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.
I write this on the evening of April 7, 2026, as the President of the United States becomes more unhinged by the minute. He clearly places no value on human life.
Once again, at the proverbial eleventh hour, he snatched us back from the brink of a “civilization ending” attack on Iran.
Was that his plan all along?
Did he have a plan?
We’ll never know the truth of the matter.
When the President of the United States of America delights in jerking the world around like it’s his plaything….
When the President of the United States of America makes rash promises and outrageous threats on a daily basis….
When the President of the United States of America is undeterred, the entire world is at risk.
When the President of the United States is undeterred when told that something he wants to do is a war crime….
When the President of the United States is undeterred when told that something he wants to do is against international law….
When the President of the United States says he is not concerned about international law….
When the President of the United States surrounds himself with advisors who either agree with him or lack the moral courage, a love of our democracy, or the rule of law enough to advise against his unhinged wishes….
When the President of the United States promises to destroy the oldest civilization on Earth….
When the President of the United States, in his ignorance, uses profane language to threaten another country, he is playing right into their hands….
When the President of the United States is so ignorant of history and religion that he thinks by using vulgar threats against the regime in power in another country he will stop them from chanting, “Death to America”….
When the President of the United States bizarrely says, “Praise be to Allah” on social media on Easter Sunday….
When the President of the United States is nothing but a spoiled brat bully….
When the President of the United States changes his mind on a whim….
When the President of the United States has no moral compass….
This is where we are tonight: A two-week cease fire.
Perhaps two weeks in which we can take a deep breath and brace ourselves for whatever is to follow.
The two sides in this war are not in agreement on numerous points. They aren’t likely to be in agreement two weeks from now.
Both sides have already declared victory, which would be laughable if the future of the world did not hang in the balance.
Janet
The government should be afraid of its citizens, not the other way around.
It was on April 6, 1917, that the United States entered World War I. As with World War II, the United States was slow to enter the fray. The war had begun in the summer of 1914. By the time the war ended in 1919, 28 nations on five continents were involved. The United States tried to remain neutral.
In my blog post today, I offer a condensed and simplified explanation of the timing and reasons why the United States eventually got involved in World War I.
When the war broke out in Europe, President Woodrow Wilson asked Americans to be “impartial in thought as well as action.” That was not easy for the 32 million Americans who were born in Europe or were first-generation children of immigrants.
Neutrality gave the United States an economic advantage as it could continue to trade with countries on both sides of the war. But as time progressed, a naval blockade of the North Atlantic by Great Britain and Germany’s retaliation with submarines made trade increasingly difficult.
The Lusitania. Photo from Library of Congress website
On May 7, 1915, Germany torpedoed the British Cunard ocean liner Lusitania, and 128 American passengers were killed. Germany promised to stop putting Americans in harm’s way on the seas to try to gain America’s favor. The Sussex Pledge, made in May 1916 after Germany torpedoed the French ship Sussex on March 24, 1916, injuring several Americans, held for a while.
President Wilson tried to broker peace negotiations in 1915 and 1916, to no avail, as he proposed “peace without victory.” On January 31, 1917, Germany announced it was renewing total submarine warfare against merchant shipping around Great Britain and in the Mediterranean Sea. Germany thought this would bring the defeat of Great Britain and its Allies before the United States could respond.
Wilson, however, used a 1797 statute that allowed the U.S. President to arm the merchant fleet.
The last straw for the United States was when British intelligence intercepted a message, which became known as the Zimmerman note, in which German foreign secretary Arthur Zimmerman proposed that Mexico should join Germany if the United States joined the war on the side of the Allies.
The deal Germany offered Mexico was that it would help Mexico regain what had become New Mexico, Texas, and Arizona in the United States! The Zimmerman Note also suggested that Japan should join Germany and the Central Powers in the war.
President Wilson called on Congress to convene in a special session on April 2, 1917. The House of Representatives approved a resolution to enter the war on April 4, and the Senate followed suit on April 6, thus entering the United States into World War I on the side of Great Britain and the Allies.
Let this be a history lesson for leaders within the government of the United States of America for how, step-by-step, world wars begin.
Hurricane Helene Recovery Update
It has been a month or so since I gave an update on Hurricane Helene recovery in North Carolina. Yes, even though that hurricane blasted through the mountains in western North Carolina more than 18 months ago, recovery continues.
NC Landslide Mapping: WCNC TV Channel 36 in Charlotte did a news segment on March 9, 2026 about NC Landslide Mapping. This is an early warning system for landslide alerts. In 2011, due to state budget restraints, the program was stopped. Although restarted in 2018, some counties in the mountainous western part of NC are not mapped.
The remaining counties need to be mapped and the counties already done need to be updated since the numerous landslides due to Hurricane Helene. Geologists map prior landslides because prior landslides predict future landslides – not when they will happen, but that they will happen. People can look at the data to help them make more informed decisions before purchasing land. NC will have a Landslide Awareness Week this summer.
