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Some of the most discouraging things you can do in the morning is watch or read the news.

That statement hurts personally because I am an avid news reader. Like clockwork, I scroll through my feed to catch up on all the devastating reports from around the country and in the world.

A standard every morning without fail.

Until a few years ago, I prided myself on being current on all the latest happenings from political pundits, crime, crime involving political pundits, natural disasters, polls, op-ed pieces, and your random human interest piece if it was relevant enough to catch the eyes of the major publications.

And one thing I can say with certainty is, I was miserable about it. I didn’t feel bad because of my consumption, I felt horrible because every article or essay I read had me feeling on edge.

I had enemies I didn’t even know I had.

The right was trying to steal my rights, and the left was making me feel guilty by a standard I didn’t even know I had until after the newsbreak.

Did my whiteness mean I was a closeted racist because my great-grandparents fled Europe before the wars because they wanted to cash in on the economic boom of the United States off the backs of blacks and browns?

Did my great-grandparents understand American Civil rights in the early 19th century?

Was Christian Nationalism coming to burn my favorite books from the library? Would my absenteeism from Sunday Service result in some kind of restriction? Is Critical Race Theory really upending Western Civilization?

Needless to say, I was fraught with angst and anxiety. I was angry, but I didn’t know where I should direct this rage.

Al Qaeda, that is what did this! Those are the feet I should lay the blame on. That and all the Mexicans coming over the border illegally right?

No. The blame came from watching all the sensationalism on my morning feeds. The true culprit was me. I was the jackass that bought into the clickbait news cycle.

I can’t even fathom the anger swelling in the ranks of the FOX News audience. Shit, if I had a steady diet of Cable News that vilified everyone, I’d hate anyone who didn’t think like me.

The same could be said with MSNBC and CNN.

Those dumb ass Republicans with their antiquated beliefs want to use religious dogma loosely to come to take away the rights of people who don’t share their traditionalism of 2.5 kids and gender.

Liberals and their sexualization of our children. Who do they think they are supporting free market companies like Budweiser and Target for marketing to the LGBTQ+?

I will never call anyone they/them unless they are part of a group of 5 or more.

It’s endless. The cycle is just plain screwy.

I don’t know who to hate anymore.

Tucker Carlson! Rachel Maddow! Sean Hannity! Joe Scarborough!?

Please tell me what I should be frightened of today! Who should I hate with such a passion, that I shut out the world?

And because of our divided journalism, I decided that the best course of action is to just take a break from it all.?

Or at least try to.

Easier said than done since I am notorious for lack of impulse control because I still check the news. I just do it with a lot more caution.

Which, full circle, the worst thing you can do in the morning before starting your day is listening or watching any type of news. It will poison your entire day.

When I talk to friends, family, and co-workers who are still loyal to their news network tribe, I can always guess when they might have watched some broadcasted propaganda.

Conversations tend to lead towards what the other side is doing, and how if not corrected, it is the end of the United States as we know it.

The Right is coming for our rights and freedoms while the Left is blurring the lines of social justice.

In the end, everyone is angry about it.

And all of it could have been avoided if they had not watched the news.

Sometimes I wonder what is the end game for all of this. I mean really, what does everyone hope to accomplish?

For example, just recently the story broke about Project 2025.

Though I just know enough from different news sources, I couldn’t explain it in any way that would be considered educational.?

I am still reeling from the interview with the gentleman whose contribution to the project started a news cycle.

All that aside, what struck me as dangerous was his closing statement.

“We are in the process of the second American Revolution, which will remain bloodless if the left allows it to be.” Kevin Roberts.

What this said to me was that Roberts wants bloodshed. He wants to kill to make an example.

If he didn’t, then why polarize the Left for a fight if he didn’t want to unleash his version of retribution on what he considers his enemies?

He is looking to fight. He wants to fight. He wants blood. He wants to kill Americans.

And this makes me angry. Angry because someone who is supposed to participate in the greatest experiment in human history wants to see death and carnage.

Because his perceived enemy is the American Public. A public that may not share the same set of ideological beliefs.?

Is this what the major broadcasting companies wanted me to walk away with? Did it want me to think that another civil war is right in our midst???

That should be a wake-up call to all Americans that not only has our political parties become weaponized, but so has the news that we rely on.??

Make no mistake if this type of news cycle continues, we will be fighting our neighbors in the street. Families will find bloodshed on their doorsteps just like the American Civil War.

It will no longer be Northern families fighting Southern Famiies, but an all-out slaughter in the cities of this nation.

Just think of the movie Purge.

The line has been crossed. Not with just Kevin Roberts. He is the by-product of a news organization that has produced disparaging problematic programming in our daily lives.

I used to be a big fan of all the news stations. Every one of them offered insightful articles and commentary that I found valuable.

I wish I could say it was as true now as a decade ago.

Because somewhere along the line we sold ourselves out by buying into a narrative that would rather have us kill each other in the streets than work together.??

The world will come to an end because that is the way we want it. And it is true because we still let our broadcast weaponize our basic human instincts.

I will unfortunately continue to download as much of the same sensationalism as most of you.

I want to distinguish that the only enemy in this game is myself for believing any of it.

What I won’t do is watch or read the news in the morning. I need to find a more mentally healthy routine to start my day than the hate I bought and paid for.?

“And That’s The Way It Is.” -Walter Cronkite