For a little while now, I've been bothered by this nagging sense that whatever mechanism controls the flow of world history, has somehow broken down.

After all, it seems to me that throughout recorded time we could always count on history to provide humanity with exactly the kind of leadership we needed at exactly the right time we needed it.

To show you what I mean, here are some examples pulled from my memory of high school history class:

When faced with the threat of Persian invasion, ancient Athens produced the brilliant statesman, Themistocles; during World War II, Winston Churchill arrived on the scene just in time to rally a nation against the Nazis, and when America was in the moral doldrums thanks to the triple whammy of Viet Nam, Watergate and Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan amiably ambled onto the political stage to provide the country with a needed jolt of optimism.

It's like the old expression says, "Cometh the hour, cometh the man."  (Of course, the person who cometh couldeth also be a woman see the example of Britain's Margaret Thatcher)

Yet, today with the COVID-19 crisis staring us in the face and with a severe recession looming just off the horizon, where are the leaders we need today?

Looking around the world I don't see any Themistocleses or Churchills or Reagans riding to the rescue.

Indeed, the leaders we do have in power to deal with the world's current grave condition, all seem to be out of their depth — no leader seemed prepared for a pandemic, no leader seems to have any definitive answers as to how to stop it, all leaders seem to be continually behind the curve, making up their strategies as they go along.

Certainly U.S. President Donald Trump, with his rambling news conferences, his bizarre habit of prescribing drugs and his vacillating views on whether or not to open up the economy, hasn't exactly covered himself in glory during the pandemic.

Nor, must I say, has Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

And yes, I know, for Canada's mainstream media, criticizing the Prime Minister is close to heresy and I'm sure I'll be banned from the CBC for saying this, but in dealing with this virus scare, Trudeau has lost much of the charming charisma for which he is adored.

In other words, throughout this ordeal, Trudeau's leadership has been flat and uninspired.

To show you what I mean, if Trudeau was the British Prime Minister on the eve of the Battle of Britain, he'd probably give a speech like this:

My Fellow Britons: According to all the experts, Nazi Germany's military power is vastly superior to ours, which means we're probably going to lose.  So, don't get your hopes up.  Just stay in your bomb shelter and await the inevitable.  And please don't anybody mention that Nazism originated in Germany because that would be racist.  In the meantime, I will take adorable selfies whatever the cost may be.  I shall take them on the beaches, I shall take them on the landing grounds, I shall take them in the fields and in the streets, I shall take them in my swanky cottage; I shall never surrender my right to be cute!

You get my point, right?

So, the question before us is why don't we have real leadership when we need it?

Well, perhaps it's not history that's broken, perhaps the fault lies with our corporate, mainstream media.

And yes, I know blaming the media is a lazy thing to do, but let me explain.

The problem, as I see it, is that our media is biased against any politician who they deem to be boring or non-telegenic or too policy-wonkish;  in other words, they only approve of politicians who exude the hipness or coolness of Hollywood celebrities.

And when they come across a politician who could double for a movie star, they will use all their massive powers of promotion to give him or her a boost with tons of positive coverage.

That includes even Trump; yes, the media hates him today, but they also essentially created him, since early on in his primary run in 2016, the American media, intrigued by the candidacy of an ex-reality TV star, gave him billions of dollars worth of free publicity.

They simply couldn't help themselves.

As for Trudeau, well, as we all know, the Canadian media has adored Trudeau's rock-star persona for decades and the rosy coverage the prime minister has consistently received, reflects this adoration.

Hence, the bottom line of all this, is we now have leaders in power, who are long on celebrity cred, but short on actual governing experience.

Of course, in relatively normal times, this might not matter too much, but in times of crisis it might matter a lot.

Surely, it'd be nice to have leaders in power right now who know how to make tough decisions in tough times and also know how to inspire a populace gripped by fear.

And don't forget, virus aside, we will need all the experienced and inspiring leadership we can get to help guide us through the oncoming economic recession.

Mind you, I could be totally wrong about all this; perhaps my pessimism about leadership is misplaced.

Maybe Trump and Trudeau will shine like stars in the months and weeks ahead.

Time will tell.

Yet, I got to tell you, given the state of world, I'm wishing we had a non-telegenic, non-celebrity, non-hip leader like Winston Churchill in charge right now.

Photo Credit: BBC News