Category: Politics

The One Thing About Donald Trump that No One is Saying

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Donald Trump is completely in my head. But not in the way you might think. Let me explain.

About a year ago I was having trouble sleeping. Not falling to sleep. Generally that wasn’t a problem. My problem would come in the middle of the night when either my son woke me up, or I had to pee or something and I woke up just enough for a thought to creep in and take hold. That thought would take hold. It would lead to another, which would lead to another. and suddenly I was too awake and engaged with my own thoughts to go back to sleep.

I’m sure this experience is not unique to me. Millions of people every night have this exact same experience.

Here’s how I decided to deal with it.

I started meditating.

I’d been curious about this, but didn’t really know how to do it, or where to go to learn that didn’t involve Prudence Farrow and my manager dying unexpectedly. So, I found a couple of guided meditation CDs and a great app called Headspace. I’ve become a bit of a zealot about it. Recommending it to everyone I know regardless of their particular ailment. I try not to be that guy. But, sometimes I am a bit.

That’s not what this is, though. Don’t worry. I’m going to get back to Donald Trump.

So, here’s the thing with meditation. So much of it, at least at the beginning, is about accepting those thoughts that either gently try to get your attention (I think I need gas when I go out) or try to violently impose themselves upon your world view or your view of your self (I’m a failure at my job. I’m powerless to change my life. Why do people hate me? Man, I’m awesome at everything!). Accepting them and then letting them go.

You can’t control your thoughts. You can’t stop them. They’re going to come, but you’re not really the one making them come. The only thing you can control is how you respond to them.

The impact all of these thoughts have is completely up to you. So, through meditation, if you can learn to look at those thoughts and say, “Oh, look at you. Aren’t you cute, trying to be all helpful like that? Thanks for stopping by.” then those thought float on through and you can go on about your business, or in my case go back to sleep.

And it’s been a huge help.

So, Donald Trump.

As we got into the last Republican debate last week, I made the point to a friend that if I were one of the other people on stage with him, I’d just ignore him. Attacking him doesn’t work. It only makes him stronger and people seem more interested in him and what he’s doing. But, if anytime a question was asked about Trump, Jeb! decided to talk about something else, if anytime Trump attacked Ted Cruz, Cruz ignored the attack and instead starting talking his own brand of crazy, if anytime Trump mentioned Chris Christie, Christie just looked the other way and talked about something he cared about, the power Trump has goes away.

Trump is a dumpster fire that requires fuel.

And it’s tempting to give him that fuel, because he’s entertaining.

And that’s how he’s exactly like those thoughts that keep you up at night.

He’s going to keep talking, just like those thoughts are going to keep trying to get your attention. We’re not making him talk and we can’t stop him from talking. But we can give him all the attention he deserves:

“Oh, look at you. Aren’t you cute, trying to be all helpful like that? Thanks for stopping by.”

My thoughts require my attention to gain traction and disrupt what I’m doing. And so does Donald Trump.

Donald Trump is in my head because he is my thoughts and my thoughts are Donald Trump.

The comfort and clarity this has provided in both my sleep cycle and my attention and focus on this presidential race is without measure.

I will now return my focus to my breath.

About Last Night

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I have too many thoughts running through my head about last night to put into a coherent posting, so here they are in no particular order.

As I watched the returns early on, Laura was actually watching About Last Night. That had not occurred to us until I named this post.

Way to go Indiana. Despite almost everyone I know from Indiana voting for McCain, my home state did something they haven’t done in my lifetime.

Way to go Chicago! Last night’s celebration in Grant Park was pretty much a referendum on this cities ability to handle the Olympics in 2016. From all accounts, it seemed to go smoothly.

It was amazing to see all the people in Grant Park. It wasn’t until they pulled back and took shots with the sky line in the back ground that you truly got a sense of how many people were down there. I was awe struck. Then, I went to bed, thankful that I didn’t have to a) try to get home from there or b) clean any of that up.
I always thought that they joy I would feel at watching Jesse Jackson cry would come from a much different part of my being.

