And the Winners Are…

Two runners cross a CITY MARATHON finish line as spectators watch and squirrels gather.

By Charlie Johnston

Okay, I’m ready. At the bottom of this article I will make my predictions for this election cycle. More often than not, when I make formal predictions, I am eerily on target, picking up on huge undercurrents that no one else does.

My best performances were, 1) in 1994, when I predicted eight months before election that, though I didn’t know about the Senate, Republicans were a dead lock to pick up the House for the first time in 40 years. Then, a week and a half before election, I predicted the exact number of seats the GOP would pick up – much to the howls of laughter by both the Democrat and Republican operatives that were on my show that day. In 2016, the night before election, I told a Christian broadcaster that, contrary to the 99% certainty most of the media had that Hillary Clinton would win the presidency, Donald Trump would win handily. The media and Dems were in a confirmation bias spiral and never picked up how quietly angry much of the country had become at the authoritarian chaos spun from the White House the previous eight years. Among my favorites was 1989. A 20-year-seemingly invulnerable incumbent who headed a total slate of eight people was up. I had managed the opposing slate’s campaign. On election night I was at the courthouse for a broadcast of returns (I had done NO broadcasts during the campaign but came back as a commentator after the voting was finished). Early in the night, several officials had come up to me and told me, in commiseration, what a great job I had done but that it was impossible to dislodge a 20-year- incumbent who ran a vigorous campaign. It was getting under my skin. Finally, when the Chief Judge in this county of 750,000 people came up to me to offer condolences before the first returns came in, I got my back up and snapped loudly that, “The surprise tonight is not going to be that my slate wins, but how much they win by.” People looked around at me like the pressure had obviously unhinged me – and nobody said anything else about it. Until the returns came in. Then they said little, either, but looked at me in wide-eyed wonder. The LOW vote-getter on our slate pulled in just over 60 percent of the vote. You CAN fight city hall and win.

On the other hand, in 1992 I was overjoyed when Bill Clinton won the nomination for president, convinced that he was the only Democrat scandal-ridden and weak enough to get the lackluster George H.W. Bush re-elected. That one didn’t work out very well for me.

I have only had mystical insights about elections on two occasions – and both told me things I did NOT want to hear. In 2008 I was doing a Sunday political show on WLS, the big talk station in Chicago. As I was the designated GOP spokesman on that show, I did my job and touted the McCain ticket vigorously, despite my longstanding disdain for John McCain. Late in the summer, it looked like McCain had pulled ahead and my Confessor Priest, who listened to the show every Sunday, asked me excitedly if McCain had a chance of pulling this out when I visited with him. “Father,” I said, “I have been telling you guys for over a decade that the man who leads us into the fullness of the storm will be shallow, vain, petty and glib. Obama is right out of central casting. He will be president.”

In 2010, I got involved in a U.S. Senate primary. To my surprise, after I was recruited and was considering it, I got divine direction that I was to take it – and that we would lose. That is the ONLY time I have ever been told the outcome of a race I directly participated in. I protested, of course. But my angel insisted that God had some very important things in it for me that I had to know. I stepped up while insisting pugnaciously that I would do everything I could to win, despite this. My angel told me God expected no less. It played out exactly as I was told.  The candidate was a solid guy, but it was the most frustrating race I have ever been involved in. But in the frustrations were the lessons tailored to me. They were not just important, but vitally important.

On the bad side, I sometimes miss. When I do, I miss badly. No “close but no cigar” for me. When I miss it is a technicolor train wreck, with fiery explosions and crashes that would do Arnold Schwarzenegger proud. So, at the end of this column I go on record, either to eerily impress you on Nov. 3 or to give you the pleasure of taunting me at how badly I was off base.

*********

I was saddened to hear of the passing of “Iron Mike” Ditka, the Chicago Bears’ legendary player and coach. Da Coach was truly a Chicago icon – and his face could have been a logo for the Chicago Bears. Those old Saturday Night Live “Superfans” skits were not far off the mark on how we fans viewed him in Chicago.   

In 2006, he came to appear at a private event for a Congressional candidate of mine. He was supposed to say a few words and stay for an hour. It had fallen to me to introduce the Coach to the crowd. Amused at the irony of having an obscure political operative introduce one of the most instantly recognizable figures in America, I did a few minutes of a wry candid fan’s introduction with my regular humor. Ditka stayed the whole evening, gladly signing footballs, jerseys, and any other memorabilia offered, while talking and laughing individually with everyone there. It made for a fabulous evening. Turned out he absolutely loved my introduction, said it had him laughing, too. He told me how to contact his people and invited me to call him if I needed help for a good, conservative candidate.                                   

