Conservative blogger and commentator Andrew Sullivan, who writes for New York Magazine, is live blogging the first general election presidential debate.
And he’ll do so after consuming a benzodiazepine.
He informed the masses by writing to his old readers from The Dish:
Dear Dishheads,
Just a heads up that I’ll be liveblogging the debate tonight – and will take a Xanax beforehand.
For those of you who can’t bear to watch, read the liveblog!
For those prepared to watch the republic crumble in real time, join me!
It’s at 9 pm, and at nymag.com.
Know hope
According to WebMD, Xanax is used to treat anxiety and panic disorders and is said to have a “calming effect.”
The side effects Sullivan may experience are many — drowsiness, dizziness, increased saliva and a “change” in sex ability or drive may occur. In rare cases, hallucinations and suicidal thoughts can arise. There can also be rashes, itching and trouble breathing.
It’s clear that he hates Donald Trump.
In May of 2016, he wrote:
“The nausea comes and goes, and there have been days when the news algorithm has actually reassured me that “peak Trump” has arrived. But it hasn’t gone away, and neither has Trump. In the wake of his most recent primary triumphs, at a time when he is perilously close to winning enough delegates to grab the Republican nomination outright, I think we must confront this dread and be clear about what this election has already revealed about the fragility of our way of life and the threat late-stage democracy is beginning to pose to itself.”
In July he endorsed Hillary Clinton.
“I’m with her now,” he wrote. “As passionately as I ever was with Obama. For his legacy is at stake as well.”
Sullivan left his blog — supposedly for good — to reacquaint himself with his brain and his husband in 2015. He more than alluded to being wiped out after 15 years of blogging.
“There comes a time when you have to move on to new things, shake your world up, or recognize before you crash that burn-out does happen,” he wrote in an extremely emotional sort of pre-farewell farewell letter.
“I want to read again, slowly, carefully,” he continued on. “I want to absorb a difficult book and walk around in my own thoughts with it for a while. I want to have an idea and let it slowly take shape, rather than be instantly blogged. I want to write long essays that can answer more deeply and subtly the many questions that the Dish years have presented to me. I want to write a book.”
“I want to spend some real time with my parents, while I still have them, with my husband, who is too often a ‘blog-widow’, my sister and brother, my niece and nephews, and rekindle the friendships that I have simply had to let wither because I’m always tied to the blog. And I want to stay healthy.”
Sullivan returned to the hustle and bustle of the writing world less than a year and a half later.