Trump No War General
April 7, 2020 at 8:18 p.m.
By -
The president says he is a war president. Then why isn’t his administration acting like it? In a war, if New York and Seattle had been invaded by the enemy (your choice: China, Russia, Al Qaeda, Venezuela), would the president say to the mayors of the cities and the governors of New York and Washington that the federal government is “backup” and the states and cities should have planned for the invasions and fight their own battles? Would FEMA and other federal agencies expect the states to bid against each other in the open market for ammunition? Would the feds tell the states that strategic stockpiles are not for the states? Would the government say they are not there to disrupt the supply chain? Would federal officials tell the soldiers on the ground begging for resupply of ammunition that they don’t need as much as they are asking for, and even suggest that the soldiers might be stealing the ammo for themselves?
Of course not, but this exactly where we are. One example: The U.S. army is delivering thousands of masks to New York City, but instead of sending them directly to hospitals where the need is critical, they’re sending the masks to a warehouse from which they will be distributed to private companies which will then sell them to the highest bidder. Meanwhile the doctors and nurses in the hospitals fight on without the ammo they need.
All 50 of our states have been invaded by COVID-19, which is producing more casualties than a shooting war. We need a single coordinated national battle plan, not 50. The ammunition and protective equipment for this war are the tests, ventilators and PPE such as masks, gloves and gowns. The soldiers are all of the healthcare workers and workers in other essential businesses keeping the rest of us supplied with food, medicine, and, yes, toilet paper.
Apparently for ideological reasons, the president has refused to use his immense power to fight the war using the Defense Production Act. He could order production and rational distribution of the ammunition we need. But having the federal government take the leadership role goes against the right’s knee-jerk response, “government is-always-bad.” But we ARE in a war, and lack of federal coordination of the supply of ammunition is causing unnecessary spread of infection and deaths. Let’s have the arguments about the appropriate role of government after we win the war.
Jennifer Seiffert
Warsaw, via email
The president says he is a war president. Then why isn’t his administration acting like it? In a war, if New York and Seattle had been invaded by the enemy (your choice: China, Russia, Al Qaeda, Venezuela), would the president say to the mayors of the cities and the governors of New York and Washington that the federal government is “backup” and the states and cities should have planned for the invasions and fight their own battles? Would FEMA and other federal agencies expect the states to bid against each other in the open market for ammunition? Would the feds tell the states that strategic stockpiles are not for the states? Would the government say they are not there to disrupt the supply chain? Would federal officials tell the soldiers on the ground begging for resupply of ammunition that they don’t need as much as they are asking for, and even suggest that the soldiers might be stealing the ammo for themselves?
Of course not, but this exactly where we are. One example: The U.S. army is delivering thousands of masks to New York City, but instead of sending them directly to hospitals where the need is critical, they’re sending the masks to a warehouse from which they will be distributed to private companies which will then sell them to the highest bidder. Meanwhile the doctors and nurses in the hospitals fight on without the ammo they need.
All 50 of our states have been invaded by COVID-19, which is producing more casualties than a shooting war. We need a single coordinated national battle plan, not 50. The ammunition and protective equipment for this war are the tests, ventilators and PPE such as masks, gloves and gowns. The soldiers are all of the healthcare workers and workers in other essential businesses keeping the rest of us supplied with food, medicine, and, yes, toilet paper.
Apparently for ideological reasons, the president has refused to use his immense power to fight the war using the Defense Production Act. He could order production and rational distribution of the ammunition we need. But having the federal government take the leadership role goes against the right’s knee-jerk response, “government is-always-bad.” But we ARE in a war, and lack of federal coordination of the supply of ammunition is causing unnecessary spread of infection and deaths. Let’s have the arguments about the appropriate role of government after we win the war.
Jennifer Seiffert
Warsaw, via email
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