British soldiers in World War I were widely believed to have sacrificed their lives needlessly in futile offensives ordered by incompetent generals ensconced in comfortable chateaux far from the front. They were said to be “lions led by donkeys.”

Today, the lions are the medical professionals risking their lives to fight the worst pandemic in a century. They are worthy successors to the first responders who rushed into the collapsing towers on 9/11 and the soldiers who stormed the beaches of Normandy. But, like the Tommies in the Great War, they are being betrayed by many of their political leaders. They are being asked to go into harm’s way without an adequate supply of protective masks, gowns and gloves—or enough ventilators to treat patients.

One doctor treating covid-19 patients in New Jersey emailed me: “I am furious, terrified, exhausted, and sad. I have been trying to reach the president, the governor, the CDC, anyone I thought might help, for over a month, knowing what was coming. I couldn’t break through. And now I don’t know how many patients we can save, or if I’ll survive this awful crisis.”