A Lifeless President

Long ago, in another parish far, far away, I was asked by my pastor to teach a mini-course on the major heresies that have plagued the Church over the past 2,000 years. It was one of those parish adult faith-formation evening programs -- you know the kind: too much information packed into a half-dozen one-hour sessions. When I told the pastor I was by no means an expert on heresies, and he might want to choose someone else, he just said, "Well, I guess you'll be an expert soon enough. We'll schedule it to begin late next month. That'll give you six weeks to get ready." The course actually attracted more parishioners than expected, and nobody threw soft fruit at me, so I guess it went well enough.

As I prepared the course, I probably learned far more than I wanted to about heresies and heretics. But one of the most revealing things that stuck with me was a basic attitude apparent among those who developed and propagated their heretical ideas. They seemed driven by a self-focused attitude, in effect declaring: "I am smarter and holier than the Church; listen to me." Most of these heretics were very smart people (I can't speak to their holiness. We'll leave that to God.) But none were smarter than the Holy Spirit whose inspiration guides the Church and its teachings. They were, then, destined to be heretical and not orthodox. 

Another thing worth noting: because heresies, by their very nature, originate within the Church, most of the Church's serious problems and attacks are internal. The Church's ecumenical councils -- at least the first 20 of them -- were dogmatic councils addressing heresies and other dogmatic issues, internal problems faced by the Church. 

All of this came to mind recently while reading a couple of news stories about our president. Both stories focus on his public comments and actions related to abortion and seem to reflect deeply held beliefs that ignore the magisterial teaching of the Catholic Church. This is especially troubling since President Biden often refers to himself as a "devout Catholic" even while undermining, or actually attacking, the Church and its teachings.

I suppose I’ve always expected him to experience a true metanoia, an inspired moment leading to repentance and true conversion, a moment when he publicly turns back to his Catholic faith. But so far, nothing. When it comes to virtually all moral issues, Joe Biden just takes on the role of heretic, apparently assuming he, too, is smarter and holier than the Church. In his case, however, I think we can dismiss any thought of his being smarter, and as for his holiness, I can judge only by the fruits of his words and actions. I will keep those judgments to myself.

You may have seen these stories, but each is truly cringeworthy when you realize they represent the policies of a self-declared "devout Catholic" president.

Official Guest at State of the Union Address. President and Mrs. Biden have invited Kate Cox to be one of their official guests at the next State of the Union Address. Ms. Cox recently aborted her disabled, unborn child. She was the key figure in the recent abortion case that centered on a Texas law preventing the abortion of a 20-week-old unborn child. The state Supreme Court upheld the law, so Ms. Cox went to another state for the abortion. The White House Press Secretary, Karine Jean-Pierre, stated that the president and his wife have "thanked her for her courage and sharing her story and speaking out about the extreme abortion ban in Texas. The First Lady invited her to join her as a guest at the State of the Union and Kate accepted." Here's a link to the story: State of the Union.

How sad that our Catholic president and his wife have publicly praised this woman who actually took the life of her disabled, unborn child. No doubt President Biden will honor her during his State of the Union Address. It would seem the nation's first family is openly taunting the Church's bishops: "We, not you, are the new arbiters of morality. From now on we will decide what is good and what is evil. The people will listen to us, not you." Yes, indeed, it gives new meaning to the words of Satan in the Garden:

"God knows well that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened and you will be like gods, who know good and evil" [Gen 3:15].

Pray for our president, for his family, and for Kate Cox, asking God to lead them to the conversion he desires for them. 

President Biden: Christian Doctors Must Perform Abortions. Our president just can't endure anyone who's opposed to abortion. He has taken on the prime directive of the radical left: We cannot tolerate those who disagree with our beliefs and our policies. Yep, those who disagree with us must be forced into agreement, or simply cancelled. 

