Politics: Ugh.

Why?

There's an old saying that if you want to avoid conflict, stay away from discussing religion and politics. "Things to Realize" is not a political newsletter, but the politics of the last year crowded out pretty much everything else in my brain. This section of "Things to Realize" allows me to bleed off the political and make room for bigger things. It's admittedly selfish: I need a place to empty my brain of the political, and Facebook and Twitter ain't making it. Politics is wearying. It is exasperating. It is fraught. I get that. But please bear with me: by letting this old man to sound his barbaric political "yawp," I am confident it will allow better things to flow. And who knows? There are things to realize politically as well. 

My opinions are my own, some disagreeable, and probably wrong.