# I'm done with the agita **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Tags:** trump\ **Created:** [July 3, 2024, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-done-with-the-agita/1003681 "2024-07-03T14:13:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2024, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-done-with-the-agita/1003681/1 "2024-07-03T14:13:54Z")
As of this thread, I will no longer be reading, watching or discussing Trump or Biden or any of the stories swirling around them, either online or with people in my sphere. I’m tired of being worried, angry and upset every single goddamn day. There is nothing I can do about any of it other than vote, and years of having Trump living in my head has not made me a pleasant person to be around. I’m angry much of the time and worried the rest of the time and it’s no way to live. So basically, _que sera, sera._ ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2024, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-done-with-the-agita/1003681/2 "2024-07-03T14:28:09Z")
I came to the same determination just this morning after a restless night of sleep. I’ll write a few checks and vote, but that’s all I have the mental energy for anymore. If I had children I might fight harder, but it’s up to people younger than me to take responsibility for this country’s future. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2024, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-done-with-the-agita/1003681/3 "2024-07-03T14:29:18Z")
I hear you loud and clear, Bro! Good plan if your will power holds up! I’ll join you! ---
**Author:** ![Cheesesteak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheesesteak/32/3694_2.png) [@Cheesesteak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheesesteak)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2024, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-done-with-the-agita/1003681/4 "2024-07-03T14:35:55Z")
It’s exhausting. > [@Chefguy](#): > > There is nothing I can do about any of it other than vote Maybe I’ll write a check, cast my vote, and wash my hands of the whole thing. ---
**Author:** ![peedin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peedin/32/14095_2.png) [@peedin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/peedin)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2024, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-done-with-the-agita/1003681/5 "2024-07-03T14:43:13Z")
I’m with you. I stopped allowing any Trump sensory input about 2 years ago. Now I’m totally done with smack talk about Biden, the UnSCOTUS, the wailing and gnashing of teeth. If people are so stupid as to want Trump as POTUS, they get what they deserve and they better STFU. ---
**Author:** ![Cardigan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cardigan/32/187_2.png) [@Cardigan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cardigan)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2024, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-done-with-the-agita/1003681/6 "2024-07-03T14:51:31Z")
I’ve decided I’m joining you as of now. Life is too short and there are definite limits to one’s power to affect the world. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2024, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-done-with-the-agita/1003681/7 "2024-07-03T14:58:46Z")
Yep. Same. ---
**Author:** ![Akaj](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/akaj/32/145_2.png) [@Akaj](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Akaj)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2024, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-done-with-the-agita/1003681/8 "2024-07-03T15:04:09Z")
I wish I could join you all, but I can’t. I live 10 minutes from a swing state and if Trump wins it, I would not be able to live with myself knowing I could have helped get out the vote for Biden. Of course, if I help to the best of my ability and Trump still wins it, my despair may be even greater. ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2024, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-done-with-the-agita/1003681/9 "2024-07-03T15:09:03Z")
I know exactly where OP is coming from. I made pretty much the same determination after the debate. If this had been posted in the Politics forum, I wouldn’t have seen it, so thanks for putting it here. I haven’t yet changed my alarm clock from the local NPR radio station, that may be coming soon. But I have started turning it off as soon as I get out of bed, instead of letting it play while I do my morning routine. ---
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2024, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-done-with-the-agita/1003681/10 "2024-07-03T15:18:12Z")
Completely support your approach, Chefguy. I’m pretty much with you, although as I write there are increasing signs that - no wait, I’m not gonna mess up your thread with that stuff. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2024, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-done-with-the-agita/1003681/11 "2024-07-03T15:19:30Z")
> [@Akaj](#): > > I wish I could join you all, but I can’t. I live 10 minutes from a swing state and if Trump wins it, I would not be able to live with myself knowing I could have helped get out the vote for Biden. > > Of course, if I help to the best of my ability and Trump still wins it, my despair may be even greater. It’s certainly fine to take action against trump. Most of us should do more than just vote and perhaps donate a comparative pittance. It’s the pointless jaw-slanging and TV-watching and hand-wringing and tweet-forwarding that serves no useful purpose. And that is _most_ of what most of us are foreswearing here. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2024, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-done-with-the-agita/1003681/12 "2024-07-03T15:20:14Z")
