Sometimes I wonder if I could just stop following political news for a while.

[milestogo]

I'm always amazed by those people who seem to be blissfully unaware of what's going on in the world.

I'm thinking of taking a break from it all for a month or so, although I will probably find out that I'm addicted.

[CrispyQ]

1. Political addict here.

Want to take a break. Can't take a break. I sound like a robot.

[Kirk Lover]

2. I used to be one of them....ho hum, the good old days. That's why when you guys

talk about some things from the past I have to look it up because I really really really was not paying attention. I did always vote though !!!

[jalan48]

3. I started reading history and it helps. I'm reading a biography of Grant now and believe it or not

there were just as many problems and crises in those days as well. It helps me with the end of the world fears I start to feel when I read the paper or watch TV.

[milestogo]

4. I do have some good books on current affairs I should be reading.

A lot of the coverage is redundant. I could get by on less passive consumption.

[jalan48]

6. History helps me get a sense of balance. I get too crazed if I just focus on now.

[irisblue]

10. Ron Chernows new biography?

It's on my list, what do you think about it?

[jalan48]

11. Yes, that's the one I am reading. He paints Grant in a more sympathetic light.

Grant did a lot to help black people after the Civil War. The Klan was killing people with impunity and Grant sent the Army in to restore order.

[BigmanPigman]

5. Blissfully ignorant.

I have a friend like that and it is as frustrating as Hell to speak with her. My sister refuses to speak with her at all now since she has very little patience for people who choose be be uninformed and giggle over serious issues.

[Binkie The Clown]

7. Every morning I think "I'm through with this politics crap! I don't care what happens next."

Then, over my first cup of tea I click on the DU bookmark and get sucked right back into the swamp. I guess there's no cure for caring about our country and its people.

[enough]

8. I'm a life-long (70+) political addict. I occasionally have to go away to where I have no

internet for two to three days. I can always just pick up right where I left off when I get back. I'm not sure what would happen if I let it go for a month.

[GulfCoast66]

9. I take a break about 4 times a year.

Trips to Europe...no news.

Beach/fishing trips...no news.

A week deer hunting...no news.

The country will fall apart just fine without me following it hourly and I need the break.

Work is also turned off during these periods.

[LeftInTX]

12. I follow news online, but I generally don't watch it on TV

Too many commercials, too many annoying personalities and too much hype. (As in the tax bill GOP "win"..)

I do listen to NPR in my car.

Still the online is too much for me. It sends me into a daily abyss.

I'm retired. Kids are grown. Too much free time being obsessed. My problem isn't the news, it is my own doom and gloom. It is my own dark place.

I'm not one who feels that Trump is Hitler or anything like that. I'm not prone to hyperboly. I don't know how we're going to crawl out of this tax mess. Also the state of Texas is making it impossible for my husband to retire.

I have a friend who thinks Trump is Hitler. She watches MSNBC, CNN and NPR all at once. Maybe she is better off than me. One day, she will wake up and realize Trump is not Hitler. Then, her worries may be over and she can return to her previous life.

I do better when I go to my senior center classes and when I'm actively involved with my Indivisible Group. While we are out protesting, I'm not thinking.

I like the idea of reading history as recommended upthread.

Sorry to unload on you in such a rambling post.

[Egnever]

13. Are you kidding?

It's the greatest show on earth.

There is nothing with the drama of politics. People literally live and die because of it.

Some days there are amazing victories and some days crushing defeats. We just had 8 years of one of the most drama free presidencies of my lifetime and still it was epic throughout.

On days like this I hear ya I really do but the fight goes on and victories are just around the corner.

We have a senator from Alabama! Jeff Sessions seat! Haha fuck you Keebler. It probably wont last but it's a sweet three year buffer and who knows 3 years is a long time.

We just crushed Virginia took the whole damn state back!

We have something on the order of 4.5 times the amount of candidates running as the republicans.

There's a lot of good signs in our future. Today sucks but the show goes on.

We can and will do better.

[Awsi Dooger]

14. I do it all the time

Much more often than not the day to day stuff is wildly overblown.

