In 1940 Hitler, having rolled over Europe, set his sights on invading Great Britain. He was stopped by one decision: Newly elected Prime Minister Winston Churchill decided to direct Britain’s national energy – and strength – to denying Hitler’s Luftwaffe air superiority. To do that Churchill appointed a determined Lord Max Beaverbrook to produce Spitfire fighters. He told Beaverbrook to get the job done using any means necessary and, he added, if any bureaucrat tried to get in his way Churchill himself would handle the obstructer.

Churchill recognized the biggest threat to his country. He decided on the course of action, ruthlessly followed it and saved his country.

Like other bureaucracies, the bomber plane hierarchy resented Max Beaverbrook. He was an easy man to dislike. But he was the right man for the job. He produced the Spitfires needed and Germany never gained air superiority.

Now, we face an enemy of our own. A scary enemy. Like the Luftwaffe’s nighttime bombers, the average person knows the coronavirus is there but can’t see it. But we do have a cure for our blindness – random testing will show us the spread of coronavirus and tell us the hot spots we need to focus on to defeat the disease. Once we know where the outbreaks are, we can isolate and direct resources, taking the fight to the virus. Random testing is like a radar that can spot a Nazi bomber at night.

Unfortunately, we’ve lost a precious month when it comes to spotting our enemy. While the coronavirus attacked the world, Washington politicians were attacking each other. Impeachment, not testing, was the priority. With politicians distracted, bureaucrats – and bureaucratic turf wars – were the order of the day. Control of the testing process was, to them, more important than getting tests done and the results out. We now know that the CDC, the FDA and HHS, did not – and will not – lead us out of this valley. Now it’s time to focus all available national resources on finding, and killing, the enemy.

We may get a break; warmer weather could stop the spread as it does the flu. But we learned in 1918 that autumn might bring it back again, even worse. We’ve lost a month. And we’re paying the price. But we still have time. Let’s use it.