For the first time in seven years or so, I am not actively worried about the direction my country is taking.

I am thankful that I had the opportunity to go to Obama’s rally Friday night in Highland, IN.

Today is a great day to be a teacher. To be able to talk to kids about the historical significance of this election is a great honor.

I am hopfeul that all of the people who voted for McCain because they were afraid of what would happen if Obama got elected spend everyday of the next eight years getting a little less afraid every day.

I was kind of creeped out when CNN broke out the holograms. The only one I saw was Will.I.Am. The only thing I thought was Emperor Palpatine.

I was proud of CNN for taking a stand to only project results based on vote totals, until roughly fifteen seconds after they said it, when they projected South Carolina for McCain with 1% of precincts reporting and McCain behind by 55-44. I’m not saying they got the call wrong, but try not to hurt your arm patting yourseles on the back for your restraint.

Ok, that’s all for now.

Burying the Lead

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This article was front page on CNN.com this evening.

Midway through the article there is a link that says CNN Fact Check. If you click through that link CNN has done some investigative journalism to find out whether the charges leveled by Palin are accurate.

Correct me if I’m wrong Sandy, but shouldn’t the article read more like this.

Sarah Palin accused Barack Obama of having links to a terrorist. That is a false accusation. While it is true that this guy lived on his street when he was 8 years old, there is no evidence that Senator Obama has a current relationship with this person. She is making reference to this relationship. We talked to this person, who said this, this person who said that. She’s completely full of shit.

While I like the fact that CNN is bothering to do this type of fact checking and reporting the fact that the accusation is false, I abhor the fact that if you just read the headline and the first few paragraphs you wouldn’t know that this accusation is false.

If you really want to know the full story you have to click through to another story entirely.

The headline should read Palin makes false accusations abotu Obama and the article that follows should have one paragraph about what she said and a full page about why it’s false.

People can come to all kinds of ridiculous conclusions when they are only given the lie. Funny that.

Sarah Palin; Jazz fanatic

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A few years ago, the father of one of my friends was trying his hand at internet dating. Rather than go the traditional, secular route, he decided to try his hand on a Christian dating website. It needs to be pointed out here that it may not be possible, using modern calendars and time keeping devices to pinpoint, with any degree of accuracy, when he last set foot inside a church.

One of the questions people are asked as part of their profile on this site is "Name your favorite Bible Passage."

His answer: "All of them."

Have you ever talked to someone who was trying to convince you how cool they were by telling you how much they loved Jazz?

Them: "Yeah, I love Jazz. Miles Davis is great."
You: "I totally agree, what’s your favorite album?"
Them: Long Pause "Oh, they’re all so good. I can’t pick a favorite. I like all of them."

This story came to mind after the latest installment of the Least helpful interview anyone has given since Bob Knight talked to Connie Chung about rape.

Katie Couric asked Sarah Palin which newspapers she read to stay informed. The following exchange took place.

Palin: I’ve read most of them, again with a great appreciation for the press, for the media.

Couric: What, specifically?

Palin: Um, all of them, any of them that have been in front of me all these years.

Couric: Can you name a few?

Palin: I have a vast variety of sources where we get our news, too.
Alaska isn’t a foreign country, where it’s kind of suggested, “Wow, how
could you keep in touch with what the rest of Washington, D.C., may be
thinking when you live up there in Alaska?” Believe me, Alaska is like
a microcosm of America.

The Problem

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with Tina Fey’s impression of Sarah Palin is that in order for an impression to really work the fake person must be, at least a little, more ridiculous than the real person.

Tina Fey’s Palin, no matter how hard she tries, will never be able to come off dumber than Real Palin does.

Something that Nixon learned all too well

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We listened to the first hour of tonight’s debate in the car and watched the last thirty or so. There’s a BIG difference to watching it.