A case in point involves President Biden's Department of Health and Human Services. In July 2022, shortly after the United States Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, HHS issued guidance claiming that the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTLA) required hospital emergency staff to provide abortions. This rule change by Biden's HHS altered the previous policy protecting doctors and nurses from having to take part in medical procedures that conflict with their moral or religious beliefs. The new policy removes these protections which were actually strengthened by the Trump administration. Fortunately, a U.S. Appeals Court ruled that the "Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act does not require hospitals to provide abortions" thus blocking the administration from enforcing this new rule.

But this is just a temporary victory. The Biden administration is not letting this go and is fighting for so-called "abortion rights" at every level. I expect this will, at some point, end up before the U. S. Supreme Court.

The President recently stated that he will make abortion the key issue in the upcoming presidential campaign. I suppose this means he will focus on the goodness of abortion and on the evil of all pro-lifers, as personified by former President Trump. I'll admit, I voted for Donald Trump twice, in 2016 and 2020 (but not in the primaries), simply because I always vote pro-life. I've long been a policy voter who sometimes must overlook annoying traits and personal weaknesses. After all, I have quite a collection of these myself. But abortion will always be a major determinant because it is among the greatest of sins, the willful murder of the most innocent human lives. At Mass every Sunday and Solemnity we pray together the Nicene Creed, affirming our belief in the "Holy Spirit, the Lord and Giver of life." If we believe this, to take a living, human life before it even has a chance to breathe the air of Creation must be the most horrendous of sins.

Pray for our world, our nation, and our people.

Overcoming Hatred and Evil

"There will be peace in the Middle East only when the Arabs love their children more than they hate Israel.” ~ Golda Meir

Have you been listening to the ongoing controversy about the attack on the Gaza hospital? If you haven't, you must be stranded on a desert island awaiting rescue. Apparently, according to Hamas (a collection of rapists, torturers, and murderers of women and children), as well as every Islamic nation, and most Western media, Israeli aircraft bombed a Gaza hospital and killed hundreds of patients and medical personnel. Did the mainstream media question this assertion by Hamas, an organization whose leaders cannot open their mouths without lying? Did they tell us they were investigating these claims to see if they were true? No, they simply accepted them as true. But then Israel stated it has extremely convincing evidence that the catastrophe at the hospital resulted from an errant missile fired by Islamist terrorists supporting Hamas. Our own intelligence agencies have confirmed the same. And, believe me, anyone who knows anything about the effects of bombing know full well the damage was not the result of a bomb dropped by an aircraft. This has been generally ignored by all the usual suspects who, as expected, accept the word of baby killers and rapists over the that of the Israeli government and our intelligence agencies. One underlying belief that motivates all those accusing Israel, or just blindly accepting the Hamas lies, is what we like to call anti-Semitism, which I will translate into the far more descriptive, “hatred of Jews,” especially those who live in Israel.

Of course, our president, while declaring his full support for Israel, just can’t bring himself to mention the nasty elephant in the room: the terrorist Islamic Republic of Iran. Addressing the states that support Hamas and hate Israel, which presumably includes Iran, he tells them all not to do anything rash by saying, “Don’t. Don’t. Don’t.” What exactly does that mean? If our enemies don’t know, they will logically assume we don’t either. The president’s words are certainly no real threat to those who plan to do Israel and us real harm. How much more effective it would be if President Biden simply told them bluntly that by joining in this conflict, they might well precipitate World War III. To prevent this we would be forced to attack them in their homelands, destroying their military and industrial infrastructures. It would seem, however, the administration will continue to deal with our enemies as if they were rational beings. But that is not the case. Hamas, Hezbollah, Iran, and too many others are zealots who have no problem sacrificing their own people for their quasi-religious cause. Life and death mean little to those driven solely by their hateful ideology. These are not easy people to deal with, but one thing we know: they respect power only when believe it will be used against them.

