The Covid-19 watch: Trump hopes for an “October Surprise” coronavirus cure

The Covid-19 death counts recorded by the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Tracker shows the U.S. leading the world with 6.26 million cases and 188,000 deaths. California leads the pack with Texas and Florida close behind. Wyoming is second-to-last ahead of only one U.S. state, Vermont, and four of its island territories. Wyoming lists only 4.006 cases with 42 deaths. The U.S. could soon have 200,000 with the possibility of 400,000 by the end of the winter’s flu season.

Those are the stats. The reality is that each of those deaths represents a story. Families grieve but at least they have memories and a story to go with them.

I have already told the story of my stepmother who died with the coronavirus and a handful of debilitating maladies. She was 94 and in a Florida nursing home (go here for the full story). She had more than three strikes against her, three strikes with two outs in the bottom of the ninth with the score tied. Sports references seem apropos in this time of fan-less Major League Baseball.

I watched the Rockies beat the Dodgers in L.A. last night. Two nights in a row! Cardboard fans watched and shouted electronic cheers. It is a surreal scene. Same with NBA games and their projected e-fans inside the Orlando bubble. The NFL begins next weekend and it should be really strange watching the cardboard cutout drunks in Denver’s South Stands with their boos and e-curses. Just kidding. The NFL will censor the real ruckus just as they banished Colin Kaepernick.

Meanwhile, our nation is headed up by a monster whoinsists we are about to turn the corner on the virus as he does everything he can to speed up the arrival of a miracle vaccine to make people love him and vote his way on Nov. 3. The ultimate October Surprise. A survey released yesterday said that 48 percent of Americans would not trust any vaccine that arrived pre-election. Count me among them. I am certain that his base of fans will gladly troupe to the inoculation centers in the hope that they will gain immunity from the flu and become a billionaire like Trump.

Trump’s fans are raging cultists who believe anything Fearless Leader says and contend that anything negative is “fake news.” You can’t reason with them so we must outvote them. It won’t be easy considering the GOP’s mania for voter suppression and gerrymandering. Their goal is to keep people away from the polls. They have an ally in that strategy: Vlad the Putin and his Russian Bots (not a bad punk band name). Trump invited them to be part of our elections in 2016. I’m sure that invitation still stands.

The best ally liberals have in this fight is the Lincoln Project, Trump-hating GOPers that are relentless in their video takedowns of the Orange Demon. Chris and I gladly donated to their cause. Not sure what tricksters Rick Wilson and his pals will do post-election. They would like to reconstitute the GOP. They have their work cut out for them due to the fact that the Trump cult will not be easily silenced. The Lincoln Project could be great allies with liberals in the struggle to bring representative government back to the U.S. Time will tell.