, Egypt & Ethiopia, Armenia & Azerbaijan, and Israel & Gaza, although Israel is not named in the letter. (He wouldn’t want to show the government of Israel in a bad light, would he?)
The letter is full of bluster and boasts of all the amazing things Trump has done and all the “weakness, extremism, and deadly failures” of the Biden Administration. As only Trump can boast, the letter states, “Over the past nine months, we have brought our nation — and the world – back from the brink of catastrophe and disaster.”
The NSS document
The NSS document itself contains 29 pages of details of what the United States wants and what the United States wants from the world.
Some of the introductory remarks would be laughable if they weren’t so sad. For instance, “We want to maintain the United States’ unrivaled ‘soft power’ through which we exercise positive influence throughout the world that furthers our interests” rings hollow considering the Trump Administration obliterated USAID.
The sudden obliteration of USAID not only resulted in the starvation of hundreds of thousands of children but also their preventable deaths by the withholding of medical treatments – not to mention how the cessation of the food aid programs hurt the American farmer terribly.
The paragraph that really made me gag, though, was this one:
“Finally, we want the restoration and reinvigoration of American spiritual and cultural health, without which long-term security is impossible. We want an America that cherishes its past glories and its heroes, and that looks forward to a new golden age. We want a people who are proud, happy, and optimistic that they will leave their country to the next generation better than they found it. We want a gainfully employed citizenry – with no one sitting on the sidelines – who take satisfaction from knowing that their work is essential to the prosperity of our nation and to the well-being of individuals and families. This cannot be accomplished without growing numbers of strong, traditional families that raise healthy children.” (Notice the subtle reference to “traditional families.”)
Dear Leader Kim Jong Un of North Korea couldn’t have written that paragraph better! Delete the words “American spiritual” and I would swear I was reading a translation of a statement by Kim or Xi.
A paragraph that sent chills down my spine, though, was this one: “We want to ensure that the Western Hemisphere remains reasonably stable and well-governed enough to prevent and discourage mass migration to the United States; …we want …; we want … ; and we want to ensure our continued access to key strategic locations. In other words, we will assert and enforce a “Trump Corollary” to the Monroe Doctrine;….”
It was “Trump Corollary” that got to me. Why does his name have to go on every cotton-picking thing?
The document goes on to delineate U.S. policy by region: The Western Hemisphere, Asia, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.
Introductory remarks that preface the regional details include, “The United States is by every measure the most generous nation in history – yet we cannot afford to be equally attentive to every region and every problem in the world.”
The Western Hemisphere
Photo by The New York Public Library on Unsplash
The so-called “Trump Corollary” to the Monroe Doctrine involves making new partners and reconsidering our military presence in the Western Hemisphere. This seems to involve beefing up our Coast Guard and Navy presence “to control se lanes, to thwart illegal and other unwanted migration, to reduce human and drug trafficking, and to control key transit routes in a crisis.” It also includes “targeted deployments to secure the border and defeat cartels, including where necessary the use of lethal force to replace the failed law enforcement-only strategy of the last several decades.”
Also, “…as we prioritize commercial diplomacy, we will work to strengthen our security partnerships – from weapons sales to intelligence sharing to joint exercises.” This is in response to non-Western Hemisphere nations’ incursions of influence in recent years.
But the National Security Strategy goes on from there and seems to concentrate on the economy and what’s in it for United States companies. As a student of political science, it reads to me as a complete overhaul of the U.S. State Department and the responsibilities of our diplomats and State Department employees out in the field. This makes me cringe.
The U.S. “will reform our own system to expedite approvals and licensing – again, to make ourselves the partner of first choice. The choice all countries should face is whether they want to live in an American-led world of sovereign countries and free economies or in a parallel one in which they are influenced by countries on the other side of the world….
“All our embassies must be aware of major business opportunities in their country, especially major government contracts. Every U.S. Government official that interacts with these countries should understand that part of their job is to help American companies compete and succeed.
“The U.S. Government will identify strategic acquisition and investment opportunities for American companies in the region and present these opportunities for assessment by every U.S. Government financing program, including but not limited to those within the Departments of State, War, and Energy; the Small Business Administration; the International Development Finance Corporation; the Export-Import Bank; and the Millennium Challenge Corporation.
“We should also partner with regional governments and businesses to build scalable and resilient energy infrastructure, invest in critical mineral access, and harden existing and future cyber communications networks that take full advantage of American encryption and security potential.
“The aforementioned U.S. Government entities should be used to finance some of the costs of purchasing U.S. goods abroad. The United States must also resist and reverse measures such as targeted taxation, unfair regulation, and expropriation that disadvantage U.S. businesses. The terms of our agreements, especially with those countries that depend on us most and therefore over which we have the most leverage, must be sole-source contracts for our companies. At the same time, we should make every effort to push out foreign companies that build infrastructure in the region.”
The part about U.S. State Department – or any other U.S. Government employee – who interacts with countries in the Western Hemisphere to understand that it is “part of their job to help American companies compete and succeed” is a 180-degree change in the purpose U.S. Government employees. It is not part of the job of a State Department employee to promote American companies! At least, it wasn’t part of their job until last Friday. That is absolutely not the job of the U.S. diplomatic corps!