The next few months should be very interesting. Sadly, Hamas is run and staffed by vicious people so there’s little chance they will change without God’s help. This is true also of Hezbollah, Iran, and far too many others blinded by sheer hatred. Continued peace for Israel will likely require a lengthy and challenging effort to destroy the war-making capability of Hamas and remove it from power in Gaza. There is much our nation can do to lessen the threat to Israel, and the greater threat to Western civilization. I’m just not very confident our current political leadership has the courage and the will to do what must be done. We pray for peace, but for continuing peace. Pray, too, for the conversion of all who despise the Lord and His people. After all, with God, all things are possible.

 

The War

The first major battle of the Civil War, the battle of Bull Run, took place near Manassas, Virginia, not far from our nation’s capital. Most Northerners expected an easy victory, and many civilians, carrying picnic baskets, followed the Union force, planning to watch the battle as if it were a sporting event. You can imagine their surprise when the Confederate troops not only won the battle but forced a Union retreat. Suddenly all those curious civilians became unwilling participants in the battle and ran for their lives. Most managed to escape, although one New York congressman was captured and spent many months in a Richmond prison. The battle convinced many Americans the Civil War would last far longer than anticipated.

Today we, too, are in the midst of a war, a very different war, one against demonic forces. I suspect most Americans don't realize this and assume, as one person recently told me “It’s just politics.” But it's not. It's a full-fledged, declared war against our civilization's foundational religious and moral values. To undermine these values the enemy first disguised their battle tactics as merely political, but then, realizing this couldn’t guarantee success, they decided, rather boldly, to claim traditional values are exactly the opposite of what people generally believe. The moral, then, became immoral, the good became evil, the Godly became diabolic, and vice versa. 

Our president has, willingly or not, joined the demonic forces as he accuses pro-life and pro-marriage Americans of being "white supremacists" and "extremists." Indeed, he slapped the same labels on anyone who objects to his economic agenda and went on to define “MAGA Republicans” as those who believe Americans have “no right to choose, no right to privacy, no right to contraception, no right to marry who (sic) you love...MAGA Republicans have made their choice. They embrace anger. They thrive on chaos. They live not in the light of truth but in the shadow of lies.” Here we see a perfect example of the reversal of good and evil, where the truth is shrouded in a “shadow of lies.” And not surprisingly, he said little about his economic agenda, and nothing about inflation, gas prices, or border security.

And the demonic forces? Radical left or radical right, it makes little difference. Although the communists of the USSR and Mao’s China called themselves “international socialists” and the Nazis called themselves “national socialists,” both sought one thing: power. Both used that power to slaughter millions they considered threats. Both applied near identical methods to achieve total control over their populations. And surprise, surprise! Both claimed to be socialists. Today, though, the greatest threat to our civilization comes from the ideologues of the radical left. Yes, they rule China, a nation determined to replace American influence in the world. But they also educate our youth in high schools and colleges. You’ll find lots of victimized snowflakes, the left’s “useful idiots,” in every college classroom, but you’ll have to search long and hard to find a neo-Nazi on a campus. 

Because many of the radical left’s desired outcomes carry highly negative connotations, euphemisms abound. Abortion, the willful slaughter of today’s Holy Innocents, is disguised and celebrated as women’s health. Total control of our nation's citizenry (that's you and me) is disguised as national healthcare, or the patriotic search for enemies, or gun control, or necessary suppression of misinformation. To criticize an actual enemy — for example, the Chinese Communist Party or the Taliban — becomes racism. Global warming, because the facts keep getting in the way, is redefined safely as “Climate Change.” “Follow the science,” we’re told, even though the science, as always, is far from settled. For decades some scientists and pseudoscientific experts have issued a stream of predictions, each telling us the world will end on some future date that is inevitably forgotten as it moves into the past. But this doesn’t stop those in power from destroying the economy to protect us from terrors that never materialize. Why do they do this? If you want the truth, don’t bother following the science, just follow the money.

As I have often said on this blog, probably far too often, the left has focused primarily on abortion; it’s their sine qua non. For almost 50 years, since the Roe v. Wade decision in 1973, abortion was legal. But then in 2022 the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, claiming "The Constitution makes no reference to abortion, and no such right is implicitly protected by any constitutional provision." The court, then, decided to "return the issue of abortion to the people's elected representatives.” 

