As the 2022 midterm elections approach, I find myself unhealthily addicted to the news. Each morning I scour a variety of sources, ranging from the Washington Post to Fox News. Looking for what? For some indication, even just a hint, that the last six years have been a bad dream, that we will soon wake up and heave a national sigh of relief. That we’re somehow okay.
But I’m not finding anything like that. Instead, what I see is the rise of Christian Nationalism, Putin’s war on people and truth, Trumpism beyond Trump, violence and threats of violence, false pre-election claims of voter fraud, brazen antisemitism and racism, Q insanity, and underpinning it all: fear and ignorance.
We’re not okay. We’re far from it, and rapidly moving farther.
I worry that I’m not doing anything constructive in the midst of all this, and I’m fighting despair. But I’m not completely idle, either, and I haven’t given up. I’m taking in the beauty of the autumn leaves, I’m hiking with my dog every day, I’m writing another novel. I’m enjoying time with my wife and adult kids. I’m grateful for life. Today I’ll mail in my ballot and letters I’ve written to voters in Pennsylvania via the Vote Forward organization. None of this is likely to have even the slightest impact on the state of the world, but there it is.