What will it be next? Will it take thousands of dead bodies stinking in the streets? Or will it just be an insurrection that finally extricates the tumor of incompetence, self-absorption, self-aggrandizement and crime-ridden stupidity from our cherished Oval Office?

We were told that the U.S. government was not a bunch of shipping clerks, so governors would have to fend for themselves to protect their health care workers from being infected with COVID-19 while trying to help those trying to live a little longer. This same voice of the yellow muskrat also told us that some miracle would sweep it away in the spring with a casual wave of the hand. As the dedicated professional once working to keep our beloved country upright Fiona Hill said, “And here we are.”

But where are we, exactly? Those of us with any sense are avoiding other humans to help quell the spread of this killing disease. Yours truly is among those high-risk groups who could easily succumb to the respiratory vagaries of this virus.

Again, people with sense and leadership skills are doing what they can to minimize the impact on as many people as possible. Most governors are exhibiting initiative, courage and imagination to provide for the health care workers, and are trying to protect the general public by shutting down places where people gather. Major sports, both professional and scholastic, have cancelled their seasons and tournaments saving us from watching the absurdity of games played before empty seats.

Conscientious people are offering to help friends in need wherever they can. Hand washing has never been this popular since we were in second grade. But as of this writing [March 19] the state governments of Texas, Oklahoma, Wyoming, Tennessee, Arkansas, Missouri, Mississippi and Georgia have done nothing to deal with the pandemic. They mostly shrug and call it a flu bug, or some other such rubbish we’ve come to expect from Republicans everywhere. Their voters must be so proud of the cavalier nature of their elected officials. I wonder how that will play out when people in those states start dropping like flies in a zapper.

I did venture out to shop for groceries and found shelves empty for some of the most unexpected items. Sure, hoarding toilet paper became the thing almost immediately when people discovered that staying home would require them to use private toilets. Paper towels flew off the shelves as did fresh meats, rice, beans and other basics. Try to find a loaf of bread. I dare you. Eggs? Wiped out.

But the strangest item that I had the damndest time finding was cat litter. Yes. Cat litter. I immediately wondered if that was somehow connected to the TP hoarding and that people were opting for a different method for … well, you know. Certainly humans were not eating it. I wondered if the sales of bidets had spiked.

Shopping carts at 7:00 in the morning overflowed with everything. Hand sanitizer became the newest black market commodity to be sure. The store, just after opening, looked like the Wednesday afternoon before Thanksgiving. Shopper/hoarders had that thousand-yard stare found only on Vegas slot machine mavens. “Amazing,” I thought, “how quickly humans revert to their ancient behaviors when survival stress is put upon them.” It’s just like 200,000 years ago, but with electric lights.

The biggest issue, of course, is the fundamental failure of leadership, innovation and assurance from the executive branch of our federal government. Deflection, lies, fiction and nonsense is what this president produces on a daily basis. If BS was electricity, Donald Trump would be a powerhouse. Instead, he is just a liar and maybe even a psychopath.

Barack Obama is still so inside his head. All those pandemic response agencies that President Obama put in place were trashed by Trump in 2018. Why? Oh, right. Obama did it, so it had to be bad.

How’s all those vacant response team offices looking to you now, Donny boy? But wait. There’s the cratering of your beloved stock market to go along with the health crisis. So what do the Republicans do?

What they do is what they’ve always done when it comes to money and the economy: screw it up. It wasn’t enough that the Republicans in Congress passed a multi-trillion dollar tax cut for the rich and the corporations to “stimulate economic growth,” they said. Instead, the corporations bought back all their stock and working people got little or nothing in benefits.

The national debt curve shifted gears and increased its rate of increase. Oh, where were the days when Republicans were all foamy about government spending and deficit reduction? Now, they’re trying to give away another trillion or so to people to go out and buy stuff. That’s hard to do when stores are empty, restaurants are closed, entertainment venues are dark and nobody is going anywhere.

So, the cash flow will probably stop or greatly slow down as we enter into territory not seen since 1929.

All it took for this to happen was a moron in the Oval Office, a traitorous Senate majority leader who refuses to bring legislation to a vote because it’s more important to place Federalist Society cretins on appellate court benches. Hell, some of these judges are still in diapers … others wear diapers because they are really old. Stir in an incredibly small ball of RNA and some protein-like molecules that love reproducing by the trillion in human lungs and our fat, dumb and happy electorate lurches into an entirely new lifestyle while waiting for the November election that an orange hairball might suspend for fear of the virus spreading.

Hell, people might even start reading my books. I hate to pat myself on the back, but I saw something like this coming in 2014, or so. Give Republicans control of the economy and they will find a way to blow it up … just as Karl Marx predicted they would in 1850.

Now, let’s all go find that delivery clerk of our dreams and help the health care workers stay alive.