Abortion, no longer nationally legal, suddenly became a state and local issue. And so other moral issues now take center stage and the enemy has extended its reach to include transgenderism, even pedophilia, and the indoctrination of school children in sexual perversion. These are all celebrated as acceptable lifestyle choices and offered as positive alternatives to the intolerance of religion, especially Christianity, the bete noire of the radical left. Yes, indeed, just listen to the talking heads on CNN, MSNBC, et al and you will discover that Christianity is a racist religion of white supremacy. Following the same script, a highly politicized FBI decided that traditional Catholics were likely domestic terrorists and white supremacists. We’re it not so serious, it would actually be humorous since I know people of all races who regularly attend Latin Masses. The feds actually planned to, and likely did, infiltrate Catholic churches in which Latin Masses were celebrated. It doesn’t take a Constitutional scholar to recognize that the Department of Justice apparently isn’t bothered by First Amendment concerns.

It’s not just freedom of religion that’s under attack; it’s religion itself. And believe it or not, some people, far too many people, have bought into this. Let me just highlight one very recent example. Our president just proclaimed March 31, 2023 a Transgender Day of Visibility, and then using Twitter celebrated the day with some remarkable words: 

“On Transgender Day of Visibility we want you to know that we see you just as you are: Made in the image of God and deserving of dignity, respect, and support. We'll never stop working to create a world where you won't have to be brave just to be yourself.”

President Biden then went on to issue a lengthy proclamation on the Transgender Day of Visibility. It’s a bizarre proclamation, but worth your time if only to understand better who our president really is. We know our “devoutly Catholic” president openly rejects Church teaching on most moral and many theological issues. Reading his transgender day proclamation only confirms how distant he is from the Church. I think we can stop pretending Joe Biden is a Catholic since he ignores or openly attacks Church teaching. 

Of course, like all of us, so-called “trans” people were made in God’s image and likeness, but for them, that seems to be the problem. They want to change what God has done, to alter the image and likeness He created. In other words, they and their enablers want to assume God’s power, to become little gods able to recreate humanity in their own image, and a false image at that. If we truly “follow the science” we discover that DNA is forever, that males are males and females are females, just as God made them.

The timing of the president’s proclamation also seems a bit unusual. Just days before, a transgender woman had slaughtered six people, including three young children, at a Christian school in Nashville. She was killed by a team of courageous and competent police officers who responded and surely saved many more lives. Since then, some in the trans community have called her Nashville’s seventh victim, even though she was the murderer of six innocent people, and certainly no victim. To emphasize their obvious disdain for those six victims in that Christian school, a radical trans mob, led by several legislators, stormed the Tennessee legislature protesting guns but not murderer or the death of Christians. It is all, of course, symptomatic of the culture of death that St. John Paul described in his 1995 encyclical, Evangelium vitae (The Gospel of Life): 

“…this situation, with its lights and shadows, ought to make us all fully aware that we are facing an enormous and dramatic clash between good and evil, death and life, the ‘culture of death’ and the ‘culture of life.’ We find ourselves not only ‘faced with’ but necessarily ‘in the midst of’ this conflict: We are all involved and we all share in it, with the inescapable responsibility of choosing to be unconditionally pro-life” (Evangelium vitae, 28).

Trans, pro-abortion, LGBTQ, and all the rest…it’s all of one piece, all part of Satan’s effort to undermine and destroy the domestic church, that is, the family, and to lead people away from God and His one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church. The deceiver, who was “a murderer from the beginning…a liar and the father of lies” [Jn 8:44], uses whomever he can to spread evil throughout God’s creation. In the end, of course, he will fail, but how many souls will he take with him? 

As Christians we cannot sit on the sidelines and passively observe the battle. Like the tourists at Bull Run, we must eventually recognize and accept our involvement. 