Lake Lure, NC: During Hurricane Helene, Lake Lure (the lake itself, from which the Town of Lake Lure takes its name) was filled with storm debris. The recovery process has been overwhelming and tedious, but 18 months after the historic flooding caused by Helene, the lake is on the verge of reopening. Quoting from The Town of Lake Lure Facebook page from March 25, 2026: “The Town of Lake Lure, NC is pleased to report that the lake level has reached approximately 986.2 feet Mean Sea Level (MSL)—just 4.3 feet below full pond (990.5 MSL). These photos highlight the steady progression of refilling the lake, captured from the east edge of Morse Park facing the main channel.
Lake Lure, as seen from the top of Chimney Rock in North Carolina
“Crews from the North Carolina State Mission Assigned Recovery Task (SMART) Program continue working around the lake, removing remaining debris and helping restore the shoreline. To date, they have cleared more than 800 cubic yards of debris, and their efforts are ongoing.
“Additionally, work is taking place at the Washburn Marina – rebuilding the floating boardwalk and marina docks, constructing the marina tour boat docks, and fueling station, and building a new marina building to serve the public.
“These final steps mark meaningful progress as we move closer to reopening Lake Lure.”
US-64: On March 31, it was reported that one lane of US-64 is now open between Chimney Rock and Bat Cave, NC. It is hoped that the new highway, much of which had to literally be rebuilt along a new route after Hurricane Helene’s record-setting rainfall moved the Rocky Broad River, will be open by Memorial Day.
Restoration of The Blue Ridge Parkway in North Carolina continues, with completion scheduled for late in 2026. Heavy construction equipment will be traveling on open sections of the Parkway between US-70 at Asheville (Milepost 382.5) and Mount Mitchell State Park (NC-128 at Milepost 355.3) to access landslide repair locations beginning today, April 6, 2026. Motorists should expect delays behind slow-moving heavy construction vehicles.
Visitors to hiking trails along the Parkway are advised to continue to use caution as all restoration work has not been completed.
Rebuilding of Interstate 40: It goes without saying that the rebuilding of I-40 in North Carolina in the Pigeon River Gorge just east of the Tennessee line is an ongoing project of massive proportions. Portions of the highway collapsed, and some sections completely disappeared during Hurricane Helene in September 2024. Since March 1, 2025, there is just one lane open in each direction with a speed limit of 35 miles per hour. The latest estimates I’ve heard indicate completion of the project in late 2028.
Janet
The government should be afraid of its citizens, not the other way around.
My blog post from yesterday grew to be too long, so I divided it into two parts. Before reading today’s post, it would be useful for you to read yesterday’s to put today’s post into context: Is The United States of America a Christian Nation? – Part 1.
As I stated yesterday, Christian Nationalists love to say that the United States was founded as a Christian nation, but you will not find the words “Christian” or “Jesus” in the Declaration of Independence or the U.S. Constitution.
The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution prohibits the United States from making any “law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.”
Americans, under our Constitution, are free to practice any religion they choose. They are free to practice no religion whatsoever. That is one of the bedrocks and beauties of the United States of America.
That is why I find the likes of U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth so dangerous. As I noted in yesterday’s blog post, he sees our current war in Iran as a holy war. But the United States of America does not fight holy wars. The day we start down that road will be the beginning of our demise.
One only needs to look at the history of Europe to see how differing interpretations of Christianity in government can create great conflict. When one monarchy favors Roman Catholicism to the detriment of Protestantism… or a monarchy favors Protestantism to the detriment of Roman Catholicism we see oppression and wars.
My Presbyterian ancestors experienced that struggle in Scotland and it, no doubt, influenced them to come to America in the mid-1700s. My ancestors on the Kintyre Peninsula of Scotland had to worship in secret in the 1600s in gatherings called conventicle because the monarchy favored Roman Catholicism at the time.
(One of the historical short stories in my book, Traveling Through History: A Collection of Historical Short Stories is about the Covenanters in Scotland and how they were punished for not espousing the Roman Catholic traditions.)
In Colonial America, religious freedom and religious overreach were issues. As noted in my Author’s Notes after “You Couldn’t Help But Like Bob” story in my short story book, fines ordered by the courts in Colonial Virginia were often to be paid to the Church of England or the Anglican Church.
There was no separation of church and state in Colonial America. In Colonial North Carolina, the Episcopal church held sway over the government. It was illegal in North Carolina for a Presbyterian minister to officiate over a marriage. Marriages conducted by Presbyterian ministers were not recognized by the Royal Government. My Presbyterian colonial North Carolina ancestors were on the wrong side of the law.
It is almost impossible for 21st century Americans to comprehend how life was in colonial times. That is why it makes it so easy for Christians in 21st century America to call for the Ten Commandments to be posted on public school classroom walls and courtroom walls. They do not grasp the danger – the slippery slope – such actions can lead to.
