Two nights and tens of thousands of dollars ago I was watching a Netflix documentary on World War II. I believe it’s called “World War II In Color.” On Wednesday night I watched episode 2, which is all about the Battle of Britain.
As you probably know, Hitler’s plan was to use the Luftwaffe, the most formidable air force the world had yet seen, to take out British air planes and air fields, which would then make it easier for Germany to launch a full-scale invasion of troops from across the English Channel. That was the initial plan.
But things never go exactly the way you plan in warfare. The German plan was not to hit London, to preserve the city. But then one wayward bomber hit an East End neighborhood, killing nine or so civilians. England responded by bombing Berlin. The Nazis and Hitler were so incensed that they declared all bets off: London was on the table.
Now I bring all of this up because all of a sudden life changed dramatically for what was, arguably, the most civilized city in the world. Right up there at the time with New York and Paris. Children were sent on train up north. Citizens slept in subway tunnels because the Germans quickly learned that they were much more effective if they bombed London in night.
For weeks on end, German planes bombed London, creating giant infernos and mountains of debris (see above). I’ve thought about this a lot the past two days. Yes, for us this coronavirus is a relative hardship (No XFL!) and it sucks not having March Madness. But, fortunately, for most of us this is simply an inconvenience. And maybe we’ve lost some of our savings. But, again for most of us, this isn’t life or death.
I was touched in particular by one scene in the doc. The morning after a bombing raid a shopkeeper is sweeping the sidewalk in front of his store, even though there’s debris everywhere around. He doesn’t care. It’s important to him to do the job that needs to be done. And that’s his job. No one felt sorry for themselves.
Now, a big reason why London not only overcame this direct attack on its existence and that Londoners soldiered through it so admirably was, as you know, Winston Churchill. The prime minister. Hitler had expected England to sue for peace. He really did not want to fight England, he just wanted England to stay out of Germany’s way as it ravaged the rest of Europe. And Churchill, avoiding the politically expedient maneuver, responded with (in as many words), “No f____ g way!”
Instead of looking the other way, England declared war on Germany. And after Germany took over France Hitler gave Churchill the chance to rescind. And Churchill said No. So Germany, in its arrogance and stupidity, attacked England. And wound up losing.
Where would England have been without Churchill’s leadership:
“We shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our island, whatever the cost may be. We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender!”
Up to this point our president and vice president and even most of their hand-picked health officials have been providing Neville Chamberlain-like “Peace in our time” sound bytes. There’s nothing to worry about, they assure us, while we can all see by the escalating infection numbers world wide that this virus is a formidable opponent.
Churchill never assured his people that there was nothing to worry about. He told them that we will fight the existential threat to the last man, no matter the cost. America sorely could use a Winston Churchill right now. We don’t have one. At least not one who is connected to this administration.
This is our own little Battle of Britain. It’s a time when America needs true leadership. There is none.
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While I have your attention: the stock market will not begin to rebound until the president comes clean about testing. Until America sees the actual data and has time to absorb it. It’s just like being in a relationship; you don’t get past the pain and hurt until everyone comes clean. The truth may hurt but it will set you free because there’s no more fear of the unknown.
President Trump’s strategy is his well-honed (and ultimately unsuccessful) keep-her-in-the-dark strategy. As a serial adulterer, it has always been his M.O. to lie to his spouse and continue lying. And then, when she’s finally tired of the duplicity, she asks for a divorce and he grants it to her on the condition she sign an NDA. But, like an immature child, his strategy for coping with bad news is to lie. To attempt to appease the person at the other end and hope to persuade them not to react.
He does that with wives. Does it with contractors he stiffs. Does it with Trump University students. And he’s doing it with America now.
But America, at least half of it, isn’t that stupid. We’re listening to the experts. We know that he’s not being straight with us. We know the numbers are unnaturally low on cases because the government is holding back the test kits available. Doing the “No News Is Good News” tap dance.
But it won’t work here. There are too many other nations providing real data, too many experts here unafraid to speak freely. So, and I don’t expect this from him, but Trump just needs to go on TV and come clean. Needs to tell America that we’ll get as many kits out as possible. That this will be both a financial and a public health calamity. But that we’ll fight it every way possible. And that we will get past it. Right now he’s only doing the “we will get past it” part without acknowledging that it’s a real foe. And that’s why the markets are tanking.
Acknowledging that there’s a problem is the first step in solving it.