He was as good as his word and did several events for other candidates later. The last time I saw him, a group of lawyers did a private fundraiser for a Senate candidate at his Ditka’s Restaurant. (Ditka’s Restaurant and Harry Carey’s Downtown were the only sports figure restaurants I have ever been to where the food was fabulous in its own right). While the managing partner of the host law firm introduced him, we sat in a booth together. After the partner had droned on for over 10 minutes, Ditka grinned at me and said, “I don’t think he knows who the main attraction here is.” I chuckled and replied, “He’s just starstruck – and some people just keep gushing when that happens.” He raised his eyebrows and said, “So you were never starstruck by me?” “Still am,” I replied, “I just know how to prime a crowd for the main event and then shut up, sit down, and enjoy it.” We both chuckled as the partner continued to enthusiastically drone on.

Ditka had genuine star power and a great sense of humor – sometimes wry, sometimes broad. My favorite line from an event he did with me was, speaking of an effort to get him to drop into the US Senate race in 2004 against Barack Obama, he said he had seriously considered it and he believed he would have won, but in retrospect, turning it down spared him a lot of grief. “I realized that if I went to the Senate, sooner or later I would have just had to kick Ted Kennedy’s a**.” The crowd roared.

God bless you, Iron Mike. You were an original who gave a lot of us, particularly in the Chicago area, a lot of joy.

*********

 My friend and longtime scheduler, Mary Lapchak, has retired. Oh, she still enthusiastically supports CORAC, but has a lot of change going on in her life. For years I would spend a few days every couple of months with her and her husband, Mark, at their central Colorado farm. We would have coffee in the morning, then go about our work separately, and then Mary would serve dinner downstairs where we would watch TV and movies together. She is a fabulous cook. She loves to try to find a way to get me to eat a salad (and she came up with some very ingenious ones that worked.) Alas, Mark passed away a couple of years ago. I miss those years, but change is inevitable in every life, isn’t it? When big change comes you have to take stock and figure out what to do and how to adapt. That usually takes a few years before you can get a new routine established that hides the hole that loss leaves you with. The Lapchak’s farm is for sale now and Mary has quite enough on her plate. I know many of you got to be friends with her over the years. Give her a call sometime. There are few things she enjoys more than friends – and CORAC has been a goldmine for her on garnering friends, just as she was a goldmine for me in taking worrying about schedules off my plate.

My daughter, Christie, has taken on the job of scheduling me. Privately, I can be gruff sometimes. Mary had gotten used to it and could be gruff right back. I didn’t want to have to break somebody into the fact that that’s how I can be. I mean no harm…and I like someone who will give it back to me if I’m getting thoughtless. Christie got used to that decades ago. And she’s good with people. So, there you go.

If you have any questions or want to schedule a meeting or find when I’m going to be in your area, you can contact her at Christinaj@coracusa.com.

*********

Okay, on to the midterm election.

This election is going to be Waterloo for pollsters, the media…and the Democratic Party as it is currently constituted.

On the pollsters, I have known for going on two decades that the profession has largely been destroyed by the rise of caller ID and call blocking. That is not their fault. But they have to rely so heavily on subjective assessments now that it is nearly impossible to get a scientifically random selection that is cost effective. They had to come up with something to keep their business models rolling. They adapted the polling industry into one that tries to create a narrative rather than reveal an actual snapshot of the electorate in time. That IS their fault. This time the jig is up and the whole edifice is going to be in ashes. A lot of polling organizations that are busily working away will no longer be in existence this time next year. They will be so far off on so many races that almost everyone, including the lowest information voters who only ever look at the horserace question, will know that the emperor truly has no clothes.

For the media, ever since 2008, they have gotten deeply entrenched in openly covering for Democrats and leftists while reflexively attacking Republicans, conservatives, and normal people. Since 2016 we have been bombarded with hoax after hoax after hoax, each that blew up in the media’s face like a stick of dynamite in Wile E. Coyote’s paws. On the big stories, they have been wrong on almost everything. Yet they have made no effort at self-assessment or course correction. They delude themselves that they still set the agenda while only following the facts. Truth is, they wouldn’t recognize a fact if it rattled its tail and bit them.

When I was the managing editor of a group of suburban weeklies in the Chicago area, I used to give a short, impromptu quiz on the basics of how government works to every applicant for a reporter’s job. At that time, I was aggravated at how poorly applicants routinely did. Aspiring journalists I rejected now look like Edward Murrow in comparison to today’s crew of national reporters. And my rejects weren’t nearly as smug and self-satisfied as today’s crew is. All illusions of their influence will be dispelled by this election. Watch for a rise in, “Will bloviate for food” signs in the next few years.

The Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) has gone full radical. Abolish police, abolish prisons, jail parents who won’t gender-transition their kids, eat the rich (Stalin defined “rich” as owning a cow and two chickens – the “rich” for the DSA means anyone who disagrees with them and most of their own foot soldiers, to boot), give men and boys free reign in little girls bathrooms and locker rooms…I won’t even bother with a full laundry list. The DSA has become the most vigorously energetic faction of the Democrat Party – and party leaders have made all the effort to keep them firewalled from the regular party that they did to secure our borders. The upshot is that the DSA has become the face of the Democratic Party. They have not shifted the Overton Window: they have pushed it right off the edge of their flat-earth fantasy world. And this election, despite the best efforts of their polling and media advance troops, they will reap what they have sewn.