I suppose this being put in writing by the Trump Administration should come as no surprise. After all, the U.S. State Department no longer makes “peace agreements;” it makes “deals” because Trump has an overwhelming lack of understanding or appreciation for the traditional functions of government in a democracy.
Western Hemisphere Command
It was not a coincidence that we learned on Thursday or Friday that two U.S. military command centers will be moving to Fort Bragg here in North Carolina over the next year as a new “Western Hemisphere Command” has been announced.
Possible blog post tomorrow
If I can recover from reading the Western Hemisphere portion of the National Security Strategy, I will blog tomorrow about how it addresses Asia, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.
The advisory committee on vaccinations to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) were hand-picked by notorious vaccine-denier Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. He just happens to be Trump’s pick for U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services. He received the blessings of and confirmation by the U.S. Senate to serve in that capacity.
Photo by Mufid Majnun on Unsplash
There are things I would like to say to and about the Senators who voted to approve Kennedy for that Cabinet position, but I will temper my remarks here. To give a person who for decades has promoted conspiracy theories about vaccines to Secretary of Health and Human Services was a travesty.
When the U.S. Senate approved the likes of Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. as Secretary of Health and Human Services, Pete Hegseth as Secretary of Defense, and Kristi Noem as Secretary of Homeland Security… we get what they voted for: dangerous incompetence.
When people held their noses and voted for the likes of Donald J. Trump for U.S. President, we got what they voted for: dangerous incompetence and a colossal hatred for anyone who isn’t a rich, white male.
What we have now is a growing avalanche of physicians and other medical professions telling us not to trust anything that comes out of the CDC, the Federal Drug Administration, or Health and Human Services. Let that sink in!
On December 5, Trump said he supported the recommendations of the CDC vaccine advisory committee (many of whom are known vaccine deniers) in their recommendation that we abandon the 1991 CDC recommendation that all newborn babies in the U.S. receive the hepatitis B vaccine.
Apparently, Trump knows just as much about immunology as the quacks and Republicans on the advisory committee. Having a medical or any level of a health degree was not a prerequisite to be on the committee. Let’s just let any person off the street who supports Trump form new vaccinations policies and schedules for all Americans. What could possibly go wrong?
The hepatitis B vaccine decision flies in the face of medical data. In 1990, approximately 20,000 infants in the U.S. got hepatitis B. In 2020, twenty infants in the U.S. got hepatitis B. The vaccine not only prevents the liver damage caused by hepatitis B. It also prevents the liver cancer that can result from that liver damage.
It remains to be seen how this ill-advised new CDC policy will play out over the coming years. Will pharmaceutical companies limit production of the hepatitis B vaccine? Will parents who want their newborns to be protected from this highly-contagious disease be able to get the vaccine for their children? No one knows the answers to those questions.
A memo that Trump signed on Friday praised the new CDC recommendation and went on to endorse the new policy that instead of leading the world in health science, the CDC will now follow the lead of “peer, developed countries.”
I guess it’s fortunate that Trump’s children and grandchildren were all vaccinated as newborns before this 34-year-old mandate got scrapped last week. His future grandchildren and great-grandchildren might not be so fortunate.
When Trump promised to “drain the swamp,” we didn’t know he thought the CDC was part of the swamp.
We are left to wonder if the CDC will survive three more years of attacks by Trump and Kennedy.
Meanwhile, in Washington, DC last week…
In a move that is so blatantly racist and narcissistic, the Trump Administration removed Martin Luther King Day and Juneteenth as days that all our national parks could be visited for free and replaced them with… you are not going to believe this… Trump’s Birthday!
This is not a joke. This is the truth. You can’t make this stuff up!
The fictional character I’m introducing to you today is George. He is a slave in South Carolina in the mid-1700s in the third story in Traveling Through History: A Collection of Historical Short Stories, “To Run of Not to Run.”
When you meet George, he is a young boy. He and his father, who was born in Senegal, have just been sold and are being taken from Camden to the Waxhaws.
Photo by Asso Myron on Unsplash
Here’s an excerpt from when George and his father are in the back of a wagon being taken to their new living situation in the Waxhaws:
“George sensed his father was tiring of his questions, so he shut his eyes tight and tried to turn off his mind. But the harder he tried not to think, the more questions flooded his head. The ones that kept crowding out all the others were ones he knew not to ask because he was afraid his papa did not know the answers. When will we see Mama again? When are we going to be free?“
You will follow George as he has a lot to learn and grows up fast. His new master’s son is about his age. Therein forms a dynamic that will ultimately be further developed in the historical novels I am planning and writing.
Remember George. He is a character who grew out of my imagination and has never let me go. I don’t think he will let you forget him either.
Getting into the skin, brain, and soul of a young boy with black skin who is living as a slave in America in the mid-1700s allowed me to stretch my imagination in ways that my other fictional characters did not.
Where to purchase Traveling Through History: A Collection of Historical Short Stories
You can find my new short story collection on Amazon in e-book and paperback. You can find the paperback at Second Look Books in Harrisburg, NC, or ask for it at your local independent bookstore.
