The U.S. is on fire with COVID-19. According to the CDC, the U.S. has the highest number of deaths and positive test results in the world on a per capita basis. The White House hopes to stem the tide by hiding the data and requiring that all states should report to the White House and not the CDC. This follows the proven Greek tradition of killing the messenger to avoid the reality that you have lost a battle.

Another proposed solution is to reduce testing because as everyone knows if you step on a rusty nail and do not test for tetanus, you will never get tetanus. Testing, not disease, is the real cause.

You should listen to the advice of politicians running for office, not health experts. Politicians want you to sit close together at rallies since louder applause will flatter their egos. They advise not wearing masks since masks are barriers to the faces of their adoring fans.

Still another solution is to blame the Chinese. This puts the responsibility for putting out fire in the U.S. on China. The virus should stop by itself because it is not the U.S.’s fault. The U.S. government has no responsibility to do anything.

And finally, we can ignore the fact that Americans are dying by simply calling the virus by a different name such as a hoax or a minor flu.

In conclusion, the U.S. is now the world leader in misinformation and false logic. Is the great American leader using the Russian playbook that worked so well for Putin?

Russell Marcus

Yokohama

The opinions expressed in this letter to the editor are the writer's own and do not necessarily reflect the policies of The Japan Times.