Cardinal Raymond Burke on Satan’s Influence

Here’s a link to a homily delivered by one of my heroes, Cardinal Raymond Burke, on January 24. In his remarks His Eminence doesn’t hesitate to take on the Biden administration for joining with Satan in his killing work to destroy the lives of millions of unborn children. He encourages us to come together in prayer and fidelity, asking our Blessed Mother to intercede for our troubled nation and world, and consecrating our lives to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. He centers his homily on the first words of Jesus, at the start of his public ministry: 

“This is the time of fulfillment. The Kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe in the Gospel” [Mk 1:15].

God bless this wonderful Prince of the Church. 

This link connects to a YouTube video of his homily:

https://youtu.be/OLAz0cPbZPk

 

 

Timely Thoughts

I've hesitated to post anything about the recent elections and their aftermath, but I suppose it's time to write at least a few things about it all. What follows are, of course, my personal views and I do not speak for the Catholic Church.

The Presidential Election. To say I am disappointed in the apparent results of the presidential election would be an understatement. I suppose the outcome is not yet confirmed, so things could change. After all, Al Gore made the nation dance to his tune for well over a month back in 2000. But from a Catholic and Christian perspective Joe Biden does not fill me with hope.

Like Nancy Pelosi, Joe Biden is one of those “devout, practicing Catholics” who actually rejects much of what the Catholic Church teaches. He seems to support the suppression of religious freedom for which the left wing of his political party is becoming increasingly famous. I suspect this will continue and likely intensify under a Biden administration unless the Supreme Court steps in to protect Americans’ first amendment rights. 

Big government likes the idea of controlling all aspects of peoples’ lives, including their religious teachings and practices. Even in a pandemic, when it comes to the celebration of the liturgy, the bishops make the relevant decisions, not government officials. The UK is also experiencing similar intrusions by government as officials ban the celebration of Mass by Catholics. Speaking in the House of Commons, former UK prime minister, Theresa May, put it well when she said, “Making it illegal to conduct an act of worship for the best of intentions sets a precedent that could be misused for a government in the future with the worst of intentions.” 

The American left has also become increasingly anti-Semitic. AOC and her “squad” of Marxist know-nothings openly despise Israel (and Jews) and have infected many in the Democrat Party with their ideology of hate. They also seem to have the ear of Joe Biden.

More disturbing, however, is Joe Biden’s support of the wholesale slaughter of unborn children up until the moment of birth. As I’ve said before, anyone who will support abortion, the horrific, dismembering killing of the most innocent human lives, will support anything. Mr Biden also tosses Church teaching into the trash by supporting homosexual “marriage” and so-called “transgender” rights. In truth, science (a gift from our God) shows that transgenderism does not exist. Just check the DNA. It’s not changed by either surgery or hormonal additives. A male remains a male, a female a female, just as God made them. 

The Washington Post and the New York Times, two newspapers with a direct line to Joe Biden, just announced that, as President, one of Biden’s first moves will be to scrap all of President Trump’s pro-life policies. When the Supreme Court supported Hobby Lobby and the Little Sisters of the Poor, protecting them from invasive governmental mandates regarding contraception, Joe Biden clearly stated what he would do as president: “As disappointing as the Supreme Court’s ruling is, there is a clear path to fixing it: electing a new President who will end Donald Trump’s ceaseless attempts to gut every aspect of the Affordable Care Act.” 

The growing leftist movement within the Democrat Party, in its evolving “woke” state, has become increasingly totalitarian. This, of course, is the ultimate goal of all political correctness. PC thought and practice have definite Marxist origins (see discussion here) and are a key element of the left’s political agenda. It’s an agenda of control, one which employs such tactics as “cancel culture” to suppress those who do not toe the leftist ideological line. That’s right, folks, you will be punished for expressing contrary — i.e., conservative, religious, or other unacceptable — views or, perish the thought, actually doing things of which the reigning powers disapprove. 

