October 26, 2021: Covid-19 Deaths vs. Deaths in All U.S. Wars

10/26/21: your humble blogger enjoys another day of retired bliss here in Southern Ohio, although admittedly keeping a wary eye on the stock market. He’s waiting to see if it will crash, as Trump predicted, should Joe Biden be elected.

 

____________________ 

Obama had two terms to work and outperformed Trump in both.

____________________

  

We would, he warned, be looking at 1929 all over again were he defeated. And I definitely don’t want to end up on the street, selling apples. 

That meant it was time to check the numbers again. After a serious slump in September, the Dow Jones is rocking again. Monday, the Dow closed at 35,741, a new record. 

(Start of an epic slide toward 1929???)

 

In fact, while reading about current market trends, I stumbled upon a report from Kiplinger. Presidents back to 1883 were rated according to annual stock market losses and gains during their terms. The story, published in April, came too soon to fairly rate Biden, though at the time he stood first. Since we know Trump constantly praised himself for the market mojo he brought to Washington D.C., including three separate times he bragged about the Dow hitting the same 25,000 high, we have no choice but to mention that Kiplinger has Calvin Coolidge in first place for market gains. Bill Clinton is second. Barack Obama is in third. Yes, Loser Donald. Obama did better than you. And never got impeached even once. We might also be cruel and note that Mr. Obama had two terms to work and outperformed Mr. Trump in both. 

True, Trump comes in fourth and edges out William McKinley in fifth; but he can’t really brag all that much. 

As of Monday morning, he trailed Biden, as well. At this point in their presidencies Trump had the markets up 17.7% and bragged about it every time the Dow hit a new high. By comparison, the Dow is up 19% under Joe Biden, and Obama had seen the market rise by 21.4%. 

So, no Great Crash yet.

 

*

The Battle of San Juan Hill.

MORE BLEAK NUMBERS from the pandemic front, although vaccinated Americans are feeling surprisingly good and getting out and eating in restaurants, and going to sporting events. So are some of the unvaccinated. 

Generally speaking, it’s the unvaxxed who are currently doing almost all the unfortunate dying. Since we last checked, the CDC has reported the following numbers. First, the good: 77/7% of Americans, ages 12+ have had at least one shot to guard against the coronavirus. 

Then the bad numbers. The daily death toll: 

10/16:               777  

10/17:               629

10/18:               914

10/19:            1,763

10/20:            1,554

10/21:            1,362

10/22:            1,701

10/23:               397

10/24:               167

10/25:            1,064

10/26:            1,612 

Cumulative death toll: 737,990

 

Comparison: All U.S. Combat Deaths (1775-2021) 

American Revolution                8,000

War of 1812                              2,260

Mexican War                             1,733

Civil War                               214,938

Spanish-American War                 385

Philippine fighting                     1,020

World War I                            53,402

World War II                         291,557

Korean War                             33,686

Vietnam War                           47,434

Gulf War                                       149

War in Afghanistan                    1,833

Iraq War                                     3,836 

Indian wars, other combat        5,000 (roughly)

 

Total:     664,733.