Lorelei - you've mostly said what I would want to say about all of this and actually kind of distilled down the dynamic even further for me, so thanks for that.

I've been trying to understand how Rex expects me to make the contents of all the books and articles I've studied over the years, plus all the research and field experience of every expert I cite available to him in one short essay. What I've started to realize is that isn't actually the problem. It's that the things I say trigger him in some way but since he mostly can't refute what I'm saying head-on, he's grasping around for some sort of way to discredit me. There's not really anything I can do with that except to ignore it because it's not even really about me - it's about whatever the trigger is that I am simply the agent of elicting.

I appreciate you inviting me to defend myself here but it's become clear to that there isn't actually any point. Thanks again for the effort and the further insight.