In their hearts and minds, they think they are doing a good thing. They think they are following Jesus’ instructions found in Matthew 28:18-20: “Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
But Jesus did not say we are to make our governments Christian. Christianity is a personal acceptance of Jesus Christ as one’s Lord and Savior. It is not a belief to be imposed upon another human being. It is not a belief system to be used as a cudgel by a government. To see it that way is blasphemous and indicates a basic misunderstanding of Jesus Christ.
Photo by Tim Wildsmith on Unsplash
In Matthew 22:15-21 (as found in the New International Version of the Bible), the Pharisees try to trap Jesus by questioning him about paying taxes:
Then the Pharisees went out and laid plans to trap him in his words. They sent their disciples to him along with the Herodians. “Teacher,” they said, “we know that you are a man of integrity and that you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. You aren’t swayed by others, because you pay no attention to who they are. Tell us then, what is your opinion? Is it right to pay the imperial tax to Caesar or not?” But Jesus, knowing their evil intent, said, “You hypocrites, why are you trying to trap me? Show me the coin used for paying the tax.” They brought him a denarius, and he asked them, “Whose image is this? And whose inscription?” “Caesar’s,” they replied. Then he said to them, “So give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s.”
In Mark 12:13-17, that same encounter between Jesus and the Pharisees is recorded as follows in the New International Version of the Bible:
Later they sent some of the Pharisees and Herodians to Jesus to catch him in his words. They came to him and said, “Teacher, we know that you are a man of integrity. You aren’t swayed by others, because you pay no attention to who they are; but you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. Is it right to pay the imperial tax to Caesar or not? Should we pay or shouldn’t we?” But Jesus knew their hypocrisy. “Why are you trying to trap me?” he asked. “Bring me a denarius and let me look at it.” They brought the coin, and he asked them, “Whose image is this? And whose inscription?” “Caesar’s,” they replied. Then Jesus said to them, “Give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s.”
Getting back to Matthew 28:18-20, yes, Jesus instructed us to spread the Gospel, but the Christians who want to force the Gospel on people by weaponizing the government with the Bible are taking the easy way out. They are taking a dangerous way out. The Bible and its words should never be used as a weapon.
Not once in the New Testament did Jesus force or instruct His followers to force His brand of religion on the government or on the people via the government.
The First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America
Christians have countless ways to share the Good News of Jesus Christ with others. Forcing the Gospel on people through our government is not one of them.
Janet
The government should be afraid of its citizens, not the other way around.
Christian Nationalists love to say that the United States was founded as a Christian nation. That is simply not true.
Read the Declaration of Independence. Read the U.S. Constitution.
You will not find the word, “Christian.” You will not find the name “Jesus.”
The documents acknowledge a creator, but they do not in any way call for a national religion. In fact, read the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. It makes it illegal for the United States to make any laws respecting the establishment of religion. “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.”
That is the First Amendment. Our country’s founders were so adamant about that issue, they made it the First Amendment.
Americans, under our Constitution, are free to practice any religion they choose. They are free to practice no religion whatsoever.
Americans have the First Amendment, but there are forces working in the background and in the not so “back” background who are determined to make the United States a Christian nation. Stay tuned. Even when President Trump is no more, the Christian Nationalists who prop him up will still be among us.
The First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America
One example of how Christian Nationalists are not-so-silently imposing their extreme beliefs through their positions in government is Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth. He holds a monthly Christian service at the Pentagon. Attendance is technically not mandatory, but we all know how such an event at one’s place of employment can be in actuality.
We have an all-volunteer military since the draft was ended on January 27, 1973. Our military personnel come from various religious backgrounds. In other words, they are not all Christians, and besides, all Christians are not in agreement on details of the faith. The number of Christian denominations proves that.
At the Pentagon service on March 25, 2026, Hegseth prayed for “righteous targets for violence” and “overwhelming violence against those who deserve no mercy.”
Photo by Deb Dowd on Unsplash
“Righteous targets for violence” and “overwhelming violence against those who deserve no mercy.” Let those words sink in. As a member of a congregation affiliated with the Presbyterian Church USA, I find that prayer offensive.
As I interpret it, a “righteous target” for our Department of Defense would be a target acceptable to God. The insinuation of Hegseth’s prayer is that God is on our side. Even if Hegseth believes that in his heart, it runs counter to United States tradition and principles. We do not see our wars as “holy wars,” but that is the impression Hegseth’s prayer gives.
(In contrast, it is my understanding that Iran sees its war against Israel and the United States as a holy war. In Iran today, there is no separation of church and state.)
It is not in the tradition or history of the U.S. for the Secretary of Defense to use words like “righteous target” or pray for “overwhelming violence against those who deserve no mercy.” If that is the mindset of our Secretary of Defense, he has a frightening interpretation of the foundation of our nation and the religious position of the U.S. military. The U.S. military has never had a religious position or religious mission.
