It's easy to tune out bad news. If you don't like the headlines, put down the paper or stop scrolling. If you don't like what the anchor is saying, change the channel to one more aligned with your politics. Nearly two years into Donald Trump's second term, Americans increasingly live in bubbles of their own construction — chosen media diets, states sorted so thoroughly that one party runs most of the machinery of government.
Politicians can cherry-pick their way through the same economy: don't want to talk about interest rates, talk about unemployment; skip the jobs report and mention that the Dow is over 50,000. But there is one number few can avoid, because it's printed 20 feet high every few miles of interstate — the price of fuel.