Not right now.

The only time I pay absolutely no attention is midterms two years after a Democrat has regained the White House. I know that is going to be ugly so there's no sense pretending otherwise. I figured it out quickly in 1978 because I was newly in college and every Republican friend and professor was incredibly energized while all my fellow Democrats didn't seem to know or care that an election was happening. It held up again in 1994 and 2010.

[Cha]

15. I just came back after a total news blackout

for 5 months.

I moved to a new peaceful and quiet place, in another town, in July and decided I didn't want to see or hear the name trump to distract.

It worked for me.. and I still might be gone if I hadn't heard about the Doug Jones victory and the brilliant ground game of Black Voters in Alabama.

[LeftInTX]

23. Welcome back!

Wow!! 5 months!!

[Cha]

25. Mahalo, LeftinTX!

I had a lot going on to keep me busy. I don't have a tv.. and there was a lot of Netflix and chill involved. lol

[WiffenPoof]

16. Im addicted

I would love to take a break from politics but it’s in my blood.

[Dorian Gray]

17. Me too...

Going away for Christmas and New Years. May try to go offline for a bit then.

(Still read newspapers, though!)

[treestar]

18. They are the ones who will be at fault

if we do end up under an autocracy. That they can afford to be blissfully unaware is something they should be grateful enough for to do something to preserve our freedom. That's what allows that. When things get extreme, no one can afford to be blissfully unaware.

[CentralMass]

19. I'm going to have to do the same.

[GreenEyedLefty]

20. We went 2 weeks last summer without hearing about DFT

it was refreshing! There is no harm in taking a mental break. The world just goes around and around anyway, you won't miss much.

[a kennedy]

21. Best move I've ever made, only come here, no CNN, no MSNBC, no political shows at all.....

living the dream of TCM, Hallmark Channel, HDNET, all movies, all the time for me now......and I feel better. Will never get past the feeling a dread, but at least I'm not adding to it.

[milestogo]

22. I usually have MSNBC on from the time I get home from work

until I go to bed.

Last night I watched "River Monsters" and - it was great.

[sweetapogee]

24. want to understand

the world in 2017? Read about 1917- A World Undone: The Story of the Great War, 1914 to 1918 by G.L.Meyer

For those who are not students of the Great War, this is an interesting and fantastic account of the military/political situation exactly 100 years ago. You will then see clearly exactly what is going on today.

[elfin]

26. The oddest thing - I stop following the news and yet...

It manages to follow me via alerts on various devices that I had forgotten I had signed up for.

Have to go no phone, no pad, no computer. Radio seems safe for a while as long as you don't go to NPR.

[HopeAgain]

27. Me too! This is getting too depressing.

I will donate to Bill Nelson, make myself available to canvass when time comes for that. But maybe I need a mental health break from all this terrible news.

[Cicada]

28. Has anyone here tried a medically induced coma? That might help.

[TheDebbieDee]

29. I gave up DU & MSNBC from fall 2014

Thru summer 2016 to follow my local MLB baseball team. My blood pressure went down and I wasn't mad all the time!

I've been paying attention since the party conventions last summer and while my blood pressure has been up and down, (mostly down the last 6 months) I find that I'M PISSED 24 hours a day!

[lunatica]

30. Just take a few days and you'll start to feel better

But the fact that their taking us to hell as fast as they can may bring you back.

I've always felt I need to look at who's trying to kill me.

[LanternWaste]

31. I do weekend news black-outs consistently.

I do weekend news black-outs consistently beginning Fri after PBS Washington Weekly until Monday morning's local news (that's in addition to my weekend internet black-out as well).

It's a nice change... for a couple of days I get to tune out and be as politically ignorant as I want. And I find that in particular a good thing every now and again. Even my friends have become accustomed to my place being little more than a comfortable little hobbit-hole for a couple days a week.

With fingers crossed (insincere apologies to the formal skeptics who allows no weight to anything as silly as superstition), my black-out this week will last from Thurs night until Wed morning...