WARNING: The following is NOT a political rant.As you have seen, I try to keep these newsletters as politics free as possible.  And believe me, it is not easy, Friends of Dave.  There's tons of great, provocative, snarky, insightful content created daily about the current state of politics being published by the minute that I read and would love to share here.  But why start arguments amongst friends?  That's what Facebook is for, right?This week, however, something triggered me.  All of a sudden, amid all of the things going on in my life, your lives, and in the world, we were somehow introduced to a new word:  covfefe.  I'm pretty active on Twitter and social media, and I did not see it happen.  But all of a sudden, this nonsensical word is being broadcasted in the news, posted in my various social media feeds, late night talk show hosts are talking about it, my kids are snickering about it at the dinner table, and, of course, it became a hashtag.  If this is the first time you are hearing the word, I'd like to: 1) apologize for doing so and 2) switch places with you in the universe. Like now.Why on earth is this even being analyzed or subject to any form of "fact checking"?  Of course, it comes down to two things:  clicks and views.  Our media cycles are now driven by keywords and topics that last hours and maybe days.  Because our media has invested so heavily in covering every thing about POTUS like he is the second coming of Tim Tebow, naturally any move he makes will generate buzz and grab attention of both his detractors and his followers.  And that means more clicks and views. Cha-ching.But, knowing this, what does it say about how collectively bored (and easily distracted) the world has become that an obvious typo on a social media account occupies anyone's brain space?  Why do we pay attention when covfefe gets air time and tune out when it comes to details about important issues like economy, climate change, gun control, or foreign relations?  Why do we still play along?There are so many meaningful things we should be constructively discussing to tackle the real problems our nation faces.  No matter how silly, stupid, careless, or interesting we think it is, covfefe is not one of them.  And while using it as a hashtag might feed our egos and get more people to view our social media posts, I believe it just contributes to the dumbing down of our country. I think you would agree that we are better than that, Friends of Dave. At least I still hope so.Rant over. I hope you enjoy the selections in Issue 23.  Most importantly, I hop you have a fabulous weekend.XOXODave