With the horrific violence the left calls down on any who dissent from their insanity people have quietly, but firmly, resolved to put an end to this at the ballot box. The most quiet among those ordinary people are honest, liberal Democrats who have been left politically homeless by the insanity of the modern Democrat Party. Republicans should not make the mistake, after this election, of assuming those people have become newly minted conservative Republicans. This is the self-defense election for them as they pray and hope for a rational, responsible, patriotic liberal party in the mold of Harry Truman, Adlai Stevenson, and JFK to rise from the ashes of modern Democrats’ self-immolation. The Insane Clown Posse will be sent packing this election. And all the advance work by their heralds in polling companies and the establishment media will only serve to torch those heralds. So, let’s get to some numbers and specific races…

Republicans will pick up 17 seats in the House (the number that actually sticks in my head is 27, but I have to give some tribute to conventional metrics) and five in the Senate.

The most prominent Senate race in the country between Republican Ken Paxton and Democrat James Talarico in Texas is not close. Paxton will win by 12 points.

In Michigan, Mike Rogers will not just beat Democrat Abdul El-Sayed, he will crush him by close to 20 points or better.

At least one Republican, maybe two or, even three, Republicans will win statewide in Minnesota for the first time in decades. Sadly, Republican Michele Tafoya will narrowly lose the Senate seat to Democrat Peggy Flanagan.

Among actual, legitimate ballots, Republican Steve Hilton will trounce Democrat Xavier Becerra in the California Governor’s race. I don’t have a good sense of how effective California Democrats’ magic mail-in ballot machine will be this cycle, but I suspect the Democratic groundhog will see its shadow and California will get four more years of ridiculously expensive insanity and fraud.

In Maine, Republican Susan Collins will handily defeat Democrat Troy Jackson by nine points after all the polls showed her behind by about that much. Didn’t have to go against history on that one. This is how things always turn out for Collins, as hope springs eternal for Maine pollsters until it is invariably brought back to earth on election day.

In the battle of the pine forest titans in New Hampshire, Republican John Sununu will beat Democrat Chris Pappas, a sitting Democrat Congressman.

In Kansas, Democrat Adam Hamilton squares off against Republican Incumbent Roger Marshall for Senate. Kansas Republicans are nervous about it. They needn’t be. Hamilton is pastor of the biggest Methodist Church in the state. Alas, it is a far-left activist church. Actual Christians are fed up with and disgusted by Democrats trying to push abortion-loving, gender-bending, gay marriage, big government activists as Christian, while denying all the commands of Jesus and the prophets and the Apostles. Those Christians will speak in a roar with their ballots this cycle against this rank blasphemy. (Though it won’t hurt if the Kansas GOP does serious outreach to authentically Christian Churches these last few weeks.)

The shock of the night will be how handily Republican Bruce Blakeman defeats incumbent Democrat Kathy Hochul for Governor of New York, slowing that state’s decline into the financial abyss, UNLESS…

New Jersey Republican Justin Murphy pulls off a sleeper race to unseat Democrat incumbent Senator Corey Booker. I’m not predicting this one, just watching it. Over the years, Booker has become a caricature of himself and a part of me thinks New Jersey voters might be ready to send the Democrats’ answer to Sesame Street’s Grover into retirement.

Alas, in my beloved old home state of Illinois, Democrat J.W. Pritzker will easily win re-election, not because people love him so much, but because Republicans are in absolute disarray in that state this cycle. My feelings about Illinois are like Alexander Solzhenitsyn’s were about Russia: I love my old homeland, but can’t tolerate what the communists have done to it.

That’s my story and I’m sticking to it, at least until November 4th.

Cheery squirrel holding an ominous sign

If communication goes out for any length of time, meet outside your local Church at 9 a.m. on Saturday mornings. Tell friends at Church now in case you can’t then. CORAC teams will be out looking for people to gather in and work with.

Find me on X at @JohnstonPilgrim

Donate to CORAC!

Join the Conversation!

The Corps of Renewal and Charity (CORAC)

18208 Preston Rd., Ste. D9-552

Dallas, Texas 75252

50 thoughts on “And the Winners Are…”

  1. Your predictions come true would be an answer to prayer, Charlie.

    Love your rich image here:  “When I miss it is a technicolor train wreck, with fiery explosions and crashes that would do Arnold Schwarzenegger proud.” LOL!! 

    Mary is a gem in so many ways. Prayers continue for your discernment, Mary, and all your next steps.

    Liked by 3 people

  2. Mary Lapchak is a jewel. Please give her my best!

    From your keyboard to Gods inbox I hope your predictions are right. One question though, on the California governor’s race it sounded like you were predicting Hilton would win but the cheaters would rewrite the outcome for Becerra, is that what you were saying?

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Sadly, I think that is a likely outcome. The rise of industrial scale vote fraud beginning in 2018 has made political predicting incredibly tough. You can be objectively dead on while the Dems magic ballot manufacturing process sell the lie. The real question is how much Trump and company have hobbled the vote-making machines. In California, the infrastructure still feels strong, while arrogant, idiot judges have done everything they can think of to keep reform at bay.

