What a stranded carrier, a lettuce outbreak, a burning robot, and a broken CIA have in common, and why you only find out what you cut once something breaks.
As this essay makes clear once more, Trump and his acolytes hate rules and restrictions of any kind and couldn’t care less about their victims.
Their malicious indifference extends to a long and growing list: children suffering in decrepit detention camps or dying in a measles outbreak; thousands severely ill because this government recklessly cut food safety protections; Navy sailors literally going insane after unplanned extensions of their deployment at sea, in horrific conditions, with no end in sight; misidentified and brutalized targets of lawless ICE thugs on our streets; women and minorities presumed to be undeserving because of their gender, race or heritage; young women again forced to carry pregnancies to term regardless of circumstances; and the millions of sane Americans who must endure the daily torture of a treasonous, incompetent regime toxic with sadism and cruelty.
We the people need to end this nightmare with action, beginning with individual acts to help defeat MAGA at the polls this November and in court as Trump and MAGA pursue their ongoing coup to keep power in order to enrich themselves.
We are being governed by deeply insecure and hollow men (& some women; it’s mainly white men). They champion cruelty and treat empathy as a curse because it directly opposes their hard-hearted words & actions.
The world is complex, hence the need for testing, thoughtful decision making, peer reviews, planning, processes, etc., etc. Work needs to be planned and plans need to be worked. Late changes cause massive disruptions. Interference from a no nothing hip shooter does nothing to speed production of a quality product. Just saying as a retired engineer with experience in ship building, computer design, project installation, product design, management, and team management. Complex things are not easily done. What bites you in the butt is usually not what you anticipated.
This is excellent. If you don't ask questions, you don't get answers. Nobody around Trump, and Trump himself, every asks even one question about anything. How many missiles do we have? Not asked. How long have our warships been at sea? Not asked. Can Iran close the Strait of Hormuz easily? Not asked. Will they? Not asked. On and on and on.
This is a very sensible discussion that should not be as rare (and thus as badly needed) as it is.
I would distinguish between the Biden administration's issue - trying to expedite weapons production because of the crisis caused by the Russian invasion of Ukraine - and the issues under Trump - eliminating tracking of bacteria, firing foreign policy and strategy experts because they don't believe in regulation (or their corporate donors do not) or because the analysts once analyzed Trump's activities in a way that he did not like.
the results may be similar but the causes and thus remedies are different.
Excellent piece. Thank you. The section about the Texas factory reads like a 3 stooges bit except we are millions of tax payer $$$ spent on a bunch of useless metal and it is not funny.
Intentional Kakistocracy, including the Biden bit. Government should not bend over for coporations. If a contract is signed and the company fails to perform...bye, bye.
The ProPublica article mentions the reason the GD contract wasn't terminated for default (failure to perform) as it seems it should have been: years of expensive litigation. Termination for convenience is the other, easier, option but it's still costly because there are contractual commitments to the contractor and various subcontractors that need to be unwound. So the least disruptive path for all involved was for the government to get a discount on some other GD contract. I'm not arguing that that's the ideal solution, just pointing out why it worked out that way.
I do think that there are plenty of "learning opportunities" in that fiasco, and that painful penalties should be laid on the responsible parties - not the folks who carried out the decisions, but GD (the corporation) as well as those people in their individual, not corporate, capacity who made the decisions and created the environment where questionable decisions were the expected thing.
Well said. The circularity of it is wonderful, especially with your Texas example. Creative solutions require failure, but are only creative if failure creates solutions.
This is absolutely BRILLIANT. I worked in military procurement for 20 years and I went to schools to re-learn these very same lessons. I say "re-learn" because every 5-6 years someone came along and "streamlined" the acquisition process (Darlene Druyon's "Lightning bolts" was my favorite) to shorten development or reduce oversight. The end result was always the same - flawed processes, delays, expensive overruns, and retrofits. The real lesson: Don't take down the fence until you know why it was built. We never seem to learn it.
ISTR Harry Truman came to FDR's attention because he aggressively conducted oversight into procurement waste, fraud, & abuse during FDR's 3rd term as we were ramping up production for WW2.
Well, as least they were able to quickly get Harvey Milk's name off a ship to protect us from....hmm. I can't remember what we were being protected from, but gosh darn it they didn't mess around with silly bureaucracy.
