Trump has been hesitant to invoke the Defense Production Act for medical gear. But he's already used it hundreds of thousands of times for weapons and bombs

Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2020/04/03/trump-has-been-hesitant-to-inv.html

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It’s all part of a principled and self-consistent position on supply chain priorities. I’ve invited this respectable floating stone head from a think tank with an anodyne but patriotic name to explain it to you.

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He is flirting with crimes against humanity every day this goes on.

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Flirting? He has openly stated his absolute commitment to crimes against humanity since before he was elected. COVID-19 has simply given him a new set of crimes to explore.

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It’s weird to “heart” this. There should be a “this makes me miserable too” button.

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Ok, tongue kissing.

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Corporations are people, so their delicate feelings need to be taken into account. And campaign donations.

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Mr. Spock is deeply offended by this statement.
I am equally confounded by the proposition it contains.

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He is hesitant because it means he is taking charge of a situation. Taking charge means one can’t blame fuckups on others when things go wrong. One is held responsible. Trump has always hated and avoided anything he was obligated to do as president/political leader.

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But instead the USA buys off masks intended for France. and diverts shipments of masks destined for Germany (Second paragraph)

Interesting strategy. Might backfire, tho.

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Yeah, I’m gonna need a new Shocked! GIF because my old one is worn out.

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Your Shocked! Gif and my Irony meter are probably in the same repair shop.

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It’ll be a long wait if they’re deemed unessential :face_with_raised_eyebrow:

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I cant read the article due to paywall issues, so I dont know if this has been addressed.

If a product is DX rated and has 100 different components, then technically the law has been invoked 100 times to make the product. It doesnt seem plausible that the law is being invoked 1,000 times per day for seperate products.

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On the other hand, you have US companies subsidized by the government selling masks overseas for higher profits. This whole pandemic should be taken as an indictment of letting capitalism have any say in healthcare

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giphy ???

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Did somebody turn on his jacket without telling him first?? :smile:

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titus-white-nonsense

:wink:

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I keep thinking Trump won’t do it because Democrats have told him he needs to do it-- it’s about him saving face, not saving lives.

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Sure. The DPA has been used routinely by the DoD for many years. It’s not really news in itself. You’d think the Trumpenfuhrer would grab any power he could, but this might actually help people without profiting him in some way, so he can’t be arsed.

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