“Overwhelming violence against those who deserve no mercy” goes along with Hegseth’s earlier statement that we will “give no quarter.” “Give no quarter” translates to “take no prisoners alive.” In addition to being against international law, that is not the way the United States operates. If it is, that is not what we’ve been told.
Does Hegseth want the Iranians to “give no quarter” if they capture members of our military? I doubt it. But what message does it send for our Secretary of Defense to make such statements?
The Washington Post reported, “Later that day, his department announced military chaplains would no longer wear their rank on their uniform and instead would wear religious insignia.”
On Sunday, March 29, The Washington Post reported, “Retired Army Maj. Gen. Randy Manner, who was second-in-command of the National Guard from 2011 to 2012, has worked in recent years to train hundreds of interfaith military chaplains. Manner said he has talked with ‘dozens and dozens’ of active-duty chaplains in recent weeks who say those who don’t identify with Hegseth ‘are being marginalized.’ They feel they can’t voice their concerns to their own superiors, he said, and feel their work as the primary advocate for troops’ spiritual, mental and moral health is being threatened.”
It has been reported that Hegseth has cut the number of faith codes within the military from 200 to 31 to remove “political correctness and secular humanism” from the Chaplain Corps.
Hegseth has brought his pastor into presentations at the Pentagon. This is a narrow-minded man who says women should not have the right to vote. That tells me all I need to know about Hegseth’s very small Christian denomination and its views about more the half the world’s population.
The Washington Post reported that the traditional norms that kept religious beliefs and individual religious affiliations of the top brass at the Pentagon out of their official dealings, “are being upended by the proselytizing Christian campaign of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, say multiple former high-ranking military officials and experts on religion and law. Rather than boosting cohesion through a more universal spiritual uplift, they say, the new approach violates the Constitution and undermines the bonds of mutual respect between troops that are essential, especially in wartime.”
Religion and government are not a match made in heaven. Everyone in government – and that includes the military — brings their beliefs with them, but they are never to force their religious beliefs on another person, co-workers, or the entire nation through their position of power or influence.
It appears that Secretary Hegseth’s possible affinity for alcohol, which was a topic of concern emphasized during his Congressional confirmation hearings, is turning out to be the least of our concerns about him.
Watch for Part 2 of this blog topic tomorrow, when I will look into what Jesus had to say about the government.
Janet
The government should be afraid of its citizens, not the other way around.
We have a Secretary of Health and Human Services who does not believe in science or medicine, including time-honored and scientifically-proven vaccines.
We have a Secretary of Defense who mixes a conservative evangelical religion with a statement that the U.S. will show “no quarter” as the war in Iran continues. “Giving no quarter” is in violation of international law. If the U.S. starts slaughtering its prisoners of war, we have surely lost our humanity.
The U.S. has an all-volunteer armed forces made up of people of various religions and no religious beliefs. It is not the Secretary’s place to inflict his religious beliefs on the troops. If the Secretary is a Christian, as he claims to be, I would like for him to tell me where in the Bible it quotes Jesus as advocating giving no quarter to anyone.
We have a Director of National Intelligence who said that only the U.S. President – and not the intelligence community — can determine when there is an imminent threat to our national security. It is ultimately the President’s call, but her answer on Capitol Hill yesterday made it sound like she and the intelligence community have no part to play in the process.
We have a chairman of the Federal Communications Commission who warned TV networks that they run the risk of not having their broadcast licenses renewed if they continue to report the full picture of the war in Iran. He also wants them to concentrate on “patriotic” programming this year.
We have a Secretary of Education who thinks so little of public education that she vowed to shut down the Department of Education. Perhaps she should go back to her former career in pro wrestling administration.
We have a Secretary of the Interior who is okay with opening national parks for extensive logging and oil drilling while taking down informational park displays that tell not only the good but also the bad and the ugly of our nation’s history.
We have an Attorney General who has difficulty answering questions in a way that might not align with what the President wants her to say. In fact, every Cabinet Secretary has that same problem.
All these people were hand-picked by Donald Trump to “serve” in those positions of power and influence. They also had almost 100% approval of the Republicans in Congress.
We have a U.S. President who clearly has no filter. If a segment of a thought or fantasy pops in his head, it comes out of his mouth or gets splattered all over his Truth Social account in all capital letters.
We have a U.S. President who has repeatedly called the war in Iran an “excursion” instead of an “incursion.”
On Monday, Trump said, “The President of the United States, Gavin Newscom, said that he has learning disabilities, dyslexia, everything about him is dumb.” That statement is wrong on so many levels, in addition to the fact that Trump called Gavin Newsom “the President of the United States.”
We have a U.S. President who orders shoes for his rich Cabinet members. That would have been ludicrous and inappropriate even if he had bothered to ask them their shoe size… which he did not.
We have a U.S. President who has “decorated” the Oval Office like a house of horrors… which, come to think of it… that’s what it is now.
