COVID AND DEATH: DENY, DENY, AND FINALLY, ADMIT FAILURE

By Juan Montoya

Donald Trump blames the Chinese for the COVID-19 virus (kung flu).

And now Gov. Greg Abbott, Trumps Charlie McCarthy in Texas, is blaming drunks for the spike in Texas that has made it one of the national hotspots for the spread of the deadly virus.

Cameron County Judge Eddie Trevino blamed Abbott for not allowing the counties to shut down businesses and removing the mandatory wearing of masks, as did City of Brownsville Mayor Trey Mendez and his commission.

Everyone, it would appear, has some scapegoat to blame for dropping the ball on this virus that is decimating the country, the state and now, the cities of the Rio Grande Valley.

The national and state naysayers ridiculed those urging caution on a precipitous opening of the economy saying that some people were going to die anyway, so why inconvenience the strong and restrict their constitutional rights?

(Where in the constitution does it say that you have the freedom to spread a killer virus to our fellow citizens? Your "rights" extend as far as do the droplets from your nose and mouth toward your fellow citizens. VP Mike  Pence parroted this excuse after a Trump rally, only to backtrack and grudgingly admit that wearing a mask is probably a "good' idea.)

"If you want to stay at home under our bed, go ahead, but we're going to keep the economy going," true, red-blooded  Americans would post far and wide."More people die from the flu each year, so get used to it."

Remember when Abbott shared the national spotlight with Trump as the poster child of the states who would plow ahead through the danger in the name of Lone Star bare-chested bravado and manhood who would not be deterred by a pesky, invisible, virus? That liquor of the national spotlight made Abbott punch drunk with illusions of a national role and he reveled in it basking in the limelight provided by his idol Trump.

Now, the U.S. reports more than 2.5 million cases, and Arizona, Florida, Texas, and California have become the nation's "leaders" in positive cases.

It's not kosher to ridicule the disabled, but it was obvious that Abbott was made unable to fully fathom the seriousness of the COVID-19 danger to his constituents in the interests of national political gain and notoriety. He blames drunks in bars for generating this surge in virus infections, but it was him, and not the bar-goers who opened up the floodgates of infection in his quest to please his pretender president.

The fatalities and serious illness that resulted from the opening can be laid squarely at his door. That is the cost that Texans have paid for his political ambition.

Economies take hits and recover. People die. Abbott would do well to realize that it was not the economy, industry, or business that elected him governor.

It was living, breathing people. Once they die, you cannot revive them as you would an economy. The macho naysayers used to ridicule the disease and ask us whether we knew anyone who had caught the virus. Now, the question is: Do you know anyone who does not know someone who hasn't caught it or who has died from it?

Even as the state's COVID-19 cases peaked, Abbott plowed ahead and opened up the state for business, the beaches to partiers, the halls to concerts, and the removing of restrictions like the easing of face masks and the gathering of large crowds without protections.

Well, we're singing a different song now. The hospitals are overwhelmed. Florida, Texas, California, are all leaders in the infection, a recognition we're sure none of these states wanted or desired.

In Cameron County, Trevino is now issuing alerts that the local hospitals are running out of space to treat serious cases. He's talking about curfews and perhaps "stay at home" directives again. Every day bring reports of hundreds of new cases overnight.

Across the river, Tamaulipas is on fire. The crematoriums can no longer keep up with the bodies, and the graves dug before the outbreak are now coming into use. Just a few short weeks ago, Trevino was whining that the U.S. should lift the restrictions on non-essential travel for Mexican citizens - and vice versa for U.S. travelers south - because it was hurting the county's bridge finances.

Later, he said that the county could not enforce s mask-wearing order because Abbott's statewide order prevented him from doing it. Funny how that didn't stop the county executives in Bexar, Harris and Travis counties from disregarding Trump's little marionette's macho directives to open it up for business and they went over his head and did it to protect their residents.

The same applies to the City of Brownsville's Mendez. He said that he could not countermand Abbott, but his counterpart up river in Mission could, and did, Abbott's political directives be damned.

Yeah, everybody is blaming everyone else, and the people keep dying as the plague ravages the population.

Abbott is now backtracking. Trump is inconsequential and irrelevant with his fatuous pronouncements that everything is under control. And our local guys hide behind excuses that they can do nothing about it because - you got it - Abbott and Trump won't let them.

Que no se hagan pendejos todos.

The blame - and the bodies of the dead and seriously ill - can be laid squarely at their door. That is the price of leadership, and all these charlatans have been found wanting. We're in this alone now. And the sad part is, we're probably better off that way. Protect yourself, and protect your kin.