The disordered, sociopathic, criminal mind of Donald "Moron Vector" Trump is now fully reflected in his regime's response to the coronavirus outbreak.
Exhibit A is the tasking of failson- in- law Jared Kushner as overseer of the response, who quickly made it clear he knew nothing about how strategic stockpiles are supposed to work (but plenty about how gaslighting does):
The website of the Strategic National Stockpile was edited on Friday to soften language about how the stockpile is supposed to be used by states -- a day after media outlets reported that the original version contradicted a claim by senior White House official Jared Kushner.
Kushner, President Donald Trump's senior adviser and son-in-law, said at Thursday's coronavirus briefing that states themselves have medical equipment stockpiled -- and argued that "the notion of the federal stockpile was it's supposed to be our stockpile; it's not supposed to be state stockpiles that they then use."
The language in the website was scrubbed to reshape the stockpile as "a short-term stopgap buffer" for states, presumably after they've exhausted their resources and precious time bidding against each other for critical supplies, and for governors still willing to kiss Moron Vector's ass. After successfully bringing peace to the Middle East, Kushner will doubtless play the same inept, counterproductive role as a coordinator of federal disaster relief in this pandemic. But at least he's on the same page as Moron Vector:Journalists and others quickly pointed out that the federal stockpile's own website made clear Kushner was wrong. (our emphasis)
"By the way, the states should have been building their stockpile. We have almost 10,000 (ventilators) in our stockpile. And we've been building it, and we've been supplying it. But the states should be building. We're a backup. We're not an ordering clerk. We're a backup," Trump said Thursday."Our stockpile," my ass. These aren't Kushner's or Moron Vector's stockpiles to divvy up among favored Republican governors or states, or for some other, even more grotesque backroom dealing.
Exhibit B is the "Lord of the Flies" competition Moron Vector's bizarre policy is creating:
The effects of this situation have found states in bidding wars amongst each other and the federal government to get critical medical supplies. New York Governor, Andrew Cuomo, has been an outspoken critic of the situation saying, “This is not the way to do it, this is ad hoc, I'm competing with other states, I'm bidding up other states on the prices.” [snip]
Similarly, Kentucky Governor, Andy Beshear, admitted that his state lost out to the Federal Emergency Management Agency when bidding to get protective equipment saying, “It is a challenge. The federal government says ‘states, you need to go find your supply chain’ and then the federal government ends up buying from that supply chain.” [snip]
The effects of these bidding wars are damaging to all parties involve, but they leave poorer rural states without options when they are forced to compete with the federal government and states that have more financial resources...So, what's happening is that the Moron Vector regime is using our tax dollars to bid against states to procure medical supplies, then turning over the supplies it's purchased to private distribution companies, who then sell those supplies at inflated prices to the highest state bidders. That's a slow, inefficient system that's also perfect for
But, as they say, that's not all.
Exhibit C brings us another example of Moron Vector's contempt for our allies and international law. In his panic to make up for months of criminal indifference to the pandemic, Moron Vector is making our country a pirate nation:
German officials on Friday were stinging in their criticism of the Trump administration after a consignment of face masks that they said was ordered and paid for by the Berlin police was diverted en route from China. Andreas Geisel, Berlin’s interior minister, said the delivery made it as far as Bangkok before being “confiscated.”
In a statement, he said he couldn’t provide further details of what happened at the airport but “we are currently assuming that this is related to the U.S. government’s ban on mask exports.”
“We consider this an act of modern piracy,” he said, calling on the United States to “comply with international rules.” “This is not how you deal with transatlantic partners. Even in times of global crisis, wild west methods shouldn’t rule.It's not just Germany. Officials in France and Brazil have complained about purchases they thought they'd made, only to be told the deals "fell through" due to U.S. outbidding them.
So, instead of international cooperation to save lives and fight a pandemic that knows no borders, Moron Vector's out there doing his best to exacerbate the problem and make us even more of a villain in the world's eyes than he's already done. And those supplies he's "pirated"? They're sure to go to the stockpile he thinks is his and Jared's, only to have them enter into the bidding process noted in Exhibit B, above.
If the stakes weren't so high, this could be shrugged off as just more shady dealing by the most corrupt, criminal administration in American history. But lives are at stake, and evil things are being done in our name.
BONUS: On a lighter note, satirist Andy Borowitz informs us that the National Incompetence Stockpile is at full capacity.
