Rachel Maddow isn’t averse to sounding the alarm. Nor does she hesitate to share signs of hope and resistance in these times when we might be wondering if America is going to survive this intentional attempt to tear it apart.

I was thinking last night that if shows and networks like hers were to go away, then that would be the last sign of the apocalypse. Nobody should wait for that to happen, though. We’ve seen enough already to be more than alarmed. We’re on to Trump and the Heritage Foundation, but the question becomes whether we can be as driven and methodical and relentless as they have been.

They are driven by hate and mistrust and greed, along with a lust for control and power. We must be driven by what they obviously consider pie-in-the-sky naivete and wishful thinking: equity, justice, compassion, patience, and the zeal for defending these things.

It’s time to gird the loins and prepare for the midterm elections, because Trump and the rest are very aware of what’s at stake, and they are not going to go gently into that good night without making things as difficult as possible for people to vote in November. They already know where national sentiment lies (most of us have had way more than enough of these lightweight incompetents and their “Christian” values) so they will be ruthless and tireless in weakening our institutions ever further and protecting their interests during the remaining months before the elections.

The stretch run is upon us, and we best sustain ourselves and each other in anticipation of the marathon that is certain to commence ahead of November 3.

To follow up on my post from July 9, I’m about ready to give up.

The news about Mitch McConnell is causing me to question the validity of the news source I’ve been trusting during these years of so much misdirection and exaggeration. Last week, McConnell was on his death bed in a hospital somewhere, and his wife was out of the country so as to avoid signing a DNR order.

But this morning’s local paper had what appears to be a recent picture of McConnell and his wife, he looking comfortable, both smiling, and accompanied by an article with quotes from the man himself, talking, apparently, about what really happened a few weeks ago.

So, who does one believe anymore?

Do news outlets just sense the potential for a crazy story and overreact, make stuff up? Or is someone still lying here? Has AI been employed somehow, or is it just difficult for someone who has never respected McConnell (me) to come to terms with the fact that all this talk about death beds and DNRs and the potential upheaval in the Senate is fabricated, or at least irresponsibly covered?

It’s enough to make one want to swear off trying to remain informed and engaged any longer. Then again, isn’t this exactly where Trump and Co. want us to be?

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In the absence of anything substantial in the way of information, a vacuum can be created, a void into which opinion and conjecture are inserted and assumptions made. The news—what there is of it—about Mitch McConnell is case in point.

There appears to be some medical issue unfolding for weeks now, and the public has been largely kept in the dark about it. Theories abound, the most prominent of which is that Republicans are strategizing and trying to avoid certain eventualities and timeframes so as not to jeopardize their current advantage in the Senate.

McConnell’s wife is not even in the country, the theory here being that she will be unavailable to sign a DNR order until August 3 or thereafter. So, apparently we are to assume that the Senator is on life support and will remain so until it is advantageous to remove him?

See? In the absence of solid info, theories will be floated, and conclusions will be drawn.

Are we supposed to care about Taylor and Travis’s wedding? I suppose it took people’s minds off other things that have been nagging at us, but in the larger scheme of things, it’s not unlike a royal wedding—an event that draws outsized media coverage and allows the masses to drool over how the 1-percenters live.

Sure, I might be a bit envious about using Madison Square Garden as the venue, that Adam Sandler officiated, that they marry their fortunes together and will never want for anything. But that jealousy will fade quickly, because there are more pressing events and issues vying for our attention.

For some, it’s a pleasant distraction and a celebrity fix. For me, these or any nuptials don’t really belong in the multi-media sphere, are much ado about nothing, and I’m mystified by the attention paid them.

The news comes in waves.

Mitch McConnell—is he alive, or at least conscious? Is Putin as evil and crazy as he wants to make us think? Is Trump going to blow up NATO? Did Trump interfere in the process of getting Mr. Balogun back for the Belgium match? That worked out, well, about as expected. Balogun’s presence didn’t matter. In fact, it may have messed with the U.S. players’ mojo, and all Trump really did was to hand Belgium additional motivational fodder and confirm us to be the bad guys the world already suspects us to be.

Did the latest news about Graham Platner’s checkered past hit of its own accord, or was this a calculated, well-timed Republican ploy to drag a potential challenger to Susan Collins even deeper into the mud? If so, how much did the woman who came forward with the allegation get paid?

Politics is indeed a slimy, cutthroat business, and humans can so readily indulge the enterprise. To add to the mess, Donald Trump is so damned inspirational in this regard.