WE JUST PASSED TWO SOBERING COVID-19 MILESTONES

Today the world rumbled past two grim markers of the progress of our current plague. There have now been more than three million confirmed COVID-19 cases worldwide, which have caused more than 210,000 deaths. And here in the US, we've just confirmed our one millionth case, with more than 56,000 deaths.

The SARS-NCoV-2 virus, the virulent, microscopic cause of the COVID-19 pandemic

Credit: US Department of State

It's tragic to realize that the US, with just 4.25 percent of the world's population, accounts for close to one-third of the world's COVID-19 cases and has suffered one-quarter of the deaths.

It's not an overstatement to rate our national response to the coronavirus pandemic as catastrophically poor.

Donald Trump, the virulent, macroscopic enabler of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States

Credit: Olivier Douliery-Pool/Getty Images

We can and must do better, but that's not going to be possible with Donald Trump as our leader. Because of his deeply flawed  character, lack of intelligence and world-class lack of empathy and humanity, he is incapable of leading us through this dark and dangerous time. He has puffed, prattled and preened while 56,000 of us have died.

Still, as pathological and incompetent as he is, Trump has one super-power--the spell he casts over some 45 percent of Americans. Finding the antidote to that is as urgent and vital as creating a vaccine for the coronavirus.