We live in times made for the Serenity Prayer

There are plenty of warnings in the Bible about altering the words written in it. That's fair. I'm not sure if that applies to prayers, but I've found it useful. The Serenity Prayer has helped many people and with a few changes, it's becoming a mantra.

"God grant me sanity when listening to the news to reject the insanity even if I can't change it, to change the things I can, and the wisdom to turn it off and go outside when it's just too much."

You are welcome try this for yourself. It applies for local, state, national and global stories.

[Conservative lawmaker Dunleavy is first high-profile candidate in 2018 governor's race]

The unfathomable situation has presented itself to many of us with the announcement of Republican Mike Dunleavy of Wasilla that he wants to run for governor. Oh, it's always been clear that Dunleavy was being groomed by the far right for higher office. He's all for banning sex education in schools and says parents should do it. Clearly, parents know a lot about preventing pregnancy … wait. Since we're the state with the highest STD numbers, it seems like a moral choice to teach prevention.

He also wants to go against our Constitution and use public funds for religious schools. I'm guessing this won't apply to madrassas (Islamic schools), but it's hard to make that argument if you're cutting checks to Jerry Prevo's school.

The amazing part of this announcement is that it has made me nostalgic for Vic Kohring. Remember that great big guy who was confused about why he couldn't take money in Easter eggs for his vote? Alaska is many things, but boring is never one of them.

We found out that minority member Charisse Millett needs more than $46,000 in per diem to not do her job. Alaska Dispatch News published the list of takers this week. I guess no one was shocked that Sen. Bill Wielechowski's bill to eliminate this waste hasn't been able to get a hearing for years. People don't tend to vote to cut off their own treat dispensers. I love how the word "entitlement" gets used on so many who rely on public assistance to barely survive and a majority of our legislators can't see the irony here.

Maybe we should have a ballot initiative that calls for a 30-day session with the possibility of only two special sessions lasting 30 days each. Hey! Look! A 90-day session — just like we agreed on a few years ago. There. Fixed it.

In national news, Sean Spicer has resigned as White House spokesperson. I guess he wanted more time to lie to his family. I'm hoping Melissa McCarthy can find more work. Honestly, the White House should have hired her as his replacement. They seem very driven by ratings, and she would have been a boost.

[In interview, Trump expresses anger at Sessions and Comey, and warns Mueller]

The evolving story on the Russian Trump ties has been a really good reason to use the altered Serenity Prayer — or the original, as drinking seems to be our natural reaction. First, there were no meetings, then there were, then their meetings are totally normal, then the Secret Service vetted them, then they didn't, then can we fire the investigator, then questions about pardoning people who haven't been charged with a crime but are totally innocent because collusion with a foreign government is normal. This is the part where you go back to the beginning of this column and read the prayer or crack a cold one. It's boggling to track and induces run-on sentences. Sad!

Sen. John McCain has brain cancer. This fact has delayed the vote on repealing the Affordable Care Act. Again, irony. There was a time I voted for John McCain in a primary. My wishes for his recovery are full-hearted and have nothing to do with my opinion of his politics. I know what it's like to have cancer in my family and I wish the best for his. I have the same prayer for every other person who was diagnosed this week — and every other week. How this is lost on our senators tweeting for McCain while holding meetings to gut Medicaid is pretty pathetic. I tried to think of a better word there, but "Sad!" was already taken.

Well, there's a little roundup of stories I made it through this week. I guess the wisdom to know the difference and go outside to play is the next step.

Shannyn Moore is a radio broadcaster.

The views expressed here are the writer's and are not necessarily endorsed by Alaska Dispatch News, which welcomes a broad range of viewpoints. To submit a piece for consideration, email commentary@alaskadispatch.com. Send submissions shorter than 200 words to letters@alaskadispatch.com.