      Liked by 4 people

      1. Sadly I agree. My sense from here it’s not just illegals voting but as was the case in the LA mayors race they went to skid row and paid homeless, insane and addicted a couple of bucks to vote which is why Spencer Pratt lost. The light at the end of the tunnel is the ballot initiative requiring voter ID. That may pass and change future elections

        Liked by 2 people

  3. Whew!!! Sounds really good Charlie!!! Mike wants to know about Ohio! Ha! I just read your piece to him!!

    So sad about Mary lapchak!!! I just love her!!! I remember working with her for awhile (before Jaxy poo was born!😂) and I thought she was the kindest person I ever met and yet I knew she was tough as nails!!!

    Charlie you’re not grouchy you’re just meek!!! You state the truth and that’s that!!! I love your personality!!!

    I’m also so happy to hear Christine has joined the ranks of scheduler!!! She’s perfect and she’s so sweet!!! God is so good!!!

    Love your predictions , Charlie!!! I’ve been thinking along your lines as well simply because I know republicans are very quiet 🤫 in regard to how they will vote!!!

    Loved your 8 minute piece on Vimeo too!!! Lots of good info there!!! Gonna revisit asap!!!

    God bless and protect you always Charlie!!! Thank you for everything you do for us all!!!

    Liked by 3 people

  4. So right on about the pollsters. I see them as manipulation. Reading your predictions gives me a lot of hope and I claim them as truth in the name of Jesus.

    God Bless you Charlie!

    Liked by 2 people

  5. Charlie,

    Any thoughts on OH? From the ground, the governor race and senate seat race both sadly look rather lackluster like neither side really knew what to say. I don’t love Ramaswamy but he’s our only option. Lord save us from the tyranny and craziness of Dr. Amy Acton! Sherrod Brown is like the vampire that won’t stay dead after his defeat last year. Hoping Jon Husted finally puts him down to stay.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. I looked hard at Ohio, But I just did not get a good feel from it. Neither incumbent Husted nor former Senator Brown are flash points, so by that metric, Husted is the likely winner, as Ohio has been trending red for a while. But when I look at the landscape in Ohio, nothing compelling jumps out at me. So I let that one be. When I did these things in media, I always made clear this was not necessarily what I wanted to happen, but what I thought would happen.

      Liked by 1 person

    2. Hi Katy – I just spoke to a cousin in the western suburbs of Cleveland – conservative Catholic – he thinks Vivek shot himself in the foot with the ad of Acton’s mom, but not sure if the recent “boozy” Video of her in Toledo helped or hurt. He says people are tired of Brown and thinks Husted will keep his Senate seat. Neither of us have the political accumen of Charlie but cuz is an accountant and not prone to spinning things. So, for what it’s worth…

      Like

  6. Love most of it, Charlie, but please God, I hope you are wrong about the cheating in CA causing the wrong guy to win!! We can’t take much more here!

    Liked by 4 people

  7. Thank you Charlie. It’s been a long time since I’ve had the opportunity to read all of your work as well as the comments. Very refreshing and supporting of my prayers and thoughts. I sure hope the Catholic and Christian elected officials in our country separate themselves from satans deceptions soon. Their souls need to be saved.

    Liked by 5 people

    1. Ha, Bill…someone once told me he enjoyed my work but apologetically said he didn’t read everything I wrote. I laughed and said, “Not to worry. If I didn’t have to actually write it, I wouldn’t either.”

      Liked by 5 people

    1. This was not intended to be an exhaustive list. None of the predictions I did when in media were, either. I just note those that jump out at me and are illustrative of a larger pattern. Two years ago, traveling through Pennsylvania about a month or so before election persuaded me that Trump was going to win by a big margin…and I said so. It felt like Texas there. This year, Pennsylvania has a governor’s race with a largely inoffensive Democrat incumbent and a bunch of House races. I know the most important races to everyone are those they are closest to. But that is not how I assess a cycle in advance.

      Liked by 1 person

  8. This may sound crazy to the average person, but I have repeatedly said the covid jab has helped republicans win elections because far more democrats drank the Kool-aid and took the jabs compared to republicans. Thus, far more democrat voters are dying versus republicans.  I think we are talking hundreds of thousands based on VEARS and non-Covid death rates spiking over the past few years.  Below is a link relating a drop in overall death rate as folks stop taking the jab.https://revolver.news/2026/10/covid-boosters-plunge-deaths-drop-7-alex-berenson-has-some-questions/?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email—- Sent from Doug’s Back PackYou can ignore reality, but you cannot ignore the consequences of ignoring reality.” – Ayn Rand

    Liked by 1 person

      1. When I was operating heavily in Illinois, I routinely used a 2-point fraud factor we had to overcome in statewide races. I would move that up to 4 or more points in regional races that included Chicago, Rock Island, or East St. Louis. The 2018 election was Dems’ beta test for their new, improved, wholesale fraud machine. Supposedly, every major suburban area in the country flipped from red to blue overnight. 2020 was their high-water mark. At its high, I think you would have needed a 12-point fraud factor. I think current efforts have brought it back down to eight or maybe even six. But we are going to have to rehabilitate the activist judiciary to get it back down to retail levels.

