I’m tempted to say I’ve given up for Lent;

• Interest in with whom and how President Trump attempts to shake hands.
• Interest in the flavor of the cake he was eating when he related the information to the leader of China, the greatest competitor the US has, that he had just ordered the bombing of Syria.
• Interest in Ivanka Kushner’s clothing/jewelry line.
• Interest in how much toilet paper you or anyone else has bought.
• Interest in Matt Gaetz’s sleeping arrangements…or Matt Gaetz for that matter.
• Interest in the wall.
• Interest in the health department inspections of Mar a Whatever.
• Interest in anything our president utters until it has been filtered through reality (I don’t particularly care if it’s been vetted by Spellchecker).
• Likewise, interest in anything “Occupy Democrats” and its ilk utters until it has been filtered through reality.

I won’t go on – it’s a long list – you get the idea.

The problem is I never had any interest in those things to give up.

Perhaps I should be interested. Perhaps they indicate and reveal something about the character of our current leaders and their fitness to serve. But I think I have a pretty good fix on those concerns already.

I am still interested in;

• President Trump’s financial entanglements with Russia and Vladimir Putin.
• The extent and effectiveness of Russia’s attempts to affect our elections – Presidential and Senate and House of Representatives.
• The evisceration of the State Department, Education, and our Environmental Protections.
• The current apparent effort to suffocate Planned Parenthood, the CDC, the Postal Service, and the EPA.
• Keeping our roads and bridges functional.
• The whereabouts and intentions of OUR warships and tomahawk missiles and who is directing their movements and intentions…whatever flavor the cake is.

…and surviving this plague, personally and as a nation.

Unfortunately for my Lenten possibilities, I won’t be giving those interests up. They’re too important.

I will NOT “Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain!”

That would be stupid. I may not be brilliant, but I resist being stupid.

Ivanka’s jewelry line……give me a break.

Chocolate cake? Oh yeah…I’ll give that up in a heartbeat.