(with contributor Janet Winans, Ph.D.)

The older I get, the dumber I feel. I do remember, though, being told (when I was much younger) that the more you learn, the more you realize what you don’t know. I guess that’s how life is. Seriously, my recent research on current issues – Critical Race Theory, gun violence, democracy/autocracy/fascism - has made me feel rather like an ostrich who’s had her head in the sand for decades. For a while, the learning was uplifting and invigorating, but then the strangest thing happened to me: All the pieces of the puzzle started to come together – and the image of our country’s history taking shape sickened me.

I am absolutely opposed to gun control. You cannot propose any sort of gun control that I’ll support. I firmly believe in the Second Amendment. No gun control!

You probably think a good portion of the American population will agree with me. Not so fast. Read to the end, and then you’ll realize that not a single American is likely to agree with me – and yet, I haven’t the tiniest doubt that I’m right and you’re all wrong. Let me explain.

Why has Critical Race Theory (CRT) become such an explosive issue lately? I think that question is important to answer. It’s easy to say, “because those idiots believe it,” or “because those fools won’t believe it,” or some other simple explanation that puts the blame squarely on someone else and dismisses the controversy as stupid. But I don’t think it’s stupid. I think this disagreement is a microcosm of the general polarization of our country, and I believe it’s a good place to start the healing.

As we confront the specter of an important election (Shucks! I’m on the ballot!) in the face of a pandemic, it might help to know that I’ve voted by mail - exclusively by mail - for ten years. Can my experience in Washington State inform a process we might have to undertake for our upcoming primary? Perhaps, in some ways.

So, honestly, when Julian Castro suggested the repeal of Section 1325, did you know what he was talking about? I certainly didn’t, so I Googled the darned thing and read it. It says nothing of separating children from their parents, yet I’m told that’s the law the Trump administration uses to justify holding children in cages.

I determined to learn everything I could about the history of our southern border, our immigration policies, and the apparent causes of the current atrocity. Here I’ll briefly lay out the key facts in the hope you’ll undertake some research of your own.

If you have read the five previous articles in this series, you have my deepest respect and admiration – now you will get your reward. You’ve worked your way through an abbreviated version of the Mueller Report; I estimate the review I’ve offered is no more than 15% as long as the actual Report. That said, it’s absolutely not the same thing as reading the original. I still encourage you to do so. (And do feel free then to correct me where you discover I have been wrong.)

Welcome to the final section of Mueller’s Volume Two. I sincerely hope you have arrived here after reading Part I (Volume One) and Parts IIA, B and C (Volume Two). If you are jumping in here – no harm done, but you’re going to have a heck of a time getting up to speed. Should you be a newcomer to the series, though, you should know that I am a voting, tax-paying citizen who believes it is her civic duty to get as close as possible to the truth about her democracy. That’s why I read the Mueller Report. And, after reading it (I actually had to read Volume Two twice), I fully understood why most Americans would not be reading it. 

If you have been with me, my friend, through the entire series, just skip this paragraph – you know it by heart. If not, may I say that I am a voting, tax-paying citizen who loves to read and longs to know the truth about her government and its leaders? My goal has been to study the Mueller Report (and Volume Two does, indeed, require studying!) for the purpose of first informing myself and then informing the 97% of Americans who will not read the Report.