        Liked by 3 people

  9. I’m happy to hear Minnesota may see some improvement. I consider Peggy Flanagan worse than Walz. Hope you are wrong on that one. Thanks for the hope you give us!

    Liked by 2 people

  10. That certainly would be great news. I think the way congressional districts are constituted right now does not lead to major partisan waves in either direction. I think that’s why the red wave midterm in 2022 was not as red-wavy as I would have liked. Senate seats, of course, are not subject to creative district mapping. I used to work in politics in Michigan. I have been heart-broken so many times by the state-wide results there. Let’s hope Mike Rogers pulls this one out. He’ll be battling the long-established vote conjuring machines in Flint, Saginaw, Lansing and of course, Detroit.

    Liked by 2 people

    1. Michigan is the weirdest state politically. I have spent time in all 48 contiguous states, and I have a hard time figuring Michigan out. The people there all seem based and solid citizens – often straight out of a Norman Rockwell painting, but they elect so many fraudsters and loons. I guess the Detroit area must make for a powerful and ugly polarity. I think the rest of Michigan might want to secede from Detroit.

      Liked by 2 people

    1. Oh wow, are you by any chance related to the late VonCiel LeDuc? She taught at Round Lake High School during the 70’s. I never had her for class but then, as now, I was well-known by everybody at school. She taught me a LOT of things in our very challenging conversations. She often criticized me – and popped the specious nonsense I sometimes said effortlessly. She insisted I was smart enough to get it right and ask better questions, so I had a duty to do so. I came to greatly admire that woman.

      Liked by 1 person

  11. Okay, the debate between Democrat Peggy Flanagan and Republican Michele Tafoya for the Senate seat in Minnesota tonight could be a game changer. Flanagan’s performance was utterly disastrous.

    Sheesh, whenever one of my Senate candidates had a televised debate we did several prep sessions and at least one mock debate. There are questions you KNOW you are going to be asked and you have a powerful response loaded for them. Flanagan did not come well-prepared for even the most obvious questions. This was one of the bigger disasters I have seen in such a debate.

    Well, in my heyday, I always got precisely one wrong. If this is the one, I will sleep well, indeed, on election night.

    Liked by 2 people

    1. CD, you are SO correct about Catholic Charities! Here in So Cal near the border, they picked up illegal aliens, helped them, transported them to departure points, etc. And that’s just the recent bad behavior! Never donated, never will.

      Liked by 2 people

  12. JESUS, I TRUST IN YOU! .. Happy Day!!  😉 .. Pray & Prepare!!!

    https://onepeterfive.com/in-illo-tempore-21st-sunday-after-pentecost/

    https://catholicexchange.com/can-we-ever-repay-god/

    https://stpaulcenter.com/posts/caesar-and-the-king-scott-hahn-reflects-on-the-twenty-ninth-sunday-in-ordinary-time

    https://www.ewtnnews.com/vatican/china-ordains-another-bishop-under-vatican-china-deal

    https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/under-stress-goal-is-union-with-christ/

    https://spiritdailyblog.com/inspiration/altars-in-our-lives

    https://www.prophecynewswatch.com/article.cfm?recent_news_id=10477

    https://thepathlesstaken7.blogspot.com/2026/10/novena-to-saint-raphael-angel-of-joy.html

    https://crisismagazine.com/opinion/stories-from-the-silver-screen-chariots-of-fire

    https://crisismagazine.com/opinion/the-roots-of-modern-female-immodesty

    https://floppingaces.net/most-wanted/the-great-geopolitical-reversal-russia-changed-europe-imploded-and-trump-got-the-message/

    https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2026/10/omar-obama-and-the-danger-of-false-identities/

    https://townhall.com/news/amy-curtis/2026/10/17/former-congressman-and-retired-army-lt-col-allen-west-was-barred-from-speaking-on-college-campus-n2684841

    https://floppingaces.net/2026/10/16/the-week-in-radical-leftism-10-16-2026-the-washington-posts-continued-death-in-darkness/

    https://patriotpost.us/articles/1001933-retreat

    https://floppingaces.net/2026/10/18/sunday-funnies-920/

    https://zeale.co/

    https://www.americanthinker.com/

    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/

    https://thedailybs.com/news/

    https://www.zerohedge.com

    GOD SAVE THE REPUBLIC & ALL HERE!!

    Liked by 1 person

  13. What is the relevance of this? Political analysis of some US elections? How does this relate to the Chastisement and Triumph of the Immaculate Heart of Mary?

    Liked by 1 person

    1. I’ve been writing about culture, religion, and politics for 13 years here and most of my life at many newspapers and sites. I am not a one-trick pony…and all of them ARE connected.

      Liked by 3 people

      1. Indeed, connected! Thank you, Charlie.

        Papal documents throughout the ages, anchored in Christ’s teachings and centered on the integration of Faith AND Reason come to mind. Pope St. John Paul II echoed what had been written before him with further insight and enlightenment.

