In 8 years of Bill Clinton\u2019s presidency, I dreamed about the man once, and it don\u2019t remember feeling good or bad about it.<\/p>\n
In 8 years of Bush\u2019s presidency, I may have dreamed of him once. I think I did, but don\u2019t really remember.<\/p>\n
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<\/a>) was this administrations \u201cevil dude\/organization of the month\u201d I had a funny dream about Rush Limbaugh, which I shared here<\/a>.<\/p>\n I was surprised to wake up this morning, \u2019round 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\u2019d have wondered about it.<\/p>\n 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, \u201che\u2019s a born-teacher; he should be in the classroom, where he shines. I just love him like this.\u201d The students were in awe of him \u2013 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. \u201cYou should not encourage that,\u201d I said to Obama. \u201cYou should stick to teaching.\u201d 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\u2019s 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, \u201cWe\u2019re going to learn a new song. We\u2019re going to sing a new song, are you ready?\u201d<\/p>\n 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, \u201cObama is over there; he wants you to come by.\u201d Obama was there, in a far corner, surrounded by many, all having a great time. I kept refusing. Then there was a party \u2013 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\u2019d written especially for the occasion if only someone would volunteer to play piano for him, and I thought, \u201che\u2019s richer than Midas, and there are musicians struggling for work; why didn\u2019t he just hire one to bring with him. Why does someone need to volunteer?\u201d 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. \u201cThe third Sunday, we will be releasing a new song, called \u201cSing a new song,\u201d and you will all want to learn it; we will all be singing together.\u201d Some in the crowd cheered, but many looked around uncomfortably, and clapped perfunctorily and briefly. \u201cYou are not clapping,\u201d a man said to me. \u201cNo, I\u2019m keeping my hands free, so I can throw my copy of 1984<\/em> at the television screen for the next few Sundays.\u201d The man smiled a tiny smile, and turned away.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n Why am I sharing these? Well, partly because I think they\u2019re 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\u2019t 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 \u201cvacation from history,\u201d 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.<\/p>\n Obama, on the other hand\u2026I 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<\/a> coverage. And he doesn\u2019t like it if anyone doesn\u2019t swoon<\/a>. Obama is literally ever-present. Like our sins he is \u201cever before our eyes,\u201d wherever we turn.<\/p>\n So, I suppose that\u2019s why I am dreaming strange dreams. I may try to take Freud\u2019s advice and identify myself as \u201ceverything in\u201d the dreams. I am the water; I am the greeting cards; I am the president; I am the crowd. I am\u2026Bono?<\/p>\n Hmmmm\u2026maybe I\u2019ll take the Jungian track, instead.<\/p>\n And no, I don\u2019t need 100 emails scolding me for calling the president \u201csin.\u201d I\u2019m not. I\u2019m just having fun and playing on Psalm 51, there, but take it as you like it; people believe what they want to believe.<\/p>\n