Dear Editor,

On April 15 Nicholas Kristoff in the New York Times said: “If I seem angry, it’s because I’ve seen too many women dying in childbirth in poor countries, too many children dying of diarrhea, too much leprosy. Gutting the W.H.O. will mean more kids dying of malnutrition, more moms dying of cervical cancer, and the coronavirus infecting more people in more countries — impairing the pandemic response, which may well cost even more American lives. And all because an American president is seeking a scapegoat for his own ineptitude.”

It is past time to stop bashing Trump for his dithering, lying, hogwash and failure of leadership about the COVID-19 virus’s grave threat to life on this planet.

There is no question Trump’s self-love has resulted in indecisive leadership causing grave harm. Clearly, in retrospect, scientific facts should have prevailed over President Trump’s self indulgence.

Major investigative journalism by the New York Times, Washington Post and numerous other serious media outlets have proved Trump failed in his most important duty: protecting the American people.

All right, where do we go from here?

How do we get out from under this disaster?

First, we must embrace science as our basis for establishing epidemiological reality;

Second, we must hire and trust scientific experts and enlightened commentators to inform us and speak truth to power;

Third, we must only utilize proven mitigation and treatment;

Fourth, we must set up an Amazon-like distribution system to get the life-saving equipment and protective supplies to where and when they are needed;

Fifth, we must only reopen the economy after close coordination and non-political scrutiny with the nation’s governors.

We can beat this scourge, but only with scientific truth and the thousands of heroes putting their lives on the line.

Bill Bryant

St. Clairsville