OpEd: Trump stole my sacred time. I'm ready to reclaim it. (2021)
www.freep.com

... For as long as I can remember, early morning has been my favorite time of day. Rising before the sun may be a dull necessity for legions of farmers and factory workers, but for me it has been a life-long luxury, my cherished refuge from the noisy demands of parents and siblings, teachers and employers, friends and colleagues " the whole universe of others waiting to tyrannize my daylight hours.

Or at least that's how my mornings used to be.

I've been a journalist for four decades, but for most of that time, I seldom gave the news more than a cursory glance before I'd showered, dressed and spent a precious few minutes focusing on something " a book, a favorite piece of music, or just the sound of my dog's contented breathing " that promised to boost my mellow quotient. I'd usually heard most of the morning's headlines previewed in news meetings the day before; the unanticipated death or dismissal, the unheralded hurricane, the outrage so over-the-top it preempted my morning routine " these were rare.

Then Donald Trump was elected president, and abruptly my cell phone became an air raid siren, my morning news feed a toxic waste site of lies, bombast and invective.

Trump is not a morning person in the usual sense, but he is legendary for making mischief after midnight. For four long years, his lunacy been lying in wait for me when I opened my eyes, his wee-hour ravings memorialized in some horrific news bulletin or petulant tweet. ...