In the United States as of Dec. 27, 2020, there were 331,524 COVID-19 deaths. This is from January through December of 2020, a one-year period. During World War II, from 1942 through 1945, in the four-year period the American casualty was around 400,000. We were fighting a war then and the military leaders were leading the charge.

Today we are fighting a virus, and we have an outgoing president who doesn’t listen to the medical experts. It is very likely that there will be a greater number of deaths in a shorter amount of time than those we lost during World War II. This is the uttermost  incompetence of presidential leadership.

Trump will be remembered as the Pandemic Fatality President-PFP. If we were at war, he would be directing the battles from his underground bomb shelter, not the military leaders near the front lines.

Those who refuse to wear masks do not complain about wearing seatbelts when they drive. Wearing masks is about saving American lives. There are far too many Americans dying needlessly due to lack of national leadership. It will take some time even after

President-elect Joe Biden takes office before his policy begins to stabilize the pandemic surge caused by Trump’s politicized non-policy.

George Nakano

Former California State Assemblyman Torrance, Calif.