Hurricane Helene Recovery Update
I haven’t offered a Hurricane Helene recovery update since my November 3 blog post.
As of Friday, December 5, 25 roads in North Carolina were still closed due to Hurricane Helene’s wind, flooding, and landslides on September 26, 2024. That is a decrease of six roads since a month ago. There are three U.S. highways, two State highways, and 20 state roads closed more than 14 months after the hurricane.
In Tennessee… as of Tuesday, December 2, U.S. 321in Elk Mills, in the Watauga Lake area, is officially reopened since being heavily damaged by the hurricane.
Sections of the Blue Ridge Parkway in North Carolina will remain closed until at least next fall, and I-40 at the Tennessee line will continue to be just two lanes at 35 miles-per-hour for a couple more years while five miles of the highway are being rebuilt in the Pigeon River Gorge.
The following success story was cut and pasted from a U.S. Forest Service – National Forests in North Carolina Facebook post on December 3, 2025: “Two decades ago, after Hurricane Frances and Ivan, our ecosystems team saw how erosion could unravel an entire ecosystem. Brady Dodd, hydrologist for the National Forests in North Carolina, developed and executed a plan to reshape eroded riverbanks, plant riparian flood resistant species and add erosion prevention structures. After Helene arrived, the banks held, and the water ran clear due to the work that had been done years prior. This story serves as a model to our forests as we continue to build resilience into each of our Helene recovery projects.”
We’ve gone from fall leaf season to snow ski season in western North Carolina since my last update. Be aware that you might run into a detour, and you can’t drive the full length of the Blue Ridge Parkway.
If you visit, please drop by Blue Ridge Books in Waynesville and Highland Books in Brevard. Tell them I sent you. They sell my books!
The United States of America used to be a nation of laws, or am I naïve?
I did not plan to blog today, but something came to my attention that I can’t let slide.
Amnesty International has issued a 48-page report. I thought it was going to be a report on the organization’s findings throughout the world but, no, it is a report on detention facilities in the State of Florida. 48 well-documented pages.
The U.S. Detention Center dubbed “Alligator Alcatraz” due to its location in the Everglades and the manner in which it was publicized by the Trump Administration and the early reports that came out of there, has completely fallen off the radars of news organizations. With Border Patrol and ICE activities in Los Angeles, Chicago, Charlotte, New Orleans, and Minneapolis-St. Paul dominating the news cycles along with the Epstein Files and whether the United States is going to bomb Venezuela and force a regime change in that country… “Alligator Alcatraz” cannot compete for attention.
Thank goodness it hasn’t fallen off Amnesty International’s radar. The organization’s report this week paints a horrible picture of conditions at “Alligator Alcatraz.”
I know there are Americans who glibly turn a blind eye to any reports that put the Trump Administration in a bad light. They seem to think it’s acceptable for the U.S. to bomb boats in international waters and launch multiple attacks to kill any survivors. They also tend to agree with Trump that anyone who ends up in a detention center is sub-human and deserves horrible treatment. Many of these people also claim to be Christians. This baffles me, but that isn’t the purpose of today’s blog post.
(And why is Trump’s good buddy, Steve Witkoff, giving Putin advice on how to negotiate with Trump? But I digress.)
Photo by Mitchel Lensink on Unsplash
I cannot easily summarize the report in this blog post, but here are a few highlights:
Lights are on around-the-clock;
Although the United Nations considers solitary confinement lasting more than 15 days to be torture, but at “Alligator Alcatraz,” some detainees have been in solitary confinement for more than 100 consecutive days;
Inadequate/ill-maintained plumbing results in toilets overflowing and flooding cells;
Detainees are allowed one five-minute shower per week;
Mold, insects, and rodents abound;
Food is often spoiled or maggot-infested;
Medical and mental health care are often withheld;
At least four detainees have died due to medical neglect;
Detainees are effectively dropped from the immigration court system because ICE and GEO Group refuse to report them to other government authorities;
Guards have used pepper spray in closed cells and then denied decontamination;
Sexual assault is occurring;
Detainees are punished if they complain about conditions;
Force-feeding has been used without proper medical oversight
There are 1,400 detainees being held there now at a facility built for 700;
ICE renewed GEO Group’s contract to operate the facility inspite of all the evidence that the company is not maintaining current standards of incarceration in the United States; and
The Department of Human Services Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties has not inspected “Alligator Alcatraz” since July 2025.
My thoughts
Call me a “bleeding heart liberal” if you wish, but I would ask you if this is now the acceptable penal standard in the United States of America? Do we aspire to be a “Third World” country?
Is anything on the above list making “America Great Again” or did I misunderstand Trump’s campaign promise?
If you are all right with our country treating detainees horribly, then you and I have fundamental differences in how we interpret the teachings of Jesus Christ as well as the letter and spirit of the United States Constitution.
The sobering lines of Martin Niemoller’s much-quoted “First they came” statement/poem come to mind.
They haven’t come for me yet, but I feel compelled to speak up for the least of these among us and alleged atrocities committed by the United States Government or its private contractors such as GEO Group.
I love my country. That is why it hurts so much when we fall short of our potential and our history.
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