A U.S. government report that says that seven months into the coronavirus pandemic we are still suffering from a shortage of personal protective equipment (PPE) and diagnostic tests has been labeled by a top White House official as the work of a "useful idiot" who's in the pocket of the Democratic Party.
It would be better said that this nation's response to the pandemic has been led by a "useless idiot" in the White House who considers himself to be a scientific genius because of his brainiac uncle.
The report by the non-partisan Government Accountability Office (GAO) said the Trump administration did not take supply chain issues involving PPE seriously enough and that a unified plan to fill medical supply gaps still has not been developed.
The report also called for a "national plan" for vaccine distribution, noting that the lack of such a plan for diagnostic tests has led to competition, replication and confusion.
“As supply constraints continue,” GAO's investigators wrote, “we found that [the Department of Health and Human Services] and [the Federal Emergency Management Administration] have not developed plans outlining specific actions the federal government will take to help mitigate remaining medical supply gaps needed to respond to the pandemic.”
The White House took umbrage at the report and tried to paint it as a propaganda piece for the Democrats.
“It is well-known that the GAO is neither non-partisan or independent but simply a useful idiot for the Democrat Party and Big Labor,” White House economic adviser Peter Navarro told Yahoo News via the White House communications department. “Its bureaucrats lean heavily left and contribute equally heavily to Democrat candidates. In this election season, this new ‘report’ is without merit and simply an in-kind contribution to the Biden campaign.”
That is interesting. The GAO has for years had a stellar reputation for non-partisan analysis and reports and independence, regardless of which political party is in power. In fact, one might respond that the White House's response to the coronavirus pandemic has been orchestrated by a "useless idiot."
Just consider today's news, as an example:
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Today, coronavirus deaths crossed the 200,000 mark — the level at which Trump said in March would demonstrate that he had done a great job. Trouble is, projections are that at least another 200,000 will perish by year's end.
Once again, Trump claimed — incorrectly — that Covid-19 "affects virtually nobody" younger than 18, saying that only older Americans with heart problems and other serious conditions are the ones at real risk.
CNN reported that there are more than 40,000 cases of Covid-19 among college students, faculty and staff at colleges and universities nationwide. On some campuses, students that tested positive were relegated to undesirable quarantine housing and told to self-quarantine. Others who were caught partying were sent home, CNN said.
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While those students are likely older than 18, it wouldn't be by much. But with Trump's rhetoric saying there's nothing to worry about, so party on, it will only get worse. And then those students will spread the virus to who knows how many others. The "useless idiot" strikes again.
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Also today it was reported by The Washington Post that a $1 billion fund provided by Congress to the Pentagon in March to bolster the country's supply of medical equipment was instead sent to defense contractors for such items as jet engine parts, body armor and dress uniforms.
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The money was from the Cares Act, approved by Congress earlier this year, and was supposed to be used to "prevent, prepare for, and respond to the coronavirus."
Guess some "useful idiot" figured that maybe by providing jet engine parts, medical equipment could be flown by military jet to medical institutions around the country by pilots in snappy dress blues and guarded by MPs in body armor.
And it wasn't just the GAO report that Navarro complained so bitterly about that detailed the gaps in PPEs and the need for a plan and funding for vaccine distribution.
That point was stressed last week by Robert Redfield, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Senate testimony. He said states desperately need $6 billion for vaccine distribution early next year and that many U.S. hospitals still face a severe shortage of N95 masks.
The consequences of our nation's response to the coronavirus pandemic being led by the "useless idiot" in the White House cannot be understated. It's about time those doubters who think Trump is doing such a great job wake up — before it's too late and they find themselves burying someone in their own family, or themselves.
November 3.