Thursday, April 17, 2008

Boycotting the News


TS: I can’t decide whom to support. Should I vote for HOPE, or for CHANGE?
DH: I don’t know.
TS: Is he for HOPE? Or is he for CHANGE, and she for HOPE?
DH: No, he’s for HOPE. You remember--he wrote that book.
TS: He’s not for CHANGE.
DH: Yeah, he’s for that, too.

Well, that just about sums up my knowledge of current events in America. Unless something truly weird occurs, I just don’t pay attention at all.

This week, I’ve heard people talking about some cult that’s been in the news, but I've lived enough decades now that it all sounds like reruns. Which cult? The Kool-aid cult? The Waco cult? Of this new one, DH says, "They must have only had one hairdresser, because they all have the same hairdo."

I used to be a news junkie. I had cable news on much of the day, and online, I read the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Washington Times and a bunch of other web sites devoted to current events and opinion. Then one day, I burned out.

I got tired of being angry about things I couldn’t control. If I’m really excited about a cause or a candidate, I send money or go out and stuff envelopes for them. Otherwise, I just don’t care. And “news” has become something else, anyway, something more akin to tabloids and comic books than information.

I am serene. My goal is to return to the apathy of my youth, and I’m making progress.

I may seem ignorant at dinner parties, but life is good. And just today I decided that if I can’t get my news from Craig Ferguson, I won’t get it at all.

1 comment:

MommaDrool said...

Speaking of change...you should see some of the funny political bumper stickers that MommaPeas has posted on her blog:

http://mommapeas.blogspot.com/2008/04/political-bumper-stickers_11.html