The left looks to those who have traditionally supported the Democrat Party, but their political grip on these folks is beginning to slip. The party demands that African Americans, Latinos, Asian Americans, women — basically anyone other than white males — must not think for themselves or do what is best for them and for their families. They must remain on their respective plantations and do what their “masters” tell them. How did Nancy Pelosi put it not long ago when actually challenged by a liberal media type who questioned her response to the homeless? “We feed them!” she shouted. Yes, indeed, she feeds them and cares for them and keeps them dependent, hoping they don’t succeed. Nancy and her friends on the left need the needy to reman always in need.

Governors, Mayors, and Other Elites. Did you happen to catch California Governor Gavin Newsom’s apology? Of course, it was issued only after he was caught dining with a crowd of friends at Napa County’s toney French Laundry Restaurant  (By the way, meals there reportedly start at $350 a head, before wine.) Newsom and his large group of friends, including the head of the California Medical Association, sat together indoors, without masks, and certainly not separated by any social distancing. This elitist and grossly incompetent governor threatens citizens with arrest for breaking his rules, but willfully violates them whenever he pleases. Below is a  photo of the governor and his friends flaunting what they demand of regular Californians. Oh, yes, if you think the governor used his own money to pay for his meal, guess again. I’m pretty sure it was paid for by either of two possible sources: the taxpayers or one of the lobbyists who was present that evening.

In the former Soviet Union, the Communist Party elites were called the nomenklatura and enjoyed extensive privileges unavailable to the average citizen. In other words, they lived like royalty while the people lived in a socialist hell. This is the kind of society the American left would love to see. It’s another good reason for voter-imposed term limits. Send them all packing before they discover how easy it is to feather their own nests. As one wag stated the other day, “If you want to live well during a pandemic, just get yourself elected to something.”

U. S. Bishops. The U.S. Bishops were quick to congratulate Joe Biden after the election. Following the lead of the mainstream media, Los Angeles Archbishop Jose Gomez, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, stated, “We recognize that Joseph R. Biden, Jr. has received enough votes to be elected the 46th President of the United States. We congratulate Mr. Biden and acknowledge that he joins the late President John F. Kennedy as the second United States president to profess the Catholic faith.” 

Of course, the USCCB said nothing about Mr. Biden’s rejection of Catholic teaching on a multitude of moral issues. But they did say a lot about “democracy.” This makes one wonder about their understanding of our almost 250-year-old political system which, as a constitutional republic, is in no way a democracy. Assuming Mr. Biden ultimately becomes president, it will be interesting to see how the bishops react when a President Biden implements his distorted moral vision through legislation, regulation, and executive order.

It seems the bishops of Italy responded very differently to the pandemic. The following observations were taken from an article by Sofia Abasolo published in late September in the Catholic Herald. (Click here to read the entire article.) I thought it worth including some of her comments here;

“One example of this occurred during the pandemic emergency. When the country went into lockdown, the bishops were slow to point out that religious worship was a constitutionally protected right, and as such could not be subject to state intervention. Mass was interrupted for several weeks, provoking much criticism from clergy and laypeople alike. And yet I couldn’t help but notice that at no point were churches shut. They remained open for solitary worship every day of lockdown, and worship was legally protected as an essential need, just like buying newspapers or groceries.

“There were two weeks when going out for a walk was prohibited, but going to kneel before the Eucharist was not. What’s more, the sacraments were always available – priests had to be approached to hear Confession and administer the Eucharist (complying with the new hygiene standards), but they were never legally prohibited from doing so, and they never rejected my requests when I asked.

“When it looked as if cinemas would open before Mass was reinstated, the bishops finally spoke up in resistance, and the government responded by amending their decree, announcing the return of Mass (with limits on numbers of attendees) as restaurants and cafes opened up their doors.”

“The bishops finally spoke up in resistance...” How many of our bishops have publicly resisted the government’s intrusion into the religious freedom protected by our Constitution?

