Stop needing to keep up on the news

I found myself victim the weekend to closely following the Congressional drama involved in passing healthcare legislation. On the one hand, as a voting citizen of a democratic republic, it is my duty to be aware of the details of the actions the representatives from my state and district partake--plus, the political theater was awesome: witnessing how a historic, once in a generation piece of legislation works its way through Washington. On the other hand, does this duty really require me to revisit the NY Times, Politico, Washington Post, RealClearPolitics, Townhall, and The New Republic repeatedly throughout the day, sometimes just hitting the refresh button?

Yes, I must be aware, but let go of the need to be real-time current. To what end does instantaneous knowledge serve? What is the difference between knowing if the bill passed at 5:00 PDT or at 6:00 PDT? Could I have not found something more enjoyable to do, appreciated my time a bit more during this period? And how many blog feeds do I really need to follow?