The lay of the land two-thirds of the way through May 2020

The encouraging, the disturbing, and the downright embarrassing

1.) The US seems to be past the peak virus-wise

For deaths, that seems to have occurred around April 21. The tricky element regarding that is whether the critical mass of the American public can refrain from such responses as “Wheee! Time to open everything up right now and put away those silly masks!” and “There’s still so much we don’t know, and a second wave is a strong possibility, so nearly everyone should continue in lockdown mode.” Let’s face it; we’re winging it, and we’re going to do so tentatively and clumsily, but there’s no reason we can’t do it with some degree of humor, relief and goodwill.

2.) Phased reopening, which is now taking place in all 50 states, seems to be proceeding pretty well.

Even Michigan’s governor Whitmer, who took a notoriously hard-ass approach to locking down, is partially reopening businesses. Indiana moved into the third of its five stages to complete reopening ahead of schedule. Sports are coming back to Texas.

3.) The latest federal stimulus bill, which just passed the House, is not a serious document.

One suspects that Democrats are aware of this. In the main, it’s yet another progressive wish list. Its function is probably more to serve notice that this is where they want to see policy head long-term. Also, it is a great tool for demagoguing. There are some important elements in it. People, businesses and institutions still need relief. The bill’s supporters can portray those giving it a thumbs-down as heartless, when all the latter are saying is, “cut out the superfluous stuff and give us something clean and simple to vote on.”

4.) The Very Stable Genius continues to unravel in real time before the nation’s eyes.

Twitter, of course, is where this mainly plays out. There’s his recent thumbs-up to disgraced investigative journalist and pundit Michelle Malkin, his enthusiasm for the video of 12 Long Island news reporter Kevin Vesey being set upon by a gaggle of militant open-it-all-up-right-now types (“People can’t get enough of this! Great people!”), the two tweets bragging about how he has made the nation’s governors “look good,” his strong insinuation that Joe Scarborough murdered a young staffer when he was a Congressman in 2001, when in fact the staffer died of a heart condition, a series of tweets attacking Fox News, culminating in one that said, “Fox News is doing nothing to help Republicans, and me, get re-elected on November 3rd,” and went on to call several of the network’s personalities “garbage,” and his threat to cut off pandemic-aid funding to Michigan (not a good look given the timing; two dams had just burst in Midland County) if it sent out absentee ballots, which was not even the case. It sent out ballot applications, something Republican secretaries of state in Iowa, Nebraska, Georgia and West Virginia have done.

This is not the behavior of a person with a grip on himself.

5.) The full scope of the economic toll is now coming into sharp relief.

Even the relentlessly buoyant Larry Kudlow, who has had pony-in-here-somewhere takes on the economy over the years, no matter its shape, was offering a more muted tone about the prospects for recovery in the present circumstance. Another 4 million Americans filed for unemployment benefits last week, bringing the total since the pandemic hit to 43 million. Mortgage delinquencies spiked in April. While Georgia has been a leader in reopening, jobs are not exactly blossoming there.

6.) Our other choice besides more of the Very Stable Genius is going to be more wokeness.

That was made apparent in an interview Joe Biden did with radio host Charlemagne The God in which he manically attempted to burnish his woke bona fides (“I know a lot of weed smokers,” “I guarantee you, there are multiple black women being considered [for the vice presidential slot]”). He ended the conversation with this humdinger: "If you have a problem figuring out if you're for me or Trump, then you ain't black.”

7.) The world stage still demands our attention.

Iranian oil tankers are bringing 1.5 million barrels of oil to Venezuela. Venezuela will escort them with its own frigates and strike jets.

China is about to bring the hammer down once and for all on what’s left of the one-country-two-systems arrangement that has allowed Hong Kong to live without the yoke of communist tyranny since 1997.

8.) The cultural and spiritual damage our nation has sustained is still its most dire challenge.

The pandemic and attendant shutdown did not unify us. In fact, it exacerbated the polarization which has been increasing for years. The extending of grace is at a premium. We’re more secular than we’ve ever been, and there are deep divisions within what’s left of the Christian presence in America.

We’ve deliberately become a trivial people, less capable than ever of creating real art or engaging in elevated discourse.

We assume that we there’s some quick and pain-free solution to our situation that will arise from our material advancement and technological prowess.

There’s another way to look at this and to proceed. It will take some courage and swallowing of pride. The decision is ours.