We’re steeped in Doublespeak. In the late 1970s I gave a talk at the Southwest Harbor Library on George Orwell’s “1984,” a prescient masterpiece that I’ve taught to high school students.

Did I ever imagine that historical lies would become the norm more than fifty years later?

There I was in my red flower-printed corduroy Laura Ashley dress, sitting pretty on a stool, my dark shoulder-length hair shining. Ready to expound. I was sharp back then and was able to think on my feet (or sitting on a stool).

No longer am I that sharp. But I still can’t stomach historical lies. And they abound.

Where do I go for history I can trust? If you don’t yet subscribe to Heather Cox Richardson’s Letters from an American, do it now. She’s a Mainer, an historian who teaches at Boston College. Impeccable in her research, I pick up my phone to read her as soon as I awake.

The Kansas referendum vote to uphold abortion rights in their State Constitution surprised journalists and pundits. Loony Repugnicans will spin some sort of Doublespeak on that vote.

Oh, maybe hundreds of minority mothers stormed a voting place…

Some happily pregnant women have understandably been terrified by the onslaught of abortion restrictions:

“What if something goes wrong with my pregnancy? Will [the state] just let me die?”

Kansas, oh Kansas! You’ve given us hope! Down With Doublespeak!