> [@Akaj](#): > > I wish I could join you all, but I can’t. I live 10 minutes from a swing state and if Trump wins it, I would not be able to live with myself knowing I could have helped get out the vote for Biden. What are you contemplating doing? (I salute you). I can and will send some money to candidates that appear to need it, but at least for now, I’m checking out too. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Borgia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/larry_borgia/32/156_2.png) [@Larry\_Borgia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Borgia)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2024, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-done-with-the-agita/1003681/13 "2024-07-03T15:22:43Z")
If you’re doing something constructive, that’s great. Seriously, more power to you. It’s the doomscrolling and TV watching that don’t do anything and are terrible for your mental health. ---
**Author:** ![Akaj](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/akaj/32/145_2.png) [@Akaj](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Akaj)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2024, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-done-with-the-agita/1003681/14 "2024-07-03T15:23:57Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > It’s the pointless jaw-slanging and TV-watching and hand-wringing and tweet-forwarding that serves no useful purpose. All my _agita_ is here on the Dope, and I’m addicted. I really am. It’s probably not healthy. > [@Procrustus](#): > > What are you contemplating doing? Pre-COVID I was volunteering with the Wisconsin dems, mostly canvassing. During COVID I also did some phone banking, which is a lot more fun than I thought it would be. So I’ll probably go back to that. > [@Larry\_Borgia](#): > > doomscrolling Yeah, I know. See above. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2024, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-done-with-the-agita/1003681/15 "2024-07-03T15:30:26Z")
My wife is the activist, so I leave donations to her. She’s also a politics junky, and gets herself all worked up over it. I told her that I’ll leave the national news on and excuse myself to a closed-door bedroom to read for that half hour. Rather than watch incendiary videos on YouTube, I will instead look at recipes or – at long last – pick up the guitar again. Anything else is background noise. Ommmmmmm. . . . . ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2024, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-done-with-the-agita/1003681/16 "2024-07-03T15:33:47Z")
I’ve been reaching the same conclusion after the one-two punch of the debate aftermath and the Supreme Court rulings. Deciding, as ChefGuy says, there’s not much I can do about things other than vote, and dwelling on what seems like an inevitable juggernaut of far-right awfulness is just too depressing to contemplate. So for the past week or two I’ve mostly stayed out of the politics and trump threads, trying to focus more on friends, family and myself. Of course, that may change back next week… > [@Chefguy](#): > > I will instead look at recipes or – at long last – pick up the guitar again. Yes! I just picked up my guitar last Friday for the first time in months, and it was like riding a bike (a bike I’m not very good at riding, but still enjoy doing it). I’m always looking at recipes. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2024, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-done-with-the-agita/1003681/17 "2024-07-03T15:35:51Z")
> [@solost](#): > > Of course, that may change back next week… Anything is possible, of course, but right now I don’t like myself very much. Hopefully a couple weeks of my plan will leave me less shouty and stabby. > [@solost](#): > > Yes! I just picked up my guitar last Friday for the first time in months, and it was like riding a bike (a bike I’m not very good at riding, but still enjoy doing it). It’s been two years for me. The Strat sits patiently in its stand while my callouses have completely disappeared. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2024, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-done-with-the-agita/1003681/18 "2024-07-03T15:39:37Z")
> [@Akaj](#): > > All my _agita_ is here on the Dope, and I’m addicted. I really am. It’s probably not healthy. Ditto. Well, I do have a couple other sources of agita as well. However, I’m getting better at putting my phone away when I’m at home, and husband has been changing the channel to anything-but-the-news. I was just wondering this morning how the hell I’m going to survive watching the election results come in. I think I’m going to need some real drugs. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2024, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-done-with-the-agita/1003681/19 "2024-07-03T15:41:05Z")
> [@Dung\_Beetle](#): > > I was just wondering this morning how the hell I’m going to survive watching the election results come in. I think I’m going to need some real drugs. I’m planning on avoiding election night. The wife will be up until the wee hours, but it’s just going to be too stressful, and my angst won’t change things a micron. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2024, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-done-with-the-agita/1003681/20 "2024-07-03T15:41:33Z")
I find it trivially easy to not let it to me. You know, life is what happens when you’re busy doing other things. Sometimes you just gotta get off the speeding train. Maybe a little simple meditation. I don’t how to do it, really. But I can sit quietly and put my mind somewhere else. It helps. If it’s bothering you. Look away. No crime in that. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-done-with-the-agita/1003681.md?page=2)