Our closest ally, Great Britain, is now in the awkward position of advising their King not to visit the White House in April because the U.S. President might embarrass him. (I think we can guarantee that Trump will embarrass King Charles. Belittle and embarrass others is what he does best.)
We have a U.S. President who started a war without the blessing of Congress or seeking the support of the American people. Then, in the middle of a sticky situation in the Strait of Hormuz and a worldwide oil crisis, he begged our NATO allies for their help.
When our allies said, “No,” Trump said, “We don’t need NATO…. We do not need the help of anyone.” What an arrogant and short-sighted thing to say!
He said this was a test to see if NATO would ever help us. How ill-informed he is if he is not aware of NATO’s response after September 11, 2001!
Donald Trump said, “I can take Cuba… It’s a failed nation…. I can do whatever I want to with it.” What an arrogant and egotistical thing to say about a sovereign nation, even if it is on the verge of collapse!
I hope I never again hear Americans say, “We need a businessman in the White House.”
Just how bad does it have to get before we use the 25th Amendment?
If the 25th Amendment is not called for now, I shudder to think under what circumstances it would be put into force.
Part of Section 4, 25th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution
Of course, if we use the 25th Amendment now, we get J.D. Vance as our President. Vance was hand-picked by Donald Trump. Again, I shudder to think about that.
Perhaps that outcome is what is holding back everyone on both sides of the aisle from seriously pursuing the 25th Amendment.
Janet
The government should be afraid of its citizens, not the other way around.
I really try not to write about politics every day on my blog, but there are things happening that do not get coverage on the nightly news programs because there are just too many things for journalists to report on.
The First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America
There’s the war in Iran. There are shootings and terrorist attacks. There’s Punch the monkey and his stuffed animal from IKEA in Tokyo. There’s the Kīlauea volcano blowing its stack in Hawaii. There are the women who were abused by Jeffrey Epstein and his rich friends who apparently are not going to face consequences in the United States like they are in Great Britain.
In a 30-minute news broadcast, minus eight to ten minutes of commercials, a host of happenings fall on the editor’s floor. Today I will touch on a few of those.
Trump’s attitude about the war in Iran
President Trump wants other countries to police the Strait of Hormuz. We’ll see how that goes. He also wants the crews on oil tankers to just be brave and go through the strait. Easy for him to say.
He wants China, France, Japan, South Korea, the United Kingdom and “others” to send warships there to secure the two-mile wide passage. He says things will go “well” with the U.S. coordinating things.
The President said the U.S. may hit Iran’s Kharg Island a few more times “just for fun.” His cavalier attitude over putting American military personnel is harm’s way and spending U.S. tax dollars is deplorable. This is not a video game.
President Trump says he will know when the war is over because he “will feel it in his bones.” He started the war because he “had a feeling.” As a student of history, I don’t recall any other U.S. President approaching a war based on “feelings.”
Can you imagine the misogynistic outcry there would be if a female U.S. President ever said such a thing? She would be the last female U.S. President!
One day he calls the war “a war.” The next day he calls it “an excursion.” The objectives of the war change hourly.
If we get to have a Presidential election in 2028, I hope voters will remember the ramifications when we elect a President who is unable to communicate their objectives or their dependence on facts.
The FCC
After President Trump accused the news media of “intentionally misleading” the public in their coverage of the war in Iran, Federal Communications Commission Chair Brendan Carr threatened to revoke broadcasters’ licenses.
We’ve heard these threats before from the Trump Administration, as they try to dictate news coverage.
This is an attack on the free press and a major foundation of our nation. Countries like Russia, China, and North Korea have state-controlled television. We cannot allow this to happen in the United States! If you want to watch and listen to state-controlled TV, you can watch Fox News.
Carr warned that a network’s coverage of the war in Iran will be taken into consideration when their broadcast licenses come up for renewal. In a social media post, Carr warned them that they still had a chance to “correct course” and stop broadcasting “fake news” and distortions of the war.
Carr wrote, “The law is clear. Broadcasters must operate in the public interest, and they will lose their licenses if they do not.”
He accused broadcast networks of “running hoaxes.”
Carr doubled down on this in an interview with CBS News later on Saturday.
The trouble is that the law is left to interpretation now. Until recently, it was generally agreed that the news media should be free to report facts. Under the Trump Administration, they are being pressured to only report things that put Trump in a good light. This is what they have in autocracies like Russia, China, and North Korea.
Carr has encouraged broadcast networks to air “patriotic pro-America content” this year as we mark the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. But when a politically-appointed FCC Chair starts to dictate broadcast content, we and the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution are under attack.
When the politician in power gets to decide the definition of “public interest,” freedom of the press is in peril.
We have not heard the last of this. If push comes to shove, I imagine we will see a case going before the U.S. Supreme Court.