        “Faith and reason are like two wings on which the human spirit rises to the contemplation of truth; and God has placed in the human heart a desire to know the truth—in a word, to know himself—so that, by knowing and loving God, men and women may also come to the fullness of truth about themselves (cf. Ex 33:18; Ps 27:8-9; 63:2-3; Jn 14:8; 1 Jn 3:2).” From: https://www.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/encyclicals/documents/hf_jp-ii_enc_14091998_fides-et-ratio.html

        Rightly lived, our faith is integrated in all aspects of our lives.

        Liked by 1 person

      2. What’s the relevance of all this? The outcome, like a sporting event, will be the outcome. Yet rather than insisting people pray and make sacrifices per the request of The Blessed Virgin Mary, you had people focus on a sporting event with an inevitable outcome that would be revealed after the event.

        My comment was not on how many tricks you can pull – but the fact that you – a leader who carries fairly heavy responsibility – turned people’s attention onto temporal affairs that are fundamentally no different from all the other endless distractions this Godless world provides – like sports.

        There is only one refuge, my friend, from all that is about to happen to the world, and that is the Immcaulate Heart of Mary.

        Don’t take your eye off the ball.

        Patrick of SD

        Like

        1. You are, of course entitled to your opinion. I think it is just a modern variation on the Manichean heresy (with a sprinkling of Docetism and Gnosticism for good measure). The Manichees insisted that everything temporal or that had anything to do with the body was evil while everything spiritual was good. Augustine spent 10 years as a Manichee before he realized the pernicious error of that thinking, adopting St. Thomas Aquinas’ position that the soul is the substantial form of the body; they are a single, unified substance. From this he became St. Augustine.

          There is no shortage of modern Manichees, who implicitly insist that St. Teresa of Avila is wrong, that we are NOT the hands and feet of God on earth. That our job is simply to pray and leave it to Him to handle all temporal problems directly. That is not what you have ever gotten here or ever will get here. I think it is a false piety- and I did not come to that conclusion lightly. God calls us to pray and to do. If we neglect either, we miss the point entirely.

          In the Gospel of Mark, after Jesus raises Jairus’ daughter from the dead, the crowd goes from mocking Him for his silliness to oo-ing and ahh-ing in wonder. And as they do this, Jesus commands them to give the girl something to eat. (I reckon dying is a hungry business). I am not to be found among the scoffers or the bedazzled. I am the guy who makes the girl a sandwich, in obedience to the Lord. That is my calling.

          I am a very blue collar kind of mystic. God loves the ordinary – and so do I. He created it. It is where we work out our salvation.

          Liked by 1 person

          1. Totally, Charlie! We are NOT called to check our faith at the door when we live and move and have our being in Christ as we partner with Him in w.h.a.t.e.v.e.r. He calls us to do in our great gift of ordinary life.

            SO often, we are tempted to speak in words which become a spiritual bypass when God is calling us to fulfill the Spiritual and Corporal works of Mercy. And those spiritual works are mainly comprised of tending to others in addition to the very last one of offering prayer and sacrifices.

            Like

  14. JESUS, I TRUST IN YOU! .. Happy Day!!  😉 .. Pray & Prepare!!!

    https://catholicexchange.com/the-god-given-right-to-freedom-of-religion-and-the-modern-day-persecution-of-christians/

    https://catholicexchange.com/the-beauty-of-the-holy-trinity-part-v/

    https://spiritdaily.org/blog/forums-the-hidden-power-of-anointing-oils/

    https://onepeterfive.com/christ-the-king-halloween/

    https://catholicexchange.com/why-do-you-believe/

    https://spiritdaily.org/blog/priest-gave-sermon-on-spontaneity-of-ddeath-just-before-falling-crucifix-killed-him-during-livestreamed-mass/

    https://www.catholicleague.org/rep-omar-gives-new-meaning-to-intersectionality/

    https://dwightlongenecker918309.substack.com/p/how-faith-alone-produced-salvation

    It may get very Unpleasant if “Things” don’t go THEIR Way!!??  ..   https://gettr.com/post/p44t5iic683  ..   https://twitchy.com/justmindy/2026/10/18/flashback-to-susan-rice-elissa-slotkin-n2433449  ..  https://townhall.com/news/josephchalfant/2026/10/18/obamas-comments-on-the-ilhan-omar-situation-are-absolutely-insane-n2684877

    https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2026/10/18/vance-france-riots-a-result-of-liberals-importing-third-world-in-push-for-diversity/

    https://www.realclearmarkets.com/articles/2026/10/14/california_should_not_get_to_set_policy_for_all_of_the_us_1211197.html

    https://theiowastandard.com/white-house-its-not-a-socialist-revolution-its-misery-starvation-and-death/

    Do we have Minutemen today!?  ..  https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2026/10/18/exclusive-odonnell-the-forgotten-battle-that-saved-washingtons-army/

    https://theconservativetreehouse.com/blog/2026/10/18/mike-steger-interprets-president-trump-ukraine-and-russia-policy-objectives/

    https://zeale.co/

    https://hotair.com/

    https://thedailybs.com/news/

    https://www.zerohedge.com

    GOD SAVE THE REPUBLIC & ALL HERE!!

