Lyin’ Eyes and the House Divided
Navigating the 2026 Rupture
You can’t hide your lyin’ eyes
And your smile is a thin disguise
I thought by now you’d realize
There ain’t no way to hide your lyin’ eyes - Song by Eagles ‧ 1975
It seems Rupert Murdoch and I can’t get those lyrics out of our heads.
The Guardian, January 31, 2026 - “For once, the president’s reality distortion field – which promised Mexico would pay for his scenes, and you can’t continue to order them to not believe their lying eyes.”
Just for fun I googled “Trump Distractions.” Here are the first 5 results:
Vanity Fair four days ago - Trump Needs a New Target for Distraction. Bad Bunny, Iran, and Gavin Newsom Are Prime Candidates
January 8, 2026 from The San Diego Voice and View Point - Trump’s Distractions From the Real Issues
Politico July 31, 2026 - 47 things Trump would rather talk about than Jeffrey Epstein
June 24, 2026 - NAACP Calls Out Trump’s Distraction Tactics
Wikipedia - List of conspiracy theories promoted by Donald Trump (it’s a long list)
Let this information sink in.
The only permanent thing about History is change after a long string of ruptures. Is America in the middle of a rupture?
February is Black History month which Carter G. Woodson established In 1926, aligning it with the birthdays of Abraham Lincoln February 12 and Frederick Douglass February 14.
When Lincoln gave his speech, “A house divided against itself cannot stand,” on June 16, 1858. He was accepting the Illinois Republican Party’s nomination for the U.S. Senate.
This Douglass quote rings true today. “Where justice is denied, where poverty is enforced, where ignorance prevails, and where any one class is made to feel that society is an organized conspiracy to oppress, rob and degrade them, neither persons nor property will be safe.”
All the African Americans we honor during February, 2026 would be very proud of the 62 members of the Congressional Black Caucus. Take the time to click on the link to see the individual members.
I love to listen to two of these very articulate members. In three short years they have shown more courage and integrity than their seasoned colleagues. They can only get better at their jobs.
Jasmine Felicia Crockett: an American lawyer and politician serving as the U.S. representative for Texas’s 30th congressional district since 2023.
Hakeem Sekou Jeffries: an American politician and attorney who has served as House minority leader and leader of the House Democratic Caucus since 2023.
“It takes a village to raise a child” is a well-known African proverb. Here are echos from the Substack Village.
In his Substack last week Kert Lenseigne wrote:
We’ve got to honor and value, more deeply, just how we want to be defined. For me, this happens when we elect and are led by people who embody the better angels of our nature.
In his sermon for February 2, 2026, Msgr Arthur Holquin
recalled what the late Congressman John Lewis called “good trouble”—the kind of trouble that disrupts business as usual in service of justice, the kind of trouble that makes the comfortable uncomfortable because people are suffering and someone must speak… Yesterday’s “good trouble” in our streets reminds us that we live in consequential times. The question is not whether we will navigate these troubled waters, but how we will navigate them.
Manuel A Garcia from Fitting the Pieces
We are offered a day each morning. What will I do with my day?
Will I oppose tyranny by the GOP and the criminally convicted POTUS? Or will I arrest Americans that defend freedom?
Will I heal others like Renée Good and Alex Pretti did? Or will I kill like ICE did?
Will I defend immigrants fleeing oppression? Or will I support their oppressors?
Will I obey indecent and illegal orders from my commanding officers? Or will I respect human rights and the U S Constitution?
Will I choose fascism? Or Democracy?
Episcopal Bishops from across our church launched a message to the nation, calling for justice, peace, and hope. It said, “This is a moment for action. We call on people of faith to stand by your values and act as your conscience demands.”
“This world is too dangerous for anything but truth and too small for anything but love,” words from the renowned preacher, William Sloane Coffin
Please help me start a conversation. I would love to read your thoughts on creating “good trouble.”
Thank you for starting the conversation, Marisol. I was fortunate to have access to Dr. Morris Massey's videos when I was teaching. My hope is that what divides us can be put aside and allow us to come to his "viewing point." We need to find our commonality - our "bright lights" to lead us out of the dark.
Under-standing us.
United we stand, rise, grow.
Divided we fall.
...
Follow high calling,
shine our bright lights at the dark.
Make just, good trouble.