Persecution of Christians. Pew Research Center, among the more reliable sources of information on what’s happening in the world from a religious perspective, has issued a study on religious persecution for 2018. This is the most recent year for which complete data is available. The results of their study are not encouraging. The persecution of Christians has increased worldwide to a level higher than any year since 2007, when Pew began these annual studies. The study claims that Christian persecution and harassment occurred in 145 of the world’s 198 countries. It also determined that 75% of all victims of religious persecution are Christians. Some other shocking findings: 

• 8 Christians are killed every day because of their faith;
• 23 Christians are raped or sexually harassed daily;
• 182 Christians churches or buildings are vandalized weekly
• 102 Christian homes or businesses are damaged or destroyed weekly

Every year these numbers have grown, something that should give us pause and prepare us for things to come. President Trump has aggressively pushed for greater emphasis on religious freedom at the United Nations. He has consistently called on the entire international community and business leaders to protect this most basic human freedom. He also established a new Conscience and Religious Freedom division within the Department of Health and Human Services. We can only hope that a Biden administration will continue this focus on religious freedom and not just resurrect the failed policies of the past. Some links to relevant Pew Research:

Increased Government Restrictions on Religion

Religious Restrictions Around the World

COVID-19 Deaths. Here’s an interesting fact you probably won’t encounter in the mainstream media because they seem to focus only on that which increases public fears. Do you know that 1% of U.S. counties account for 34% of U.S. deaths from COVID-19? Isn’t that interesting? Also, almost 15% of U.S. counties have experienced one or no COVID-19 deaths. 

I’ve included below a list of the 50 U.S. counties with the greatest number of COVID-19 deaths (as of November 14). I am fairly certain most, if not all, of these counties are run by Democrats. Mayor Bill de Blasio’s city is represented by 4 of the top 10 — Brooklyn (Kings Cty), Queens, Bronx, and Manhattan (New York Cty) — a fact he and Governor Cuomo inexplicably blame on President Trump. The rest of the “top 10” include Los Angeles, Chicago, Phoenix, Miami, Detroit, and Houston. 

50 Counties with the Most COVID-19 Deaths

RANK	COUNTY NAME	STATE	TOTAL DEATHS
1	Kings County	NY	7,450
2	Queens County	NY	7,321
3	Los Angeles County	CA	7,266
4	Cook County	IL	5,797
5	Bronx County	NY	5,019
6	Maricopa County	AZ	3,797
7	Miami-Dade County	FL	3,707
8	New York County	NY	3,204
9	Wayne County	MI	3,119
10	Harris County	TX	2,908
11	Middlesex County	MA	2,351
12	Nassau County	NY	2,229
13	Essex County	NJ	2,172
14	Bergen County	NJ	2,083
15	Suffolk County	NY	2,023
16	Philadelphia County	PA	1,934
17	Hidalgo County	TX	1,765
18	Palm Beach County	FL	1,622
19	Clark County	NV	1,617
20	Broward County	FL	1,585
21	Hudson County	NJ	1,542
22	Hartford County	CT	1,532
23	Orange County	CA	1,524
24	Westchester County	NY	1,486
25	Middlesex County	NJ	1,462
26	Fairfield County	CT	1,454
27	Bexar County	TX	1,449
28	Union County	NJ	1,391
29	Essex County	MA	1,390
30	Dallas County	TX	1,373
31	Riverside County	CA	1,367
32	Oakland County	MI	1,282
33	Passaic County	NJ	1,277
34	Worcester County	MA	1,212
35	Suffolk County	MA	1,205
36	Macomb County	MI	1,166
37	New Haven County	CT	1,157
38	Norfolk County	MA	1,147
39	Richmond County	NY	1,105
40	San Bernardino County	CA	1,097
41	Ocean County	NJ	1,087
42	Hennepin County	MN	1,044
43	Cameron County	TX	996
44	Providence County	RI	986
45	San Diego County	CA	926
46	Tarrant County	TX	924
47	Montgomery County	MD	905
48	Montgomery County	PA	904
49	St. Louis County	MO	901
50	Prince George's County	MD	883

It’s all very interesting.