    Like

  15. JESUS, I TRUST IN YOU! … PS:

    Considering what we have seen since Obama/Biden were installed in 09 ….. what’s going on in the EU …below does not seem farfetched to me!  ..  https://revolver.news/2026/10/report-thousands-of-new-docs-point-to-a-diabolical-cia-color-revolution-after-midterms/

    https://spiritdaily.org/blog/heartbreaking/

    Kristallnacht 2026!?  ..  https://townhall.com/news/mattvespa/2026/10/19/thats-an-interesting-development-concerning-the-french-rioters-and-jewish-businesses-n2684885

    https://defendingtherepublic.substack.com/p/lets-not-be-france-626

    The Usual Suspects disrespect US and the Faith/Principals of Our Founders/Patriots! As Usual!!  ..  https://www.foxnews.com/outkick-sports/wnba-silent-finals-teams-skip-national-anthem-despite-rule-requiring-players-stand-line

    https://nypost.com/2026/10/18/opinion/moderate-elissa-slotkin-pretends-shes-a-stickler-for-defending-democracy-but-this-is-how-the-bolshevik-left-play-the-game/

    https://thefederalist.com/2026/10/19/the-unholy-marriage-between-marxists-and-islamists-is-the-most-dangerous-partnership-in-u-s-politics/

    JUST VOTE!! … & Trust in JESUS!!  ..  https://pollvault.substack.com/p/for-the-love-of-god-please-dont-overinterpret

    https://www.coffeeandcovid.com/p/charitably-monday-october-19-2026

    https://patriotpost.us/digests/2026-10-19-mid-day-digest?

    https://patriotpost.us/cartoons-memes/2026-10-19-cartoons-memes

    https://www.americanthinker.com/

    https://floppingaces.net/most-wanted-archive/

    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/

    https://www.wnd.com/category/front-page/

    https://newsbusters.org/

    https://redstate.com/

    GOD SAVE ALL HERE!

    Like

  16. JESUS, I TRUST IN YOU! .. Happy Day!!  😉 .. Pray & Prepare!!!

    https://catholicexchange.com/why-do-you-believe/

    https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/peter-has-spoken-through-leo-council-chalcedon/

    https://catholicexchange.com/the-forgotten-virtue-and-how-to-employ-it

    https://crisismagazine.com/opinion/the-new-iconoclasm

    https://onepeterfive.com/lay-nobility-chivalry-old-and-new-with-mr-theo-howard/

    https://www.ncregister.com/cna/catholics-in-ecuador-mourn-death-of-priest-struck-by-falling-crucifix-during-mass

    https://crisismagazine.com/opinion/loudcasting-the-tyranny-of-unwelcome-music

    https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/breaking-fr-chad-ripperger-silenced-by-his-bishop-for-a-year/

    https://www.catholicleague.org/phony-missouri-catholic-group-promotes-abortion/

    https://thefederalist.com/2026/10/20/until-jack-smith-goes-to-prison-his-dragnet-will-keep-punishing-conservative-orgs-and-donors/

    https://justthenews.com/world/europe/same-network-boosted-anti-israel-protests-us-center-french-unrest-riots

    Yep! Useful Idiots w/Satanic PuppetMasters… ;-(  ..  https://x.com/Kristof_Poland/status/2112470059935301851

    https://redstate.com/ben-smith/2026/10/20/covid-was-just-the-beginning-new-docs-reveal-bidens-bigger-censorship-plans-n2208356  ..  https://justthenews.com/government/courts-law/tuesplc-drove-debanking-conservative-groups-treasury-report-shows  ..  https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2026/10/dangers-of-conformity/

    https://theconservativetreehouse.com/blog/2026/10/20/the-usa-dodges-a-bullet-alberta-independence-referendum-fails-by-31-ratio/#more-288067

    https://www.wnd.com/2026/10/courts-need-remove-climate-activist-thumb-scales-justice/

    https://zeale.co/

    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/

    https://thedailybs.com/news/

    https://www.zerohedge.com

    https://floppingaces.net/most-wanted-archive/

    GOD SAVE THE REPUBLIC & ALL HERE!!

