Lorie Byrd

For the past two weeks I have lived as most normal people live – too busy with work and kids to pay much attention to the details of national news and politics. A new job and a return to the school calendar have demanded I forego my usual political junkie cable news/internet news/blog fix. I have followed politics since high school. Back then it was by reading columnists in my local paper and watching This Week with David Brinkley, The McLaughlin Group and Nightline on a regular basis. Then came CNN’s Crossfire, followed by more cable news shows and channels, internet news sites and online communities discussing news at sites like Lucianne.com. With each additional hour of political programming, the time I spent reading and thinking about news and politics increased. By the time I became introduced to blogs, first through Andrew Sullivan, my addiction was a bit out of control.

I think I can speak for most political junkies when I say you get to a point where you just can’t imagine not being insanely over-informed about all things political. The thought of not knowing what is going on in the world, particularly in Washington DC, is almost unthinkable. The amount of time spent reading news and opinion pieces about issues and legislation and candidates and even political gossip leaves less time for other activities like dusting the house or exercising or watching really good trashy television dramas. You have an urge to be informed. More than an urge really -- a hunger that must be satisfied.

In the past couple of weeks I have only skimmed the headlines and have watched only brief snippets of cable news. I have simply not had time between school carpool and work and the kids’ extracurricular activities. What I have learned though, instead of being less informed, I might just have gained an edge in one respect of political knowledge. I am actually beginning to remember what it felt like to not know what was going on in the world of politics. What is even more helpful is that for most of that time I not only did not know what was going on inside the Beltway, but I was too busy to care. I am seeing the world anew through the eyes of a (somewhat) normal person and that is giving me a greater understanding of why public opinion on some issues is the way it is.

Lorie Byrd

