By: Keith Kappes
Columnist
Carter County Times
This is difficult for an old journalist like me to say or write but I am beginning to understand why so many folks say they have given up on newscasts to protect their mental health.
I thought I had outwitted the naysayers years ago by just limiting myself to the evening news on television with a few peeks during the day at what CNN was streaming on my cell phone. I knew I could not tolerate what Fox claimed was news but, in reality, turned out to be thinly disguised political propaganda.
Speaking of Fox, can you imagine spending more than three quarters of a billion dollars in a lawsuit settlement to avoid having their executives and news personalities take the witness stand to explain why they lied about the 2020 election?
I dreamed the other night after the evening news that I was being fitted for body armor and issued an AR-15 assault rifle so that I could go to the grocery store or to church or to my part-time job at the local community college.
As the father of eight and grandfather of 18, I don’t think I can stand to see any more heartbroken family members placing flowers and handwritten signs of farewell on graves or temporary memorials for victims of gun violence of all ages.
As a white man, I am simply dumbfounded to think that that a person of color would or should be afraid to ring my doorbell or pull into my driveway to ask directions.
In that same vein, I can’t imagine the disappointment felt by African Americans who have always been so proud to have Clarence Thomas on the U. S. Supreme Court, never suspecting that his ethical standards might have been compromised by unreported luxury gift vacations and sweetheart real estate deals.
Writing this commentary has added to my lowliness of spirit to such extent that I will stop while offering another prayer that the Lord has not given up on us.
(Contact Keith at keithkappes@gmail.com).