I only took one Constitutional Law course in college, so I’m no expert; however, I know under the First Amendment to the Constitution it is illegal for the government to censor free speech.
Print media
The President criticized The Wall Street Journal for reporting last Friday that Iran had damaged five U.S. Air Force tanker planes in Saudi Arabia. It seems he did not want that reported to the public. He insisted that four of those planes had “virtually no damage and are already back in service.”
He is so thin-skinned that he takes honest journalism as a personal affront.
He called The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal “Lowlife ‘Papers’ and accused them of wanting the U.S. to lose the war. He called journalists “sick and demented people.”
Janet
The government should be afraid of its citizens, not the other way around.
Donald Trump told us that if he was elected U.S. President, Americans would get tired of winning.
Trump wanted the Nobel Peace Prize so much that he invented “wars” around the world so he could claim he ended them. These were wars no one had heard of until he said he had ended them. Singlehandedly, of course. He was so desperate for a trophy that FIFA created a gold one just for him.
After ending all those wars and only receiving accolades from FIFA, I guess his patience ran out in February. The war in Iran has taken the glaring lights of public attention off the Epstein files. Great Britain is punishing British men who abused the girls in Epstein’s orbit, but the United States is tap dancing around the issue. The FBI has not even interviewed the hundreds of accusers, and one cannot help but conclude that is at the direction of Trump. I’m not saying he started a war to take our attention off the Epstein files, but I believe it is serving his purposes.
Americans are being told by Trump every day that we won the war in Iran in the first hour. He has been unable to give us a consistent answer for why he started this war.
In a speech this week, Trump bragged about how he got to name this war “Operation Epic Fury.” He claimed he was given 20 names to choose from and he really loved the way “Operation Epic Fury” sounded. He was telling it like he was leading a high school pep rally, egging on the audience to laugh and cheer at his excellent naming skills.
One day he calls it “a war.” The next day he calls it “an excursion. (I thought an excursion was a side trip you could take on land as part of your vacation cruise package.) The next day, he said it was “a war and an excursion.” How can anyone call what Trump ordered to be done in Iran since February 28 an excursion?
WAH! WAH! WAH! — like the teacher being ignored in a cartoon. It is getting more difficult by the day to keep paying attention, and that’s what Trump is counting on.
At a cost to Americans of nearly $1 billion per day just for the military price, that is staggering – especially from an administration that gutted money for cancer research and so many heretofore valued things we depended on the U.S. Government to support “for the good of all” not just for us but for the good of people around the world.
And what did Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency accomplish last year, if the Department of Defense could spend $2 million of Alaskan king crab, $6.9 million on lobster tail, and more millions on rib-eye steaks in September alone? And the Department of Homeland Security could purchase more than 2,000 vehicles for Immigration and Customs Enforcement with “ICE” painted on the sides in huge letters… when everyone knows ICE vehicles display no identification?
The blood-thirsty rhetoric coming from the Trump Administration in the form of not just their words but the childish and extremely offensive way the White House has put out videos that make war look like a video game were a new low for Trump and his inner circle. Every time we think they can’t stoop lower… they hit a new low. There is no end to it.
Photo by Jeff Kingma on Unsplash
Trump said he will accept nothing short of an unconditional surrender by Iran, but when his press secretary was questioned about that she said that complete surrender will be whatever Trump decides to define it as. It has been hinted that Trump can just say Iran has surrendered, whether Iran has surrendered or not. That is no surprise, since Trump has never been bothered or worried over facts or the truth.
When questioned about the bombing of the girls’ school in Iran, Trump said Iran bombed it. He said Iran isn’t very accurate with its bombs. With all the evidence indicating that it was a Tomahawk missile, Trump’s explanation doesn’t hold water. If you are waiting for him to admit that the United States made a horrible mistake, don’t hold your breath. Several explanations have surfaced over why the school was bombed by mistake, but we do not have President who knows how to admit error or apologize for anything.
Can you seriously imagine any former U.S. President wearing a white “USA” baseball cap to Dover Air Force Base to accept the flag-draped coffins of Americans killed in war? I watched the “Dignified Transfer” live on television last Saturday. It is called the Dignified Transfer for a reason.
Trump showed his true colors by wearing a white USA baseball cap – part of his own brand’s merchandise – to the ceremony. Wearing the cap wasn’t bad enough. He did not remove the cap as the flag-draped coffins were presented in front of him. It was shocking to see but, since it was Donald Trump, it was not surprising.
Trump cannot tolerate criticism, so after being criticized for wearing a baseball cap to the Dignified Transfer on Saturday, he did not attend the Dignified Transfer on Monday night for Sgt. Benjamin N. Pennington.
Trump wants us to think that he has already moved on.
Yesterday, in yet another ludicrous attempt to make Americans think our attack on Iran was a fantastic idea and overwhelming success, Trump said on social media that America is going to make “a lot of money” since the price of oil has skyrocketed this week because we are the largest oil producer in the world. He is an insult to our intelligence… or at least to those of us who never voted for him.
