Today is Wednesday, October 5, 2022. A study that appeared online for RawStory substantiated what everyone knew about the ravages of COVID-19 and that is that more Republicans than Democrats likely died as a result of contracting the virus early on during the pandemic. This article was written by Marty Schladen entitled “Study: More Republicans than Democrats likely died of COVID.”

This data point should come as no surprise to the rest of us who listened to our health experts rather than scoffing at them as spurred on by the single “largest driver” of misinformation about the disease whose name was Donald J. Trump! This fact should never be forgotten by Americans if they have to confront another presidential run by this loathsome character in 2024!

The writer states in the first paragraph, “It’s already known that hundreds of thousands of Americans would still be alive if every eligible person had gotten vaccinated against COVID-19.” New research strongly suggests that many more of those “excess deaths” in Ohio and Florida were among people with Republican voter registration. Not surprising at all since this trend was being observed throughout the rollout of the pandemic.

It was Republicans who were more reluctant to get vaccinated against the novel coronavirus, which has so far killed more than 1 million in the United States and more than 6.5 million worldwide. A Cornell University study found that former demagogue Dumpf was the “single largest driver” of misinformation about the disease and research by European economists indicated that watching a lot of Fox News correlated with vaccine hesitancy. Thus watching Fox News not only made viewers more stupid than they already are, but actually could have contributed to their death from COVID-19.

More startling COVID-19 statistics: A paper published last month in JAMA Internal Medicine said that the unvaccinated are 10.5 times more likely to be hospitalized with COVID. The unboosted are 2.5 times more likely, it reported.

The research comes after researchers at the Brown University School of Public Health in May estimated that “318,000 – or about a third – of the COVID-19 deaths in the United States were preventable.”

Ron “DeSant-ASS'”s state had the second-most vaccine-preventable deaths, 29,200, and the 13th-highest rate, 1,694 per million residents, that analysis said. This governor, don’t you forget, signed laws prohibiting school mask mandates and blocked private employers from requiring employees to get vaccinated, thus resulting in the larger number of COVID-related deaths in his autocratic-leaning state.

This research just published should alarm anyone who is concerned with the possible reelection of two ghastly candidates, Donald Dumpf and Ron DeSantis, who should be dethroned this November by wise Floridians – finally. And don’t be fooled that DeSant-ASS’s embrace of President Joe Biden as he toured the state to view the horrific damage caused by Hurricane Ian today. This is how both sides should behave during a weather catastrophe, given that hurricanes do not discriminate.

So for the time being, Biden and DeSantis have put their seething rivalry aside, and their administrations have worked in concert since the hurricane’s deadly collision with Florida’s west coast. We should see what happens when Biden’s plane leaves for Washington after touching down on the storm-ravaged state today.

Today also marked my fasting over 24 hours. I have to say that it went remarkably well, despite the weather being less than clement. It was very cool, and it rained earlier. When I went out later for a short walk, it had stopped raining. I sat a little in MacDonald Park and read my Daily News. Elliot refrained from sharing in fasting duties with me. That is fine; I have continuously done this out of some respect for the tradition.

At 5, we had our good friend “Mark” over to break the fast. He rang our doorbell at around 5:18 p.m. We decided to have dinner at 6. That marked my return to eating again. I’m amazed over how easy fasting has become for me in my later years. I didn’t even miss my coffee this time. I did have a cup with dinner, though. Elliot made homemade chicken soup and we served bagels with lox and cream cheese. For me, everything tasted delicious since I began the fast around 5:30 the day before.

Stay safe and be well.