The sorcerer has no clothes

"I will be speaking to all 50 governors very shortly and I will then be authorizing each individual governor of each individual state to implement a reopening, and a very powerful reopening plan, of their state at a time and in a manner as most appropriate," Trump said. "The day will be very close," and in some states "maybe even before the date of May 1." He added that "the governors will be very, very respectful of the presidency," but they "are responsible, they have to take charge, they have to do a great job," or he might "close 'em up and start all over again."
--Donald Trump, 15 April 2020

Thus speaks the President of the United States.

After yesterday claiming that, as president, his "authority is total" -- health restrictions would be ended whenever he chose -- and facing an uproar from Democrats, legal scholars, and even members of his own party, he today graciously grants a Royal Patent to the governors to do whatever they like. As long as they are "very, very respectful of the presidency," i.e., Mr. Trump, or he might reassert his royal authority.

He raises his hand, and the tide comes in. He lowers his hand, and the tide rushes out. He stands atop our government granting and withholding permission for the states to act. And yet he has no power, not even the remnants of belief by most citizens that he knows better than the state governors or his own medical advisers --and none of the states most affected by the pandemic to date will pay him heed.

He reminds me of Mickey Mouse on a high rock, directing the water-carrying brooms in the "Sorcerer's Apprentice" segment of Fantasia. Giving orders that the brooms ignore.

Other than bulldozing his way through constitutional law, his major activities during the week, relative to the Covid-19 crisis, have been holding up stimulus checks long enough to permit his name to be printed on each of them, and suspending payments to the World Health Organization because they let the pandemic catch him totally unaware. Despite the statements by innumerable officials, both within and outside the administration, that he had been warned of what was coming as early as January.

When Trump was inaugurated, commentators said the test of his presidency would come when the first major crisis hit the nation. The crisis is here, and he has already failed.

The world watches our nation with dismay.