Didn’t expect to hear from me today, did you?

Well, all I can say is, it’s a damned good thing I never succumbed to the temptations of recreational drugs, cigarettes, or excessive amounts of alcohol. But I have a new-found respect for those who did, and who then successfully went through the hell of recovery to come out clean on the other end; because I have discovered that I do, after all, have an addictive side: I’m hooked on writing.

On Monday, my first day of attempting to break from my obsession with the daily news, I found that — while I was still sorely tempted to rant on a number of subjects — I was able to restrain myself. As it turns out, it’s more the act of writing that I miss. And I’ve been thinking that perhaps, in seeking relief from all of the angst, I mistakenly also tried to break from the one thing that actually does bring me joy: communication.

No, I am not going back on my word; I do need this break from the daily ration of anger, frustration, and hatred swirling around out there in cyberspace. But perhaps “lukewarm turkey” is more my style than flat-out cold turkey: disengaging from the negative, while still keeping company with my keyboard . . . and my blog buddies.

I am not, after all, a hermit. And anyway, where is it written that a spiritual journey has to be taken alone?

So, full disclosure: I haven’t shut down the news alerts on my phone; I still need to know what’s happening in the world I inhabit. But when I received one yesterday morning, I found myself being able to laugh at the absurdity of something that would normally have pissed me off and sent me running for my iPad. That reaction struck me as progress . . . but what good was it if I couldn’t share it with my friends? So here it is:

It was the report of a Fox News interview given by real estate guru and White House special envoy Steve Witkoff, in turn relating what Donald Trump had said to him about Iran’s failure thus far to surrender to Trump’s threats of invasion:

“I don’t want to use the word ‘frustrated,’ because he understands he has plenty of alternatives, but he’s curious as to why they haven’t . . . I don’t want to use the word ‘capitulated,’ but why they haven’t capitulated.

“Why, under this pressure, with the amount of sea power and naval power over there, why haven’t they come to us and said, ‘We profess we don’t want a weapon, so here’s what we’re prepared to do’? And yet it’s sort of hard to get them to that place.” [RFE/RL, February 23, 2026.]

*. *. *

Now, normally the newshound in me would have been spewing epithets all over the place, raging at the thought of this idiot being in charge of our negotiations with Russia, Iran, and the whole freakin’ Middle East.

But the fact is — when you eliminate the prospect of World War III erupting momentarily — you have to admit that those two, Trump and Witkoff, are the Laurel and Hardy of modern-day vaudeville.

And I’m feeling much better already.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
2/24/26