Dreaming strange dreams

In 8 years of Bill Clinton’s presidency, I dreamed about the man once, and it don’t remember feeling good or bad about it.

In 8 years of Bush’s presidency, I may have dreamed of him once. I think I did, but don’t really remember.

I know it is not unusual for people to dream of prominent folks in the news, particularly if they are being barraged with images, soundbites, headlines. For instance, back when he was (and not the AMA) was this administrations “evil dude/organization of the month” I had a funny dream about Rush Limbaugh, which I shared here.

I was surprised to wake up this morning, ’round 7 AM, from a dream so full of the goodness of Obama, the love of Obama, the grace of Obama, that I was strongly repelled. If I were the time to consider mass-hypnosis, I’d have wondered about it.

In my dream, I was teaching a class in a local school, and Obama came to visit. I was excited with the rest of the children, and he was wonderful. He rolled up his shirtsleeves and got down into the small desks, and helped them with reading, and math and I thought, “he’s a born-teacher; he should be in the classroom, where he shines. I just love him like this.” The students were in awe of him – they looked upon him, with the same mesmerized gaze of adoration we see in some members of the press, as though he was a god, and that brought me down to earth. “You should not encourage that,” I said to Obama. “You should stick to teaching.” And he looked up at me, smiled charmingly, but suddenly, my feelings went cold as I sensed a flick of cold steel within him. That’s the only way I can describe it. He looked at me, understood that my newly-discovered admiration had fled, and turned back to the children, saying, “We’re going to learn a new song. We’re going to sing a new song, are you ready?”

I awoke and jotted down the dream quickly, then fell back to sleep. This time, we were at a community pool, splashing in the water; everyone having fun. But people kept coming up to me, rising from beneath the water, clearing hair from their eyes and saying, “Obama is over there; he wants you to come by.” Obama was there, in a far corner, surrounded by many, all having a great time. I kept refusing. Then there was a party – a huge gathering and once again it was all about Obama, everyone was having a great time. Lots of famous people. At one point Bono offered to sing a song he’d written especially for the occasion if only someone would volunteer to play piano for him, and I thought, “he’s richer than Midas, and there are musicians struggling for work; why didn’t he just hire one to bring with him. Why does someone need to volunteer?” Bono, unable to find that volunteer, did not sing, and I looked around, gathered my family and tried to leave. Obama was at the microphone announcing that he would be talking to us every Sunday for the next three weeks, from every television channel, every available media outlet, and he set his agenda. “The third Sunday, we will be releasing a new song, called “Sing a new song,” and you will all want to learn it; we will all be singing together.” Some in the crowd cheered, but many looked around uncomfortably, and clapped perfunctorily and briefly. “You are not clapping,” a man said to me. “No, I’m keeping my hands free, so I can throw my copy of 1984 at the television screen for the next few Sundays.” The man smiled a tiny smile, and turned away.

I went off and tried to find greeting cards to welcome back a friend who had gone, and was due to return shortly. But the cards were all vapid poems or garishly sentimental, and I awoke.

Why am I sharing these? Well, partly because I think they’re funny and strange, partly because I have never had the experience of dreaming so much of a president. I suspect the dreams are occurring because the man is never not on television. And as a news junkie, I can tell you with some certainty, even though I haven’t numbers before me, that neither President Clinton nor Bush ever ran through the headlines or the videotape like Obama does. Clinton got a lot of coverage during a “vacation from history,” and daily announcements of his great polling numbers. Bush got as much negative coverage as could be written, but little videotape. Toward the last two years of his presidency, if I remember correctly, he would 60-90 seconds on the nightly news shows, if that much.

Obama, on the other hand…I have never seen one man get this much sustained coverage, swooning coverage, near-worshiping, unquestioning, let-us-turn-our-communications-tools-over-to-assist-you-in-your-legislative-goals coverage. And he doesn’t like it if anyone doesn’t swoon. Obama is literally ever-present. Like our sins he is “ever before our eyes,” wherever we turn.

So, I suppose that’s why I am dreaming strange dreams. I may try to take Freud’s advice and identify myself as “everything in” the dreams. I am the water; I am the greeting cards; I am the president; I am the crowd. I am…Bono?

Hmmmm…maybe I’ll take the Jungian track, instead.

And no, I don’t need 100 emails scolding me for calling the president “sin.” I’m not. I’m just having fun and playing on Psalm 51, there, but take it as you like it; people believe what they want to believe.

Bookworm: Wants to Boycott ABC for turning its news over to the White House.

Will be back later with some links to some very interesting, often troubling, news stories which many of us are not paying enough attention to, due to the events in Iran.