A shout-out to state governments

With incompetence and indifference at the federal level, the U.S. was headed for millions dead from COVID-19. Thankfully, state governors and local governments took fairly swift action, which will probably save the vast majority of those lives. It underscores the importance of having a president who cares about more than his own ego, but also underscores the strengths of decentralized power, where state and local governments have a large degree of autonomy.

Brazil is in a similar situation. Its president, Jair Bolsonaro, is a fascist who would happily see a tenth of the country die. But its state governments have imposed lockdowns and other social distancing measures, ignoring the moronic pleas of Bolsonaro to "get back to work."

The framers of the U.S. and Brazilian constitutions can rest happy that at least in this case, their decentralized systems are working.