Being attentive to politics, both domestic and international, is part of my DNA. Since the Newsweek subscription that I started at the age of 14, I’ve paid close attention to the news. These days, I regularly read the New York Times, Mother Jones, the Nation, and Vox. I follow some excellent print and digital reporters on Twitter. NPR is my station of choice and I listen to the morning and evening broadcasts every day. I think of myself as well-informed; I’ve always been proud of that.
In the Trump era, there is a price to that vigilance. The daily news out of our president is rarely good, and often frustrating and anger-inducing. My lifelong pattern has been to get up in the morning and switch on NPR at the same time I start brewing my coffee. Lately, I’ve found myself standing in front of the radio and taking a deep breath to brace myself before I turn it on to experience the day’s news.
I am deeply frustrated and disheartened. This president dependably demonstrates ignorance, racism, and sexism; he’s shallow and self-absorbed. His administration is gravely incompetent, ruled by half-formed rationales and ignorant policy proposals. Trump’s own propensity for mean-spirited name-calling is shameful. He is unable to rise above anything and we all suffer as a consequence.
For this reason, it’s more important than ever that I pay attention and we all remain attentive and involved. It’s hard to do when paying attention to the news invariably means signing up for a punch in the gut. But absorbing that punch to remain vigilant is the cost of democracy right now. I fear for my nation as I have never feared before and that is a very uncomfortable feeling.
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