Temple Israel in West Bloomfield, Michigan was attacked by a terrorist yesterday. A terrorist opened fire and killed the instructor in an ROTC classroom yesterday at Old Dominion University in Virginia.
There appears to have been a massive lack of foresight put into the decision to bomb Iran – and that just might be the biggest understatement of all time. Lack of foresight and lack of forethought are the hallmarks of the Trump Administration.
Who thinks you can poke a bear and not pay the consequences? Who thought we could poke the radical Islamists in the Middle East and not expect them to lash out at us and all their enemies?
Why didn’t Trump and his advisors consider that they might shut down the Strait of Hormuz?
Why didn’t Trump and his advisors consider that they had sleeper cells in the United States?
Why didn’t they take into account that the extremists who survive this war and the descendants of the extremists and innocent people killed in this war will dedicate themselves to terrorizing us?
The battle cry of Iran this week is “Death to America!” The battle cry of Iran has been “Death to America” for 47 years, so it is difficult to see what this war has accomplished.
Trump told us months ago that we had “obliterated” Iran’s nuclear war capabilities, but some days this month we’re being told it was their nuclear war capabilities that necessitated the current war. And Trump doesn’t understand why we cannot believe a word he says?
If Trump thinks bombing Iran in 2026 will not result in Islamic extremists retaliating against the U.S. and Americans for the rest of time, he clearly knows nothing about ideological extremism.
Perhaps today he will stop bragging about defeating Iran and get back to talking about how easy it would be for him to take over Cuba and Greenland. We get up in the morning and brace ourselves for whatever he said or did overnight and what he will do or say next. He is exhausting.
Americans, are you tired of winning yet?
Janet
The government should be afraid of its citizens, not the other way around.
The title of today’s blog post might be misleading. I am not writing about rare authors but rather a rare event for this author.
I could look back through prior years’ records to determine when my last author event was, but let it suffice to say it has been quite a while.
I was delighted to participate in a “Local Author Showcase” at Thornwell Books in Morganton, North Carolina this past Saturday! Being a fan and cheerleaders for independent bookstores, I jumped at the chance to be included in this third annual event at Thornwell Books.
Ad for Third Annual Local Author Showcase at Thornwell Books, Morganton, NC
I had contacted Thornwell Books last year when I published my devotional book and its companion journal. I contacted the store’s owner again in November 2025, when I published Traveling Through History: A Collection of Historical Short Stories. I did not know if the store had any of my books in stock, but I thought it wise to participate on Saturday and meet Ashley Ewing, Thornwell’s Bookseller and Socia Media & Events Coordinator.
Thornwell Books was on my list of bookstores to visit the next time I got to travel in the Hickory to Asheville area, but I had not made it there yet. Even though I am not technically “local” to Morganton, I was invited to take part in the bookstore’s three-hour event last Saturday.
It turned out there were 11 authors there from all over North Carolina and one from Columbia, South Carolina, so I was not the only one who traveled 100 miles or so to the event.
Janet and her half-table display space at Local Author Showcase March 7, 2026, at Thornwell Books, Morganton, NC
It was fun to get acquainted with other writers from the region and see what they writer. There were several children’s books authors, a fantasy author, an author of LGBTQ romance, a couple of self-help/inspirational authors, two non-fiction history authors, and the founder of the Spoken Word Society in Mt. Airy, North Carolina. If Mt. Airy sounds familiar, that’s because it is the hometown of Andy Griffin, one of North Carolina’s favorite sons.
Traveling Through History: A Collection of Historical Short Stories, by Janet Morrison
Two or three of the authors made more sales than the rest of us. I only sold one copy of Traveling Through History: A Collection of Historical Short Stories, but I knew going in that it might not be a lucrative financial venture. You just never know how author events will be received, and it was a beautiful and uncommonly warm late winter day that felt more like late April or May. It was more of a networking opportunity.
It was interesting to see how other authors displayed their books, and during slow times we had the opportunity to commiserate about the pitfalls of being a writer such as looking for publishers, the various routes to self-publishing, and how different writers structure (or don’t structure) their writing time. Some of us are outliners and others are “pantsers.” (Pantsers write by the seat of their pants, with no idea where their book’s plot is going. Yikes!)
Thornwell Books
Front entrance to Thornwell Books
Thornwell Books is located at 202 S. Sterling Street in Morganton, NC. Morganton is the county seat of a very old county (Burke) in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains, some 60 miles east of Asheville and sits along I-40. The population is around 18,000.
Side entrance to Thornwell Books
The bookstore is in a former Ford car dealership. The architecture is unique and quite interesting. The shop includes a coffee and pastry bar. There are numerous tables in the second-floor loft to accommodate students wanting a place to work on their laptops and study. That area was extremely busy on Saturday, as was the coffee shop. Many locals popped in to get a coffee and buy a newspaper.
