IT'S ABOUT BURNOUT

After more than 3,000 posts and experiencing a series of life-changing events lately, I've been pretty much in the throes of blogger burnout during the past month or so. And it's not just blogging that lost its interest for me, it was politics in general. My usual practice is to absorb somewhere in the neighborhood of three hours a day in TV and radio news and commentary and about two hours reading newspapers, magazines and blogs online.

But lately I've had things more personal to take care of. And when I've had any free time I've preferred lighter reading and watching movies with The Sage to worrying about the problems of others. It's not that I've grown indifferent. But after six years of intense, unrelenting concern for the nation and the world (generated by the disastrous Bush administration), I'm just exhausted.

You know, there's a lot of wailing about the media coverage of Anna Nicole Smith's death and the bizarre lovestruck astronaut story crowding out the news of the Libby trial, more revelations about the lies and deceptions that led us to to invade Iraq, escalating Bush administration Iran saber-rattling, etc. But I think I understand what's happening. The media and the public are just plain tired of the horrors -- an unwinnable, pointless war and indications of more to come, the constant stress engendered by the Bushies' fear-mongering. We're supposed to fear terrorist, gays, illegal immigrants, environmentalists, most other nations of the world, and at home crazy people who want to kill us lurking around every corner. We're not stupid, we know it's a dangerous world. But there's just too much of the deadly serious bombarding us and too little comic relief.

It's why I've been neglecting the blog, and it's not forever.