America and the world are in troubled times. The COVID-19 virus pandemic is fertile ground for those who are trying to put a political spin on a medical emergency.

We don’t need their advice. We want action.

Empty platitudes designed to placate a gullible public into believing that this pandemic is just a temporary inconvenience that will just magically disappear one day, according to our president, are only fooling themselves.

It is not going away. It will only get worse. It has already cost thousands of lives and threatens to empty the treasuries and bankrupt the economies in many states.

Read the news and you will find daily reminders that people are frightened that the world they grew up in is becoming a distant memory. They are whistling in the graveyard.

In addition to the shortage of desperately needed medical supplies in many parts of our country, we also have another shortage: leadership. Real and effective leadership. Not the type of leadership emanating from 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, D.C.

It appears to me that the current administration is more concerned about spinning the daily news cycle to embellish its prospects of being re-elected in November than it is in caring for the needs of the American people.

The president is becoming petulant and petty about those who question his ability to lead our country in these perilous times.

Some governors are asking for medical equipment from the federal government to help them in the treatment of infected patients who are suffering the effects of the COVID-19 virus. The president’s response was to demonize their character and dismiss them as cry babies. He is thin-skinned and has a need to be constantly admired and appreciated.

The president’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic is what he will be remembered for. It will be his legacy. Nothing else he does will matter.

The president is not acting. He is reacting to a serious health issue that affects all Americans. He claimed that our country would be open for business by Easter. Maybe he meant next Easter.

The November election will be a definitive one. Politicians will do their best to convince the electorate that they have all the answers to America’s problems. The best the typical citizen can do is to separate the wheat from the chaff and hope that things turn out well.

America will weather this storm. Regrettably, in the interim, the virus will take the lives of many, many more people. People we cared about. They were not collateral damage. They were people who may have had a chance to still be here today if the current administration had acknowledged the COVID-19 virus sooner and had quickly taken action.

Instead, the administration dithered for two precious months. Months that could have made a difference in the lives of thousands of our countrymen.

The president keeps blaming President Obama for all of our country’s problems. Trump has a visceral dislike for the successful, two-term former president. Obama has been out of office for more than three years. In politics, that is ancient history.

Our country’s COVID-19 pandemic is because of Trump’s failure to act when he had a chance to make a difference. It was not Obama’s fault. It landed squarely on Trump’s doorstep. It is time to replace an incompetent administration with one that cares about all Americans, not just the rich and powerful.

My worst fear is that we may not have an election in November. It may become an issue for the Supreme Court to settle. Now is the time for city and town poll personnel to come up with a plan to have a safe (a fresh, untouched new pencil for each voter) and orderly national election to be held in November.

The U.S. Constitution demands that the election “shall” be held. There is no ambiguity or equivocation on that subject. If people can get to their favorite grocery or liquor store, then they can also get to the polls to vote. With luck, the virus may have abated by November.

In conclusion, I quote Thomas Paine: “These are the times that try men’s souls.”

(Jim Baer lives in Concord.)