Donald Trump Shows the Way to Maureen Dowd Who Shows Us Halfway to Conscious Politics

I relish opportunities to demonstrate what a concept like conscious politics actually looks like in practical terms. A prime example arose in the form of Maureen Dowd’s column in (this past) Sunday’s New York Times titled “Trump Shows Us the Way.” She is one of my favorite columnists and this is by no means an indictment of anything she’s saying or how she’s saying it. Not even close.

But she does something in this piece that we all do: lists a whole bunch of things she says we do not want (in this case in a president and his staff). Fair enough, but from the standpoint of living consciously and creating conscious politics, we’re only halfway there. Conscious living requires us to be ultra clear about what we do want (which often starts with understanding what we don’t want). We must then state those wants in all-positive language, which just takes practice, so let’s practice here and now.

Following are verbatim passages from Dowd’s column (“MD”) and examples of flipping don’t-wants into wants using my own language (“SM”).

MD We don’t want to countenance abusive behavior. And we certainly don’t want men like Rob Porter who have punched, kicked, choked and terrorized their wives to be in the president’s inner circle, helping decide which policies, including those that affect women, get emphasized.

SM We expect that a vetting process for any and all White House staff will result in hiring personnel who countenance, because of who they are as people, the highest levels of civility and respect, with an emphasis on supporting policies that affect women.

MD We don’t want the White House chief of staff to be the sort of person who shields and defends abusers — and then dissembles about it — simply because the abuser is a rare competent staffer. Or a man who labels Dreamers “too lazy to get off their asses” simply because they didn’t apply for legal protections in time.

SM We want the White House chief of staff to be the sort of person who can — and will — embody a level of compassion whereby respect for and acceptance of any and all groups and types of Americans is felt by any and all groups and types of Americans.

MD We don’t want a president who bends over backward to give the benefit of the doubt to neo-Nazis, wife beaters, pedophiles and sexual predators — or who is a sexual predator himself. We don’t want a president who thinks #me is more important than #metoo.

SM We want a president who bends over backward to give the benefit of the doubt to society’s least-represented, most marginalized, most vulnerable citizens. We want a president who is willing to use the bully pulpit in a way that respects and gives voice to the best, most accomplished, most inspiring, most unsung American citizens.

MD We don’t want a president who flips the ordinary equation, out of some puerile sense of grievance, to honor Russia and dishonor the FBI.

SM We want a president who stands up for America’s most valued institutions. If and when there is reason to challenge our institutions, a healthy function of our democratic system, we want a president worthy of our trust. We want a president who values and practices transparency.

MD We don’t want a president who is too shallow to read his daily intelligence report and too obsessed with the deep state to deal fairly with our intelligence agencies.

SM We want a president whose attitudes toward U.S. intelligence agencies comports with established tradition, protocol, norms, and sentiments of the citizenry. We want a president who commands our trust and who will alert us if and when evidence of corruption in our intelligence and/or law enforcement agencies — or anywhere in our government — emerges.

MD We don’t want a president who is on a sugar high of ego, whose demented tweets about nukes and crowd size scare even Omarosa.

SM We want a president who is naturally inclined toward and fully embraces the notion that to be president is to serve the interests of others.

MD We don’t want a president who redecorates the Oval as an infinity mirror.

SM We want a president who will occupy the Oval with an unwavering sense of reverence and humility, one who recognizes that holding the office means being in service of others.

MD We don’t want a president who suggests the Democrats who don’t clap for him are treasonous and who seems more enthralled by authoritarian ways than democratic ones.

SM We want a president whose knowledge and understanding of our system of government is unassailable. We want a president who can readily welcome, tolerate, and accept dissent from any and all Americans as part and parcel of the dynamics of democracy.

MD We don’t want a president who promises an A team but surrounds himself with dreckitude, a president who vows to pass “the best” bills but then doesn’t care whether he’s selling steak, wine, condos or garbage policies on matters of life and death that he hasn’t even bothered to read.

SM We want a president who is a magnet for the best and brightest and most knowledgeable policy and political experts, strategists, and advisors. We want a president who fully understands and is engaged with the job of president itself; someone who is conscious of and takes seriously the breadth of the ramifications of holding the presidency.

MD We don’t want a president who goes to military school but never leaves; who loves generals but trashes Gold Star parents; who wants the sort of chesty military parade that we mock Kim Jong-un for, a phallic demonstration of overcompensation that would only put more potholes in the DC boulevards.

SM We want a president who approaches the job of commander in chief with a sober, sharp reverence for the office.

MD We don’t want a president who makes his version of make-believe real, and who looks with favor on deceit, hypocrisy, conflict of interest and nepotism.

SM We want a president whose version of reality comports with the zeitgeist of the day. We want a president who will faithfully execute his sworn duty: to place country and constitution above all else.

MD We don’t want a president who merits a special prosecutor, let alone one who could be so easily trapped in lies that he can’t even be allowed to talk to an investigator.

SM We want a president who is impeccable with his word.

MD We don’t want a president who treats the hallowed house where Abraham Lincoln once wrote the nation’s most sacred texts as the set of a cheesy reality show.

SM We want a president who values the history and traditions of the White House itself.

MD We don’t want a president who treats the presidency as just another personal business franchise or family employment program.

SM We want a president who is clearly and fully divested of any and all possible conflicts of interest while in office. We expect our president to hire as paid staff and to designate as paid and unpaid advisors, people whose qualifications for their roles are easy to ascertain.

MD We don’t want a president who treats the presidency as just another personal business franchise or family employment program.

SM We want a president who will place country and constitution above all else. We want a president who understands that the job of president means working in service of the American citizenry.

MD We don’t want a president who glides through the chaos he craves and conjures, while everyone around him immolates and shivers.

SM We want a president whose work ethic promotes efficient calm in day-to-day operations.

MD And finally, we surely don’t want a president who seeks advice on foreign affairs from Henry Kissinger. Ever. Again.

SM We want a president who is a magnet for the best and brightest and most knowledgeable policy and political experts, strategists, and advisors.

Down for a quick exercise? Scroll to the top and read all of the “MD” statements in a row. Then take breath, scroll back to the top, and read all of the “SM” statements in a row. Compare and contrast. What does it feel like to focus entirely upon what is not wanted? What does it make you think about? And what does it feel like to focus entirely upon what is wanted? What does it make you think about?

It’s not a question that whatever we talk about and whatever feelings we’re having about what we’re talking about creates more and more of whatever we’re talking about. The only question is, how smart will we be given what we know? Ms. Dowd’s work is fine and perfect as it is. But if she had an intention to cultivate conscious politics, she would have written her column very differently.

Steven Morrison, M.A., is an author, speaker, creator of Spiritual Workout® and founder of The Consciousness Company.