I have been alone in a room for almost 24 hours with 6 TVs, a laptop and two radios, lis­ten­ing to and watch­ing and read­ing only polit­i­cal shows and pun­dits and blogs, some­times mon­i­tor­ing four or five things at the same time. Just to see if it can be done.

I’ll tell you it can be, but I cannot tell you how hor­ri­ble it is. It rat­tles the very center of your being. If you care about the state of humankind, it fills you with despair. We are as a people bleak and hos­tile and sus­pi­cious, filled with sense­less par­ti­san­ship and will­ing to believe any­thing and every­thing about anyone. We are full of our­selves and we hate. And we do it 24-7.

Would you be will­ing, as a sign of com­pas­sion and empa­thy, to do the unthink­able and broad­cast right now, as a Valen­tine to me, 20 sec­onds of blessed dead air?

Com­plete silence. Just read my text and then say . . . noth­ing. Twenty seconds.