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It would have been more fitting if Trump had achieved his goal two days ago on Memorial Day, but some Democrats weren't willing to give up the ghost and hung on for a few more days, but even as their lungs collapsed they cursed the president's name before they expired and made it possible for the Republicans to give their leader a standing ovation as the COVID deaths exceeded 100,000 deaths on May 28, 2020.

To give the number context, the Vietnam War, the greatest tragedy of my Baby Boomer generation, took less than 60,000 deaths in a conflict that extended for more than a decade while Trump has attained his impressive figures in five months. As is his wont, Trump took a victory lap proclaiming that there might have been a million deaths if it hadn't been for his herculean efforts.

Trump failed to congratulate Brownsville or Cameron County for their contributions to his cause, but the area is 90% Mexican-American and 70% Democratic, those numbers intimidating for an individual who depends on racist whites to maintain his hegemony.

Both Brownsville and Cameron County sit atop his Top Ten Hate List. Congressman Filemon Vela Jr. let the president know that he was number one on both the Brownsville and Cameron County Hate List when he informed the odious gringo, "Mr. Trump, you're a racist and you can take your border wall and shove it up your ass."

Brownsville, which is known in such desolate places as Paraguay, Afghanistan and Togo as the Third World Capital of the United States, has been spared the brunt of the pandemic with only a half-dozen deaths. We have no doubts that Trump is blaming the Democrats for undermining him in his pursuit of astronomical statistics, but in more Republican oriented Harlingen two nursing homes--nicknamed Auschwitz and Belson--have brought a smile to Trump's face with 25 deaths.

Coronavirus, though it hasn't attacked me physically, has jarred me mentally. It is the shadow in the middle of the night that pursues me as it does every one else. I have watched the footage of D-Day and the Americans landing at Normandy. With bullets whizzing past them in defiance of their vision, some soldiers drop to never rise again while others move forward and reach protective covering. Am I going to be one of the lucky or unlucky ones?

We know we're not going to live forever. The evidence is incontrovertible, but you start saying to yourself, "I didn't think it was going to be over this fast." You are lulled into complacency; physically, mentally and financially you are not ready to throw in the towel. You have some good fucks left in you!

Will fatalities prove fatal to Trump's political career? He is opening the country as quickly as possible. Will increased interaction spark a spike or will the hot summer months cause the virus to disappear as the president has predicted?

With more than five months until the election against Joe Biden, it is possible that 200,000, maybe 250,000, Americans will have perished by that date. How can he win with these mortal figures largely a part of his own incompetency and heartlessness? He will spin it: "If it hadn't been for my prompt action, two million Americans would be dead instead of 200,000."

Some people don't know if they fear Trump or COVID more. I fear the latter more; this pandemic may be the beginning of endless waves of viruses. I hope, since I don't pray, that the masses rise in rage. Trump doesn't embody the American that we consider ourselves to be and we should tar-and-feather his white ass.

But even under a worse case scenario, he will be gone in four years and we will be through with him forever. Move over Hitler! Make room for your eventual cell mate. Even the devil won't be able to withstand the stench of human excrement smoldering and will poke his head out of his fiery pit for a breath of fresh air.

Others argue that there is a quality vs. quantity question regarding Trump. They insist that he could do more damage to the world with four more years than COVID could do in a century. We never wish ill on anyone, but never say never when Trump is the subject of this argument.

The hate is palpable and hate is a powerful motivator to bring voters to the polls. The Greek and Roman gods would have never tolerated Trump's hubris. Why does the Christian god twiddle his thumbs when he could resolve our plight with a well-placed lightning bolt? Is he worse than Trump in that he refuses to accept that he made a mistake?

Life goes on. Or does it? I have ventured into public places to dine and drink, but I have done my best to maintain social-distancing. Last Saturday I let my guard down. Olivia and I ate at La Pampa, arguably Brownsville's best restaurant. Two bottles of wine later we were either feeling daring or had lost our senses. We ventured to The Broken Sprocket on the outskirts of the city, a collection of food trucks with a bar, and finished another bottle.

There was much shaking of hands and effusive embraces among our fellow drunks. The next day I had the same guilty feeling I have had numerous times for making wrong decisions.

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