I’m weak. All things considered it was a pleasant weekend up in northern Wisconsin. A bit mmm, “moist” on Saturday, but Friday and Sunday were crisp and sunny. Good weather for putting on storm windows, stockpiling firewood, enjoying a beverage around a bonfire.

So why did I spoil it all by checking out the latest news yesterday morning? Even if you’re not like me, someone who believes things will go quite badly tomorrow, no one in the reality-based world expects this next election to go well for the forces of sanity.

As proof, I give you these anecdotes gleaned over one … one … cup of coffee.

We begin with a few clips from a story by Ed Pilkington of The Guardian, covering an evangelical/MAGA bash in Branson, Missouri.– for which some of the faithful paid $500 a pop.

“There is a man by the name of Donald,” the voice on the recording says. “God said, ‘You have been determined through your prayers to influence this nation … I will open that door that you prayed about, and when it comes time for the election you will be elected.” Three thousand people are packed into an overflowing auditorium, many with arms raised and eyes closed in prayer. The recording to which they are listening is from April 2013 and of Kim Clement, a late South African preacher, as he prophesies the first coming of Donald Trump. In a clip from the following year, Clement again purports to channel the word of God: “Hear me, for I have found a man after my own heart and he is among you. He is one of the brothers, but singled out for presidency of the United States of America.”

And …

“They will hear the former president’s first national security adviser Michael Flynn, who is revered in this setting as ‘America’s general’, warning that a new world tyranny is approaching. They will listen as Mike Lindell, the so-called My Pillow Guy, launches an incoherent rant about how foreign forces are infiltrating voting machines and using them to subvert US elections. They will give a standing ovation to the beloved leader’s son, Eric Trump, who will fire them up almost to the point of ecstasy with talk of ‘doing it all again’. And at the end of the day more than 200 of them will line up by a swimming pool for a full-body immersive baptism in the name of the Lord, spiritual and political. The show is part Trump Stop the Steal rally, part charismatic religious service, part QAnon and anti-vaxxer conspiracy theory all rolled into one. It also subscribes heavily to the church of merchandising – there is a large vendors’ tent with several stalls devoted to the peddling of snake oil (‘Redox Worx: patented cell-signalling technology. Improve health on a cellular level’).”

And …

“Twice the event has been shut down or forced to relocate, in New York and Washington states. Now when you are sent your ticket it is labelled as a ‘Fresh-roasted coffee-fest and expo’ to disguise the show’s real focus.”

And …

“We are ready to go to war with the enemy, to bring this country back,” Clark says as he orders the blowing of the shofar – horns seen as spiritual weapons that herald the unleashing of God’s power. [This heady brew is the creation of Clay Clark, a former wedding reception DJ from Oklahoma turned ThriveTimeShow podcaster who came to prominence protesting Covid lockdowns.]”

And …

” … speaker, Sherri Tenpenny, says that Covid vaccines were turning people into ‘transhumanist cyborgs’. Covid shots have killed 20 million people around the world and caused 20 billion injuries, she says.”

And … “It’s unthinkable what these people are doing to this nation,” [Eric Trump] says. “This is cognitive war, and I don’t say that lightly – I’m not, like, a tin-hat wearing guy.”

Then we have this from John Wagner at The Washington Post:

“Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) vowed Thursday that ‘not another penny’ of U.S. funding would be spent to help Ukraine defend itself against Russia if Republicans take control of Congress after the midterm elections. Greene spoke at a Save America rally in Sioux City, Iowa, staged by former president Donald Trump to boost Sen. Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa), among others, on the ballot. ‘The only border they care about is Ukraine, not America’s southern border’, Greene said of Democrats. ‘Under Republicans, not another penny will go to Ukraine. Our country comes first. They don’t care about our border or our people.’ The view of Greene, a conservative firebrand prone to controversy, has become more prevalent with GOP ranks in recent months. … House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) said in an interview last month with Punchbowl News: ‘I think people are going to be sitting in a recession and they’re not going to write a blank check to Ukraine’.”

And then this from Madeline Halpert for Forbes …

“Nearly half of Republicans think the U.S. is sending too much support to Ukraine as it battles Russia’s invasion, according to a new poll from the Wall Street Journal, a figure that has jumped in recent months, as some key GOP lawmakers threaten to cut back on U.S. aid to Ukraine.”

Combined with this from Steven Lee Myers at the New York Times …

“The user on Gab who identifies as Nora Berka resurfaced in August after a yearlong silence on the social media platform, reposting a handful of messages with sharply conservative political themes before writing a stream of original vitriol. The posts mostly denigrated President Biden and other prominent Democrats, sometimes obscenely. They also lamented the use of taxpayer dollars to support Ukraine in its war against invading Russian forces, depicting Ukraine’s president as a caricature straight out of Russian propaganda. The fusion of political concerns was no coincidence. The account was previously linked to the same secretive Russian agency that interfered in the 2016 presidential election and again in 2020, the Internet Research Agency in St. Petersburg, according to the cybersecurity group Recorded Future.”

And then as a capper, just to curdle the cream in your coffee …

” … the former president told rally attendees to expect an announcement ‘very, very soon’. ‘You’re gonna be surprised at how soon, but first, we have to win a historic victory for Republicans in November’, Trump said. Axios reported on Friday that Trump’s team is looking at November 14 as a possible date to formally announce his 2024 candidacy.”

In other words, by the time a freshly re-elected Marjorie Taylor Greene blows the shofar horn to summon the krakens of conservatism to wage holy war against all the woke liberals opposing the Russian liberation of Ukraine, the rock will have been rolled back and we will have already begun the two year march toward Second Coming of Donald, Our Savior.

Can I freshen your cup?

“How many of you believe that Jesus is king, and that Donald Trump is the president?” he asks. Almost every hand in the house shoots up.