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Editor's Note: Jill Filipovic is a New York-based journalist and author of the book "The H-Spot: The Feminist Pursuit of Happiness." Follow her on Twitter. The opinions expressed in this comment are exclusively yours. See more opinion articles on CNNe.com/opinion.
(CNN) - Does the president have any idea what is at stake?
While the University of Washington model of the coronavirus, one often cited by the White House, predicts that American deaths will be nearly twice what it had previously predicted, and the New York Times reports that internal documents from The White House say the death toll could rise to 3,000 each day before June 1, President Donald Trump is telling the American people that it is time to ease protocols for social distancing.
What could go wrong?
A return to "normality" is impossible and an attempt to return to normality is a crazy proposal given the information we have. But it might make a little more sense if we had the basic principles of fighting disease in a developed and functional nation: widespread testing and monitoring; proper protective equipment for hospital workers and all essential employees; and a health care system that takes care of all sick people without going into debt or even bankruptcy.
We should have invested in all of these things months ago, and we must do so immediately. At an absolute minimum, the President should not reopen the country until we can properly evaluate, track and treat patients, and until we can provide enough PPE for all of our front-line workers.
They are not impossible demands; they are what any functional state would do. But the coronavirus has made it clear that the United States is no longer a fully functioning country; we are somewhat closer to a failed state.
The response to Trump's coronavirus started in a shocking and terribly bad way, and has improved little during the pandemic months. Instead of taking responsibility, Trump offers lies and obfuscation. Instead of a plan, he tweets about his own ratings. Rather than making widespread testing and follow-up of contagion a reality, he advocated unproven preventative treatment, invents a scenario in which warm weather solves problems it won't address, and suggests there may be some promise in using disinfectants to treat to the humans. It would be darkly funny if the consequences were not literally life and death.
One of the few things this administration is making efforts at is politicizing the crisis. The White House has banned disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci, a member of his coronavirus special force, from testifying before the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives in May, while allowing him to testify before the Republican-controlled Senate, saying that "the House is a group of Trump's enemies."
But why, then, is the president using what one would suppose to be his valuable time fighting the virus to spread misinformation at press conferences and post a variety of self-aggrandizing tweets? Shouldn't you be at least as busy as Dr. Anthony Fauci?
It is hard to imagine the president working all night (or even during the day for more than a few minutes at a time). He has made it clear that he cares about the stock market; Less clear is whether he cares that Americans live or die. And some Republican governors, like Brian Kemp of Georgia, have joined in, ignoring the advice of public health officials and reopening nonessential businesses like hair salons and gyms.
As for Congress, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Majority Leader Nancy Pelosi have rejected President Trump's offer of rapid-results coronavirus tests for members of Congress; they rightly said that the tests should go to the front-line workers. But this begs another question: why one of the world's most prosperous nations still doesn't have enough evidence for frontline workers and congressmen for several months in a pandemic? Why should we ration tests for coronavirus?
McConnell is probably not interested in answering that question. Instead, he decided to reconvene the Senate this week.
The average senator is almost 63 years old. About a quarter of the Senate is 70 or older. Coronavirus has hit older people harder and spreads when people are very close to each other. Bringing together a group of older adults in a city where infection and death rates continue to rise seems, to say the least, extremely unwise. That's probably why Pelosi decided not to re-convene the House this week, despite having a slightly younger (but also gray-haired) demographic.
The American people are right to be frustrated and nervous. Tens of millions have lost their jobs.
Millions have seen loved ones sick or dying, or have become ill themselves. Many of us have been locked up for a month and a half. We are concerned about the life of our family and our livelihoods. And yet, there is still no plan to handle this. Although some Americans have received assistance from expanded unemployment benefits and paycheck protection plan loans to small businesses, many others still cannot survive.
While Trump, at times, claimed that he has "the highest authority," his conflicting recognition that much of the power to tackle this crisis rests with the governor of each state is correct. However, this does not excuse the lack of presidential leadership in creating an informed and unified nation in facing the changes and devastation that this virus has caused.
Trump's preferred leadership style is whimsical, simple, and narcissistic, leaving experts to navigate his unpredictability. Those experts, and public health officials around the world, have pointed out what it takes to fight the pandemic: widespread testing and monitoring, as well as personal protective equipment for everyone who needs it. And yes, careful and imposed rules of social distancing.
The United States is not the first or only country to deal with this outbreak. But it seems that we are handling it much worse than some of our colleagues. The result is a catastrophic economic downturn and body bags piled high. It didn't have to be that way. But thanks to our irresponsible and foolish leader, there is no plan. There is only one tremendous (and in a more just, criminal world) breach of duty.
Donald trump