Watching the news can leave one dour. Here, I'll show you.

I was talking to a woman last week and we were chatting about the news. She told me that her father watches the news all day and has one of the sourest dispositions ever seen.

I picture him like a big sponge, saturated with liquid words that distort his thinking and soak his daily attire with sweat. He seems miserable, she says.

I thought about her comments and realized that many people are absorbed by the reports that dot their screen throughout the day and night.

I’m thinking I watch too much news myself.

Politics sure has a place on the big screen. I even change the channels at times to see the different biases in reporting of the news. You can soon tell which stations support which political parties.

Ex-President Donald Trump made the headlines recently when he was indicted for some 34 felonies in New York. Some political experts in kitchens and lounges accuse the Democratic district attorney there of a political setup, and each party continues at each other’s throat.

2024 will certainly keep the former president busy — and voters, too, I suspect.

Republicans are fighting Republicans, and President Joe Biden is getting older and continues using some strange words almost daily to keep us informed.

Biden, at age 80, must have discovered the fountain of youth I’m thinking and is apparently pondering yet another run for president in 2024.

Me, at almost 75? I’m wondering just how much longer I will be able to mow my yard and take the trash to the dump and do math in my head.

I still have a few dreams, though, of one more grand fishing trip and catching a last really huge fish like Santiago in Hemingway’s the "Old Man and the Sea."

I still think of conquering those Dargan hills, too, like I once did in search of a few big mushrooms. But as that dream fades, I call my friend Gilligan Dog (George Rowe) to see if he might conjure up a deal for a gallon of those black and white beauties.

I’m thinking that both Trump and Biden would have some difficulties these days navigating the hills of Dargan in search of a few morels, between the copper heads, May apples, stickers and briars.

No one should be president unless they hunt and eat morels, I’ve concluded.

Then again, they might surprise me with their endurance and get lost.

No! Please delete that thought.

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Elon Musk is busy with his Twitter acquisition, and he is telling us that the Artificial Intelligence element can be trained and programmed in the future to lie.

Now I’m hoping here the politicians don’t learn about Musk’s revelation. Can you even imagine for one minute a machine that lies more than some politicians? I’m thinking our country is headed for deep waters.

Pretty soon the public won’t know what to believe about anything. Imagine that! I’m really a bit flabbergasted at the moment.

Meanwhile, a few of the youth in America, tired of not having anything constructive to do, have decided to take matters into their own hands by breaking into a few stores and stealing all sorts of property. Scenes of their behavior dot some news stations, others not so much.

That sounds like a lot more fun than going to work for sure, huh?

If they break into stores with little or no consequence, I’m wondering what might lie ahead if they become a little bolder.

And in many cities, there appears a new political leadership style rolling up its sleeves, ready to get down to work tackling the crime problems on their streets.

Many cities are earnestly (?) looking for ways to tackle criminal behavior and other social issues in their neighborhoods.

Being a mayor of a big city is a tough job.

Many pundits, too, have implemented or suggested a "no bail" approach for those arrested ,which will help promote a more level playing field for those who might be innocent but can’t afford bail. A no bail approach seems a fairer way to go, they say, but there is some opposition.

More than a few folks are expressing their displeasure with this approach and suggest that most arrested are guilty of crimes and are merely being released back into communities to commit yet other crimes before they are actually tried in court for the first offense.

It appears to be yet another political dilemma of sorts for many jurisdictions: Protect the innocent under arrest, or those innocents preyed upon by guilty criminals released back into the streets? You decide.

I’m turning off the TV.

Pete Waters is a Herald-Mail columnist.

This article originally appeared on The Herald-Mail: Television news consumption can affect your outlook on life