Election Night, 2016

Thinking out loud: Donald Trump is a reality show contestant. What he says is a distraction. It's not that his words don't matter; it's that tracking them doesn't help, it educates about nothing useful, and it's an enormous waste of energy (not least because he generates so much fear). 

So I'm pledging to follow as little as possible of what the man says over the next four years. I'll track his appointments, his legislation, his policies -- indeed, following those (and fighting many of them), and tracking how they affect our fellow citizens and residents, is a civic obligation of the highest order. But the Twitter feed, the TV appearances, the speeches -- no. 

Neil deGrasse Tyson: "This is the end of nothing. This is the beginning of something new and solemn and so important. You must be part of what comes next."