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“Americans play to win all the time,” George Patton told the Third Army in the spring of 1944. “That’s why Americans have never lost and will never lose a war. The very thought of losing is hateful to Americans.” That was in another time, another country. When Patton spoke the United States was still ascending, a superpower in the making. But once our ascent was complete, our war making became managerial, lumbering, oriented toward stalemate. From Vietnam to Iraq to Afghanistan to all our lesser conflicts, the current American way of warfare rarely has a plan to win. Those foreign entanglements are mostly wars of choice; the struggle with the coronavirus is a war of necessity. But though this invader is killing our civilians and hammering our economy on a scale unseen in any of our 20th-century wars, we’re currently headed toward the same sort of un-Pattonian strategy that we’ve pursued in other conflicts. (Ross Douthat, 5/12)

This is the part of the horror movie when we realize that the phone call from the psychotic killer is coming from inside the house — and yet those being stalked convince themselves that somehow, things will work out just fine. We now know that covid-19 has invaded the White House itself. Vice President Pence’s press secretary, Katie Miller, and one of President Trump’s personal valets have both tested positive for the novel coronavirus. Two of the physicians leading the federal response to the virus — Robert Redfield, head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and Stephen Hahn, head of the Food and Drug Administration — have gone into self-quarantine as a precaution. A third, Anthony S. Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, has placed himself in partial isolation. (Eugene Robinson, 5/11)

There's a Covid-19 rebellion brewing in Pennsylvania, where counties led by Republicans and some businesses have said they'll defy Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf's restrictive orders. Wolf has said he'll withhold stimulus funding from those counties if they ignore his orders. He's taken a tiered strategy to reopening the state and moved scores of counties to a new, more open "yellow" phase. Some of those still on "red" don't want to wait for the state anymore. (Zachary B. Wolf, 5/12)

Hopefully the novel coronavirus, which has infected at least two people who work in the cramped warrens of the White House, will not spread there. Hopefully the measures being taken, including daily diagnostic testing, will contain it. But the genuine anxiety of President Trump’s team about their workplace underscores an important point. They know what needs to be done for themselves — diagnostic testing, contact tracing and isolating — but Mr. Trump has failed in his duty to provide it for the country. (5/11)

It’s time to acknowledge some basic truths about the crisis we are in.Reopening does not mean a return to normal.America must get back to work, but as we do, our work — and much of our lives — will not look or feel the same.It is time to level with the country about these new realities. What does this mean? First, work will necessarily change for the time being. Anybody who can telework should continue teleworking well into the future. For those of us who travel to our jobs, employers are going to have to innovate within the workplace to keep their workers and customers safe. Masks will still be a part of daily life. Work that can be shifted outside should be. (Governor Larry Hogan, 5/8)

If you’re an avid follower of North Carolina’s coronavirus data — we know you’re out there — you may have noticed a critical change in language involving one of the benchmarks the Department of Health and Human Services uses to measure how well our state is slowing the spread of COVID-19. If you’re a conspiracy lover who thinks that change might be nefarious, you’re probably going to be disappointed. The language change involves hospitalizations — specifically the number of people currently hospitalized in North Carolina with COVID-19. It’s a metric that raised at least a few eyebrows last week when N.C. Gov. Roy Cooper announced that the state would move to Phase 1 of his three-part reopening plan. At that announcement, DHHS Secretary Mandy Cohen laid out the data behind the decision, including that the number of current hospitalizations had “leveled.” (5/11)

Michigan’s state emergency declaration expired on April 30. The Republican legislative majority reached out to Gov. Gretchen Whitmer ahead of the expiration date in the hopes that she would engage her partners in the Legislature and develop a reasonable plan to move Michigan forward. Whitmer did not respond. When it came time for the Legislature to consider an extension of the declaration, the Senate Republicans considered input from constituents who want to see an end to the stringent stay-at-home order and those who are more cautious about reopening Michigan. Regardless of their opinion on the stay-at-home order, all can agree that the citizens’ elected representatives should be involved in these kinds of decisions that have major impacts on the lives of all Michigan residents. (Mike Shirkey, 5/11)

No one was paying attention to Holyoke until alarming news reports of multiple COVID-19 deaths and bodies being stored in a refrigerated truck on the premises. Baker said he first learned of the deaths on March 29. Walsh, who is now on paid administrative leave, insists that he fully informed state officials of the developing crisis and the impact of COVID-19-related staffing shortages. Still, as recently as March 10, Walsh was giving a glowing review of the facility’s operation to the board of trustees, according to ProPublica. (Joan Vennochi, 5/11)