God, those are some of the toughest words I’ve ever had to utter.

Never mind breaking up with a girlfriend or confronting a boss about some sensitive issue at the workplace; those words encapsulating the title of this column take the cake.

For anyone who’s kept up with these columns for the last couple of years, they know I am the supreme verbal abuser of President Donald Trump here at The Kent Stater.

It was a role I cherished and coddled like my own child, waiting at every waking moment for His Orangeness (here I go again) to slip up so I could crap all over him.

Verbally of course, not physically. Donald gets his kinks elsewhere. Okay, okay, moving on.

I cannot say precisely when this so-called revelation of mine came to fruition. And I know it won’t be easy to kick my severe habit of bashing on all things Trump does because, my goodness, it is just so easy, and he does embarrassing things so frequently.

Why, just last night had I just slumbered up to watch some Netflix (alone) when I noticed Trump and the “covfefe” tweet that has already become a viral sensation. I just pictured his tiny, childlike fingers frantically tweeting as he accidentally hit the “send” button too quickly.

And while I could probably muster up an entire column about that aforementioned tweet and turn it into a “Trump is such a dimwit, bozo and shlub of a human being” column, I just can’t do that anymore — at least for the time being. Make no mistake — he is all of those things.

But at this point in our current political climate, my attention and yours needs turned elsewhere.

It needs turned to actual issues and legislation that is being proposed, instead of focusing on idiot-in-chief and his antics.

I’m late to the party, I know.  

I am guilty of this. Maybe more so than anyone I know. I chose to write columns about Trump’s behavior ad nauseam for cheap laughs and because comedy is my way of coping with things that I don’t like or that I wish were otherwise.

Hey, we all have defense mechanisms.

I haven’t had this revelation because I’m one of those people who fear that we’re going to normalize Trump and his antics. His behavior will never be normal to any sane, rational person, and I think that’s just another way we let him and his administration off the hook for many things.

Frankly, I’m just tired of trying to keep up with the hysteria of this administration all the time and, at least for the time being, want to direct my attention (and hopefully yours) toward what is actually happening because of this administration.

Just this Wednesday, Trump announced he planned to withdrawal the U.S. from the Paris climate agreement, a pledge that saw hundreds of nations take a major step toward fighting climate change and reducing carbon emissions.

It’s a massive middle finger to everyone, and I will never understand why something like climate change, with all the proven science to support it, is still a partisan issue.

But as is the case with much of the Republican ideology, they’ll let their politics shape their scientific beliefs instead of the inverse.

I mean, really? How the hell can you just blatantly turn a blind eye to this issue? It’s disgusting, embarrassing for our country and downright sad for our generation and generations to come. Never mind the fact that nearly 4 out of 10 Americans live in counties with unhealthful levels of ozone or particle pollution, according to a study by the American Lung Association.

The irony here is that most of the cities with major pollution issues are from middle America, the same exact people who voted for Trump, who basically just said “screw you” people to prove some point of his.

As you see, dear reader, this issue, among many more, deserves our attention more so than anything Trump can tweet.

And sure, there is still a place to assess and dissect his tweets for the incoherent blabbering that they are. And there is still a place to look at his administration for the laughingstock it is.

But at least for a little bit, let’s talk about the signal instead of getting lost in the noise. Trust me, it’s harder than you may realize.  

So for now, I am going to take a break. For my sanity. For yours.

Because if we don’t, we’ll just keep playing into the hands of an administration that wants to divert our attention while it carries out its shameful agenda in the shadows.

Matt Poe is a columnist, contact him at [email protected].