I’m happy to report that I made it through Monday and most of Tuesday without obsessing about the news. And then, just as I was beginning to feel proud of myself, a reminder popped up on my phone that — OH, CRAP! — the State of the Union message was about to be delivered.

Well, that in itself was not a problem, because I had no intention of watching it in any event. But just knowing that the news would be inundated with follow-up analyses was enough to send me into a serious episode of delirium tremens, complete with a primal scream and a roomful of pink elephants.

It is now just after midnight, and I’ve calmed down. I assume the speech is over, and I have thus far avoided the TV and online news reports. But the very thought of what’s waiting for me out there, and how I will react when eventually I do read some of it, almost has me wishing I were Catholic so I could run out to the nearest church in search of a priest who would hear my confession.

But I’m not Catholic . . . and rabbis don’t do the confession thing (though most of them are very good listeners because, well . . . you know . . . the Jewish mothers and wives).

So instead, I went in search of a little comic relief therapy, and came up with this:

*. *. *

I was hoping to find some humor in there somewhere, but the only thing that came to mind was:

“CAN’T YOU SEE IT? THEY’RE INTERCHANGEABLE!”

And that was decidedly not funny.

Still, it’s early days in my search for inner peace. Maybe I’ll do better tomorrow.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
2/25/26