Tempting as it may be to pat ourselves on the back for being Canadian, we are not immune to the toxicity on display in the United States these days. While Canadians take pride in our shared belief in taking care of and being kind to our fellow citizens, the political poison is too close for comfort. I am just a simple, retired old baby boomer, yet I am struggling every single day with the stress of watching the devolution of society for our neighbours to the south.

I find myself no longer wanting to listen to National Public Radio (NPR) or any talk radio show, in an attempt to shield myself from the horrors. As I skip over ninety percent of what now appears in our daily newspapers, and feel the need to throw back a bottle of Tums every time I watch the news on TV (which I also try to avoid), I feel helpless, discouraged, and filled with rage.

For years, I have subscribed to the Sunday edition of The New York Times. Armed with multiple cups of strong, Yorkshire Gold tea and toasted ACE baguettes with Bonne Maman raspberry jam, I religiously set aside anywhere from three to five hours every Sunday to devour the newspaper. I learn new things, smile at the Metropolitan Diary and Modern Love stories, savour each page of the Opinion, and Sunday Style sections, and generally bring myself up to date on general topics of interest.

This week, my friend Terry forwarded me a copy of an article by NYT columnist David Brooks on January 30th, called Time To Say Goodbye. After more than two decades of writing incisive articles on current events, David Brooks (a Republican) is leaving his post to pursue new challenges. I am devastated. It seems that Brooks is, too. Does he feel as impotent as I do about the current state of society in the United States? That’s not encouraging.

Even for those of us living our blissful, socially democratic lives in Canada, we are concerned about the state of the political situation in the United States to the extent that it is affecting the lives of the entire world, and not for the better. To quote Brooks, “True humanism . . . is the antidote to nihilism.” We see little of that these days.

The time I spend reading the Sunday edition of The New York Times has now been reduced to slightly more than an hour. To save my sanity and spare my blood pressure, I skip anything political, anything about war, anything about corruption, hate, or the distress afflicting so many Americans and others around the world because of their government’s economic and political actions. That doesn’t leave much.

History has proven that governing from the Germany 1938 playbook with storm troopers, retribution, racism, lies, and hate is a path to destruction. I urge you to read the article “Time to Say Goodbye” by David Brooks, which also appears in today’s Sunday edition. It’s rather lengthy but worth the time. We can only hope that the current administration will self-destruct, or that sanity, kindness, and humanism will miraculously return to the American people. It’s like our lovely neighbours to the south have gone on vacation and rented their house to a biker gang. Please come home before the sky falls: we miss you. Stay safe and keep well, mes très chères.

P.S. I promise next week’s blog posting will be much more light-hearted. Stay tuned.