I see the headlines on the news wires, on Twitter, on Facebook. They fly by me in rapid succession.
For the first few months, I successfully ignored them. A slow head shake, maybe an eye roll, and I moved on to something of substance. Donald Trump's latest bit of idiocy just didn't make the cut for all that I had to fit into my brain that day.
But, sadly, things have changed.
They changed because, for so many people, Trump fits into their brains quite nicely. While in there, he unlocks a lot of their inner demons.
Racism. Sexism. Xenophobia. Oh, and fear. Lots of fear.
By the nature of my job, and, really, just my place as an American, I now have to pay attention to Trump's dangerous ramblings - basically, because the electorate says so.
If people would have turned their backs on Trump's billionaire bravado - or just laughed him off like they used to - we could be immersed in a serious, issue-oriented campaign right now. (At least as serious as our elections can be after Citizens United.)
But it can't be denied that Trump is currently a leading Republican candidate for president.
It can't be denied that Trump is on our minds, in our brains, drilling down, reaching for those ugly feelings, feeding off of them, and using them to fuel his unlikely campaign.
Whether it's the tacit Trump backer who is skilled at hiding his bigotry, or the overt supporter who spouts the candidate's nonsense at will, Trump has done one thing for them - he's legitimized their hatred.
If a wildly successful businessman, TV celebrity and surging candidate for the highest office in the land acts like it's OK to hate Mexicans and Muslims, then why should Regular Joe have to hide it any longer?
This is why white supremacists love Trump, but that's an extreme example. More importantly, this is about our neighbors. A recent study measured Trump's support across the nation. Guess where it's strongest? That's right. West Virginia.
I'm used to seeing our state at the top of unflattering lists, but this one ... this one is not just disappointing, not just embarrassing. It's a sickening end result of all of the mean-spirited politics that have been on display in this state and this nation for the past seven years.
Trump is like an evil spirit conjured up by years of hate - hate for the man who dared to break the Oval Office color barrier. For the man who faces reality on guns and climate and war. For the man who succumbs to the thought of a roomful of slaughtered first-graders and sheds a tear.
Although the national Republican establishment seems worried that Trump and his lunacy might actually win the primary, they have only themselves to blame. He's their Frankenstein monster, built from their various fear-mongering platforms (Obama wants to take your guns!), but minus the part of his brain that keeps him from saying every bigoted little thing he's thinking.
In West Virginia, the state GOP, recognizing Trump's unfortunate appeal, is starting to sound resigned to having to back this candidate - a candidate who plans to trample religious freedom for anyone he dislikes.
"Mr. Trump certainly offers a different perspective, and it's resonating well," state GOP Chairman Conrad Lucas said recently.
A different perspective? If that perspective involves blocking Muslims from entering the country and making the ones already here carry special IDs, then, yeah, that's definitely a different perspective.
Different from the one this country was founded upon.
Rob Byers is the Gazette-Mail's co-editor.