For bipartisan US hardliners and their establishment media press agents, any pretext will do to bash China and other sovereign independent nations on the US target list for regime change.

Blaming China for spreading COVID-19 outbreaks plays out daily in the US, its own gross failings and wrongdoing given short shrift or ignored.

The US under both right wings of its war party consistently and repeatedly shifts blame for its war on humanity onto others.

China is a prime target, COVID-19 the latest pretext, its authorities falsely blamed for spreading outbreaks — instead of praising how effectively they addressed the issue, far better than any other countries, world’s different from Trump regime bungling and indifference to the problem.

After China raised the number of known COVID-1 deaths in the  country to around 4,600, about a 50% increase in Hubei province, its epicenter, Trump falsely claimed its authorities “doubl(ed) the number,” adding:

“It is far higher than that and far higher than the US, not even close.”

Through Saturday, known US deaths from COVID-19 are around 39,000 — about eightfold China’s mortality rate from the disease.

The true US total may be far higher because of undercounting, including by mistakenly attributing seasonal flu/influenza deaths to COVID-19. Their symptoms are similar.

On a daily basis, the novel coronavirus is currently the leading US cause of death, LiveScience.com reported on April 10 — a dismal reality Trump and hardliners surrounding him won’t touch.

Over the weekend, the NYT falsely accused China’s Xi Jinping of weakening China’s global standing by “aggressive diplomacy,” claiming he’s using COVID-19 outbreaks “to shore up his political power at home” — a US specialty, the Times adding:

Beijing “accused Western countries of failing to protect their people” — clearly the case in the US, Britain, and likely elsewhere in the West.

Compared to China’s effective response to COVID-19 outbreaks, bringing them under control in around two months, they continue spreading in the US and Europe.

While the US is doing little or nothing to aid other countries combat COVID-19 outbreaks abroad and treat infected individuals, China sent vital medical supplies, technology, and experts to nearly 100 nations worldwide.

Xi stressed that viruses have no borders, mutual cooperation among nations needed to combat COVID-19 outbreaks.

Authorities in nations receiving Chinese aid expressed gratitude for the helping hand.

China’s Global Times slammed US mishandling of the issue, saying “nobody (is) accountable despite rising virus deaths.”

Sharing a common border and interests, China and Russia united to combat COVID-19 and aid other countries in need — while the Trump regime blames other nations for its own bungling and indifference to the issue.

According to US media reports, nursing homes in America are hotbeds of COVID-19 deaths,  numbering in the thousands from the infection compounded by indifference from management, leading to poor treatment by staff.

An estimated 20% of COVID-19 fatalities occurred in these facilities. According to the CDC, the US has around 15,6000 nursing homes for the elderly.

About 70% are for-profit businesses, benefitting most by cost control that can come at the expense of patient care for the sick and infirm.

Elder abuse in the US is widespread, and not just in nursing homes.

The late comedian Jerry Lewis once said old people are discarded like yesterday’s garbage in the US.

In congressional testimony at age 92, the late actor Mickey Rooney explained abusive treatment he received from his stepson, saying “(y)ou can’t believe it’s happening to you.”

“You feel overwhelmed.” He urged Congress to criminalize what’s happening.

“I’m asking you to stop this elderly abuse,” he urged. “I mean stop it now. Not tomorrow. Not next month, but now.” Pass legislation saying “it’s a crime, and we will not allow it in the United States of America.”

It happens nationwide because authorities at the federal, state, and local levels do little or nothing to stop it.

Common problems include untreated bedsores, inadequate medical care, malnutrition, dehydration, preventable accidents, along with inadequate sanitation and hygiene.

Mistreatment jeopardizes the health, welfare and lives of elderly Americans, at times responsible for serious illnesses, injuries or deaths — including thousands perishing from COVID-19 this year.

For many it’s for lack of proper care, the issue most often under the radar. It won’t likely stay above it for long.

Despite spending around double the per capita amount on healthcare compared to other developed countries, America falls woefully short in treating its sick, disabled, and otherwise needy.

A 2017 Commonwealth Fund study of the US, other Western countries, Australia and New Zealand (10 nations in total), found America’s performance record was dead last in care process, access, administrative efficiency, equity and health outcomes.

It has open-checkbook funding for militarism, imperial wars, corporate handouts, and other benefits to its privileged class — peanuts for ordinary Americans, including at times of duress like now when generous government help is essential.

The US has the world’s best healthcare system – based on the ability to pay — a fundamental human right commodified for profit.

It’s the only developed nation without some form of universal coverage that’s especially essential at times like now for its poor, most disadvantaged, and millions of unemployed.

The Times and other establishment media go out of their way to irresponsibly bash China, Russia, Iran, Venezuela, and other sovereign independent nations the US doesn’t control.

Accountability begins at home. The Trump regime and vast majority in Congress serve privileged interests exclusively.

They don’t give a hoot about ordinary people at home and abroad. Their disturbing policymaking shows it.

*

Note to readers: please click the share buttons below. Forward this article to your email lists. Crosspost on your blog site, internet forums. etc.

Award-winning author Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago. He can be reached at [email protected]. He is a Research Associate of the Centre for Research on Globalization (CRG)

His new book as editor and contributor is titled “Flashpoint in Ukraine: US Drive for Hegemony Risks WW III.”

http://www.claritypress.com/LendmanIII.html

Visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com.