The one thing I noticed on viewing that wasn’t there for the hearing was the way McCain stood there smirking while Obama talked. He looked smug and kind of douchey.

The Devil You Know

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Turns out I was wrong. John McCain knows more than I do.

It turns out he did go Full-Crazy-Alaska.

I so underestimated the craziness of Sarah Palin. To be fair, at the time I didn’t know that she, knowing her unborn child would have to live his life dealing with Down Syndrome, decided that the way to ease his burden in life would be to name him Trig.

VP Michael Palin

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I only read the headline, so I assume that’s who McCain picked as his VP. I did not realize he was governor of Alaska.

Personally, I think if you’re going to go Alaska, you should go Full-Crazy-Alaska. Who wouldn’t love the entertainment value of Ted Stevens in the national spotlight? Republicans, I guess, but I don’t think they’re seeing the big picture.

They would have almost unlimited power over the tubes.

McCain-Stevens

"So Crazy, it Just Might Work"

The Strange Case of Damon Bailey

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About a month ago I was watching the IU v. UK game from 1990 on the Big Ten Network and Damon Bailey’s position in the hierarchy of Indiana Basketball greats came up in conversation. It’s a strange thing, Damon Bailey, because when I think of him the first thought that comes to mind is that he was a middle of the road player. He wasn’t bad, but he was not one of the greats.

Upon further review and investigation, it must be said that I am wrong about that. While it is true that he was never the best player on his team, those honors go to Calbert Chaeney and Alan Henderson, he was a GREAT basketball player. My gut reaction to his place in history is largely colored by two factors. 1.) No national championship, though that is not his fault. Those teams were great and should have won two titles, but shit happens. 2.) He was supposed to be the second coming of, if not Christ, then Alford. Anything less than being the best player on the planet and his career would have been a disappointment. Fair? No. But true nonetheless. Our perception of people and events is largely based on what we expected.

As another example of this I will tell this tale. When I was an undergrad, I was an RA. Every week we had meetings in our supervisors living room. On here desk, every week, was a jar of peanut M&M’s. It was common practice to reach in, grab a handful, pop them in your mouth and enjoy chocolate and candy covered nuts goodness. One week, right around Christmas the jar was filled with Red and Green Peanut M&M’s. I reached in grabbed my standard handful and popped them in my mouth expecting the reward salty-sweet crunchy joy of Peanut M&M’s.

They were mints.

My shock and revulsion knew no equal. They could have been the best mints in the world, but since i expected M&M’s they were disgusting. Expectations color reactions.

Which brings me to last night in New Hampshire. One week ago no one would have been surpised by the outcome of the Democratic Primary. It was a close race between Clinton and Obama that could have gone either way. But on Monday every "news" outlet in America was reporting Obama with a 9-11 point advantage over Clinton.

Well, now the Clinton campaign is in HUGE trouble. She goes on TV and almost cried about her campaign. Obama wisely tells his supporters to chillax a bit and remember to vote because the worst reaction to this news for him would be for his supporters to say, "Oh, cool, we got this on lock down. I guess it’s no big deal if I skip the primary tomorrow."

In the end Clinton pulled it out by some 8,000 votes and roughly 4 percentage points. The reaction this was shock. No one could believe that Clinton was winning. They were willing to predict her win at any point during the evening. This is going to be seen as a huge win for her and a disappointing loss for him. All because of the polls results from Monday setting up our expectations for this event.

In reality, this has been and continues to be a close race. One that I’m sure won’t even have much separation until February 5th. In fact I expect it to get more muddled before it clears up. Edwards will do very well in South Carolina and it may result in 3 primaries, three different winners. All it means is that "THEY ARE WHO WE THOUGHT THEY WERE!" No more, no less. Let’s ride this thing out and see where we end up before we attach too much significance to any one outcome.

Indiana Universe

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