    Like

  17. JESUS, I TRUST IN YOU! .. Happy Day!!  😉 .. Pray & Prepare!!!

    “Nearer, my God, to thee, Nearer to thee! E’en though it be a cross that raiseth me.”  ..  https://crisismagazine.com/opinion/death-by-crucifix

    https://catholicexchange.com/the-prophetic-witness-of-servant-of-god-august-hlond/

    https://onepeterfive.com/the-vital-importance-of-the-catholic-land-movement/

    https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/is-change-looming-for-vaticans-second-in-command/

    https://catholicexchange.com/its-time-to-reject-left-brain-dominance/

    https://dwightlongenecker918309.substack.com/p/mystery-religions-mysticism-the-mysteries

    https://www.catholicleague.org/the-inclusion-game-is-a-fraud/

    https://crisismagazine.com/opinion/the-future-of-the-pro-life-movement  ..  https://www.lifenews.com/2026/10/21/democrats-will-pass-right-to-kill-babies-in-abortions-if-they-capture-congress/

    https://crisismagazine.com/opinion/on-the-twentieth-anniversary-of-the-god-delusion-has-the-new-atheism-unraveled

    https://catholicexchange.com/losing-our-dignity-part-2

    https://www.ncregister.com/news/father-carlos-martins-jesse-romero-kyle-clement-lawsuit

    https://www.ncregister.com/commentaries/awaiting-pope-leo-on-amoris-laetitia

    https://www.ncregister.com/news/archbishop-sample-lays-out-road-map-for-spiritual-renewal

    https://srnnews.com/the-episcopal-church-usa-continues-to-shrink-2/

    https://x.com/Bannons_WarRoom/status/2113038079544246476

    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2026/10/university-florida-is-trying-block-colonel-allen-west/

    https://acruaction.com/2026/10/20/the-political-shapeshifters/

    https://patriotpost.us/digests/2026-10-21-mid-day-digest

    https://zeale.co/

    https://thedailybs.com/news/

    https://www.zerohedge.com

    GOD SAVE THE REPUBLIC & ALL HERE!!

    Like

  18. I don’t have the political experience or knowledge you have about these races, how it all works on the inside, etc. But I am a random guy on the internet so of course I have an opinion lol.

    It’s not the same as yours but I hope I’m wrong.

    Like

    1. Well, take heart. Most of the people who DO have similar experience and background as me agree more with you than with me on this. And they, too, hope they are wrong and I am right.

      Liked by 1 person

  19. JESUS, I TRUST IN YOU! .. Happy Day!!  😉 .. Pray & Prepare!!!

    https://spiritdailyblog.com/news/about-the-tomb

    https://www.catholicleague.org/secular-locales-home-to-attacks-on-religion/

    NO WHERE in this silly article is the word Communist or Islam mentioned. Islamo-Marxists & godless Global entities plus Satanic powers are running this show abroad & HERE!!!  ..  https://www.dailysignal.com/2026/10/22/what-would-pope-john-paul-ii-think-about-the-european-protests/  ..  St JP was anti-Communist to the core ..  I’d really like to know what St JP thinks about The Vatican since PB16 was removed?

    https://www.markmallett.com/blog/the-suicide-of-the-west/  .. 

    Yeah! ….and just who/why are Western Gubermints committing Suicide of The West!!?? https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2026/10/many-western-governments-won-t-survive/

    https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2026/10/23/left-calls-for-france-style-protests-to-spread-to-neighbouring-nations/

    https://onepeterfive.com/in-illo-tempore-christ-the-king/

    https://catholicexchange.com/would-st-thomas-aquinas-play-minecraft/

    https://veilofveronica.blog/2026/10/17/god-is-not-a-glory-hoarder/

    https://onepeterfive.com/a-carlist-view-on-portugals-monarchist-front/

    https://catholicexchange.com/the-difficulties-of-forgiving-and-a-practical-path-into-choosing-mercy/

    https://www.ncregister.com/news/pope-leo-names-new-theologians-to-vatican-advisory-body

    https://www.dailysignal.com/2026/10/20/fauci-young-men-pregnant-women/

    https://spiritdaily.org/blog/87731-2/

    https://defendingtherepubliclawsplainer.substack.com/p/supreme-court-takes-on-public-school

    https://nypost.com/2026/10/22/us-news/feds-raid-la-mansion-in-massive-2b-california-medical-fraud-scheme  ..  https://x.com/gunthereagleman/status/2113284421461684577

    https://zeale.co/

    https://thedailybs.com/news/

    https://www.zerohedge.com

    GOD SAVE THE REPUBLIC & ALL HERE!!

    Like

  20. If you are incorrect in your analysis the next American président will be California governor Gavin Newsom. There are those in the Capitals of Europe who are already looking forward to this possibility. Given our own understanding such a scénario would make Holland and Canada appear morally conservative. It is with great sorrow and regret of what has just occurred to once Catholic Brazil. We have seen far too many false dawns with more sure to come, even the fall of the Berlin Wall seems to have been a ruse in a certain sense. Though a collective sigh of relief for those who lived through those times of the Cold War, it created a false sense of sécurité, therefore many let their guard down.

    Like

    1. I cannot imagine the fall of the Berlin Wall as a ruse, R. Sèy. This sounds so black pilled, without hope. Perhaps you did not intend to, but you write as if there is no goodness left in humanity. Blessed be God in all who are united to Him, keeping His commandments and doing the little they can in their locales. Blessed be the ones who have been given greater, more public roles and, imperfect as each of us is, these more well known individuals who strive to partner with God inspire others to give their all to God’s Plan for these times.

      Liked by 2 people

Comments are closed.