I’m so sick of Donald Trump. Totally burnt out. Fried. The sight of him… the sound of his voice… the mere mention of his name… it all makes me retch a little bit. I’ve never understood his appeal, and I’m grateful I’ll likely never be close enough to smell him.
And, yet, he will be the president again for the next four years. Since part of being a responsible citizen is to stay informed, avoiding the incoming president’s image, voice, and name will be impossible. I am, however, thinking of tactics to minimize my exposure and mitigate the impact.
Years ago, I knew a successful psychiatrist who gave me a great tip for dealing with crazy people (or anyone you’d rather not talk to, really). When talking with such people, he advised me never to face them full on. Only address them from the side, without turning your body to face them. When responding to them and speaking to them, it’s only with a turn of the head. This deprives them of your full attention and consideration. It’s like not inviting a vampire into your house. Fabulous.
Though my friend’s tip is a physical tool deployed in social situations, I’m determined to exercise this mentally and intellectually with the incoming president. What does that mean? Basically, the trick is to give Trump, Musk, and every other narcissistic attention whore the absolute bare minimum of my time and attention. As I mentioned earlier, it’s impractical and irresponsible to stick one’s head in the sand and ignore all of it. It’s all about only what is absolutely necessary. No lingering, wallowing, or deep diving.
And there is no need to deep-dive into anything regarding the incoming president, anyway. He’s been covered and profiled ad nauseum for decades. There is nothing new to learn about him. It’s all been said. You will not find me getting into any long articles or books on him. The only thing news outlets have to offer about him at this point is recycled rot that has already burned our eyes, raped our ears, and stung our nostrils. It’s all old and tired. Like him.
On the road to preserving one’s sanity, avoiding cable news is essential, which should be a no brainer, since cable news isn’t really news anymore. It’s all just commentary and hot takes at this point, designed to confirm or inflame rather than inform. Since I cut the cord over a decade ago, this isn’t hard for me. But it’s tricky for others, since many people have it on all day, whether it’s MSNBC, CNN, or Fox News. If you can’t live without it, knock yourself out. But don’t whine to me about feeling inundated and overwhelmed. It’s very avoidable, especially with viable alternatives like NPR, Associated Press, The Guardian, Financial Times, and others, as well as countless Substacks and podcasts. And even using those resources, I do a lot of skipping and skimming when it comes to news about Trump. If there’s an article about him that seems relevant? I’ll give it a glance, get the bullet points, and move on. If there’s a podcast episode about him? Skip it. I personally don’t know anyone who sat through all three hours of his interview with Joe Rogan, and I really don’t know how anyone could. The list of things I’d rather do with that time is quite long. The same rules apply to social media. Lots of scrolling past and avoiding.
The key is to be stingy with my time, one of my most valuable commodities. Donald Trump is a time suck, and he likes it that way. Neither he nor Elon Musk can survive without being in the news cycle every 24 hours. And because they didn’t receive enough love and affection from their fathers, we’re made to suffer from it. It’s exhausting. They demand our attention. I simply won’t give it to them. The drill is to just collect the news and information I need, and carry on. Valuing my time and attention and taking control of how much I will give to Trump, Musk, or anyone else, for that matter, is the deal going forward.
It’s going to be a long four years, and I’m determined to get through them with my sanity and humor intact.
Also, in unrelated news… I’m on Bluesky! Join me there: @georgehahn.com
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13 Comments
Amen brother…
Hoping we can ALL do this successfully and sanely!
Thanks, Julie!
That is on the money, George. I finally have come to the same conclusion–especially by cutting off cable “news” channels. There is nothing of value there. Why should I treat myself like that, wasting my time? It is kind of like living with COVID. Avoid being infected as much as possible.
It’s very hard even here in Australia to get away from it, but I tend to turn the television off or volume or just walk out of the room. I really do not know how you cope with the media over there it’s very painful to watch more akin to chalk scraping on a blackboard.
Your article is a complete mirror image of how I feel and I live in Canada!
I’ve cut off cable and it’s been wonderful. No hearing his voice 24/7, no hashing over the “what if’s”, etc. I’m way more interested in our world in general than just our corner. Cable “news” channels have ditched us for this asshole. Fine-there are other objective outlets. PBS News Hour is an example.
Thanks for this
George, I have followed you for years and LOVE you. Your perspective just consistently hits home. Thank you for this beautiful essay … I wish things were different, but hope we survive these next 4 years.
George – are you willing for this oh, so sensible, blog post to be shared elsewhere? On my Bluesky page? To a women’s FB page I belong to? Or nowhere, which is of course just fine, and I won’t.
I’ll be using the not-facing-people option a lot in this red town in this red state.
Really appreciate your sanity. I’ll be chuckling as I face away from about a third of my guests at Thanksgiving.
Sage advice George. Thank you!
I so agree and have the same plan. I am so glad I found you!
The very best advice!