Coffee Bar at Thornwell Books and view of part of the reading and study loft
It is the kind of independent bookstore that every town needs. It’s a shame there are so few independent bookstores in existence.
Morganton, North Carolina
If you are ever in Morganton or simply passing through on I-40 on your way to somewhere else, take time to get off the busy interstate and drive into the town. Sterling Street is one of the main streets in the town and easy to find. Thornwell Books is just a couple of blocks from the old courthouse. There is on-street parking and parking on both sides of the store.
There is a downtown shopping district, an old courthouse to drive around in the center of town which features a wonderful statue of the late U.S. Senator Sam Ervin who was born and lived there, a local history museum, Western Piedmont Community College, a building that houses branches of several colleges including Appalachian State University, the North Carolina School for the Deaf, and a state-operated mental hospital.
Burke County Old Courthouse, Morganton, NC, as seen from Thornwell Books
The City of Morganton Municipal Center for the Arts (COMMA) is a beautiful facility that hosts various performances. “The Jazz Legacy Project – Billie Holiday: God Bless the Child” is scheduled for April 17, and the website says the tickets are selling fast. It sounds like a delightful event!
Big cities tend to look down their noses at small cities like Morganton but, as you can see, many of them offer wonderful cultural opportunities and great independent bookstore!
Interesting bench outside Thornwell Books
Meanwhile…
The war in the Middle East rages on as attacks spread throughout the region. A committee in Iran selected a new Ayatollah this weekend – the 56-year-old son of the one killed in the war the previous weekend. The bodies of the first six U.S. military personnel killed in the war were returned to Dover Air Force Base in Delaware on Saturday. A seventh U.S. military service person died this weekend from injuries sustained on Iran’s attack on Saudi Arabia on March 1. Russia is reportedly giving intelligence information about the U.S. military to Iran. Ukraine is going to help the United States with drone expertise.
Our European allies continue to watch and wait without making any commitments, except for Germany and Italy. And who can blame them? This is Trump and Netanyahu’s war of choice.
As more countries get dragged into the war to various degrees, it remains a dangerous situation without a clear path to an end.
Janet
The government should be afraid of its citizens, not the other way around.
Donald Trump and Israel started a war with Iran just after midnight Eastern Time on Saturday. I say “Donald Trump” and not “the United States” because Trump did this without the blessing of the U.S. Congress. He did this after telling the American people that, if elected, he would not start a war.
This is the man who was furious over not being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
There must be “an imminent threat” against the American people for the U.S. President to take such an action. Democrat members of the U.S. Congress are furious and saying that intelligence reports indicated no such threat.
The U.S. Constitution gives the U.S. Congress the power to declare war. In this case, the Congress was not even informed that this was about to happen.
As I write this on Sunday night, Iran is retaliating by bombing numerous countries where the U.S. has military bases. Three U.S. military service members were killed and five seriously injured in a Iranian drone attack on a U.S. military base in Kuwait.
It has been reported that Lebanon has bombed Israel and Israel has bombed Lebanon.
No one knows what the near or far future holds as a result of this attack on Iran.
Trump says he joined Israel to take this action to save American lives – not today, but in the future. He expects the Iranian people, who are not organized and have few resources, to now waltz in and create a new government since the bombs have killed the supreme leader of Iran, the Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
I don’t see that happening. It would be wonderful if the Iranians, who have suffered under a brutal regime for 47 years could take control of their government, but I fear they do not have the wherewithal to do that.
I see the U.S. mired in another endless war started on a whim by a man who dodged the draft five times during the Vietnam War.
By the time this blog post “goes live” eight hours from now at 5:00 a.m. Monday, Eastern Time, there is no telling what will have happened.
I’m a “night owl,” so I was still awake after midnight last Friday night when I learned that Trump and Israel had started this war in Iran. I had already planned my second DIY (Do It Yourself) Writing Retreat for Saturday afternoon.
It was difficult to turn off the TV and distract my brain from current events and focus on 1768 in North Carolina, but I managed to do that.
I needed to make a major change in my historical novel’s plotline. Research last week had uncovered a fact that changed the course of the story somewhat. That necessitated deleting many paragraphs, rewriting others, and juggling some scenes.
It was tedious work, but I committed to it for around six hours. The result was a net gain of 2,200 words – one of my most productive writing days. My word count stands at 60,000. I’m aiming for 90,000 words.
After accepting the fact last week that I am a binge writer and I cannot force myself to set daily business hours to work on my novel, freed me to stop feeling guilty for not working on it every day. I plan to schedule more DIY Writing Retreats in the near future as I continue to find a writing process that suits me.
I plan to blog about the last story – which is more of an essay – in my latest book, Traveling Through History: A Collection of Historical Short Stories, on Tuesday. I’ll just “wing it” after Tuesday, depending on what the coming days bring.
Janet
The government should be afraid of its citizens, not the other way around.
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