I feel very conflicted by whether I should read the news or not. It seems to be a trade-off of "being reasonably informed" vs "being slowly driven insane". Here are two cons and a pro:
The news maddening, depressing, infuriating, and continually reinforces the reality that politically, as someone who identifies as progressive, that the US is being run by a minority representative gov't. The senate skews right (due to overrepresentation of rural states), the president has said many times how much it doesn't matter if blue states catch on fire and that blue state COVID deaths are unimportant. The president is actively trying to disenfranchise voters by green-lighting the removal of USPS sorting machines, encouraging his supporters to physically try to blockade Ds from voting (in Virginia), and threatening to "call the election" on election night, even though many states allow for the counting of votes after 11/3 (he knows the counting of mail-in votes skews D, so he wants to disregard those votes entirely). Trump will fill RGBs slot on the supreme court and no amount of petitions or pointing-out-the-hypocrisy or posturing by Schumer and Pelosi can stop it .. because the GOP is amazing at using (and in this case abusing) the mechanics of the American political system, and Democrats are "all policy / no mechanics". He's appointed 300 permanent judges, while doing absolutely nothing for the American people (including his base). At least 15 Trump officials do not hold their positions lawfully. And all the while, the senate and Barr keep the corruption, lies, and hypocrisy alive and well ... as this all benefits the GOP.
It's enough to drive any reasonable person insane.
(Incidentally, the American people are currently the frog being boiled alive)
So it's a white-knuckled, fist-shaking, will-this-hell-ever-end news landscape, and it's proving to be fairly detrimental to me personally, as I periodically take the pulse of what's happening in the news cycle.
Is the idea that, all that's left for evil to flourish is for good men to do nothing. If I'm uneducated, that helps bad people do bad things .. as Trump "loves the uneducated". One could argue the big-picture problem is too many people bury their heads in the sand (and then of course don't vote).
Is the idea that I'm completely powerless to effect any change at all. It makes literally no difference if I read the news or not. I can't "call my representative". My governor is powerless over any of this. The house is powerless as well. America is getting fucked over, and we apparently just have to sit here and take it... and then cross your fingers that Trump isn't re-elected in Nov (though this remains a distinct, and terrifying, possibility, given the electoral college skew .. the popular vote has to have something like a +8% skew towards Ds to elect a D presidential candidate .. it's insane).