It's hard to write compellingly about process and procedures but you did it Mary! Again!
So clearly explained, as always. Your grasp of all these nightmare scenarios is outstanding, as is your ability to then weave them together and to make them understandable.
One can thump their chest over and over appearing manly but if it’s an ass you’re beating it will still be just an ass.
It took too long for most to see the incompetence ..and even still! Facts be damned , won’t surpass the lies repeated ..like …”Trust me” until trust is all but gone (along with the money).
The shame is realized not by the guilty but by those fooled..and the guilty are a long way from accountability.
That all holdings, possessions, accounts, and freedoms ( baring [over]due process) of those guilty be confiscated to pay reparations won’t come even close to restoring the damage, nor the cost.
Our great grandchildren will still be paying that bill.
Making America Great had already been established. FYI .
But Greed threw The Cloak of Deception smothering everything but their Gloat ,Pride, Secrecy, Spin …even their “transparency”…. “We’re gonna be so rich”. Remember ?
Many will remember the complicit list…hopefully bring it to justice.
The lesson will teach . Maybe a renewed standing in honor that doesn’t get fooled again. There’s many a guardrail to strengthen , warning flags to adhere to the law be consistent, and requirements for those breaking oaths to be quickly removed from office.
"It reads less like an advanced defense-manufacturing facility than an extremely expensive episode of Looney Tunes sponsored by the Department of Defense."
I presume that the crates were all marked "Acme". Meep meep!
As this essay makes clear once more, Trump and his acolytes hate rules and restrictions of any kind and couldn’t care less about their victims.
Their malicious indifference extends to a long and growing list: children suffering in decrepit detention camps or dying in a measles outbreak; thousands severely ill because this government recklessly cut food safety protections; Navy sailors literally going insane after unplanned extensions of their deployment at sea, in horrific conditions, with no end in sight; misidentified and brutalized targets of lawless ICE thugs on our streets; women and minorities presumed to be undeserving because of their gender, race or heritage; young women again forced to carry pregnancies to term regardless of circumstances; and the millions of sane Americans who must endure the daily torture of a treasonous, incompetent regime toxic with sadism and cruelty.
We the people need to end this nightmare with action, beginning with individual acts to help defeat MAGA at the polls this November and in court as Trump and MAGA pursue their ongoing coup to keep power in order to enrich themselves.
We are being governed by deeply insecure and hollow men (& some women; it’s mainly white men). They champion cruelty and treat empathy as a curse because it directly opposes their hard-hearted words & actions.
Madam D...oh, sorry, B, I hope you're taking names and that the tumbrells will soon roll.
Haha - I still hope to see this mafia cabal voted and litigated out of power!
The world is complex, hence the need for testing, thoughtful decision making, peer reviews, planning, processes, etc., etc. Work needs to be planned and plans need to be worked. Late changes cause massive disruptions. Interference from a no nothing hip shooter does nothing to speed production of a quality product. Just saying as a retired engineer with experience in ship building, computer design, project installation, product design, management, and team management. Complex things are not easily done. What bites you in the butt is usually not what you anticipated.
This is excellent. If you don't ask questions, you don't get answers. Nobody around Trump, and Trump himself, every asks even one question about anything. How many missiles do we have? Not asked. How long have our warships been at sea? Not asked. Can Iran close the Strait of Hormuz easily? Not asked. Will they? Not asked. On and on and on.
This is a very sensible discussion that should not be as rare (and thus as badly needed) as it is.
I would distinguish between the Biden administration's issue - trying to expedite weapons production because of the crisis caused by the Russian invasion of Ukraine - and the issues under Trump - eliminating tracking of bacteria, firing foreign policy and strategy experts because they don't believe in regulation (or their corporate donors do not) or because the analysts once analyzed Trump's activities in a way that he did not like.
the results may be similar but the causes and thus remedies are different.
Excellent piece. Thank you. The section about the Texas factory reads like a 3 stooges bit except we are millions of tax payer $$$ spent on a bunch of useless metal and it is not funny.
Intentional Kakistocracy, including the Biden bit. Government should not bend over for coporations. If a contract is signed and the company fails to perform...bye, bye.
The ProPublica article mentions the reason the GD contract wasn't terminated for default (failure to perform) as it seems it should have been: years of expensive litigation. Termination for convenience is the other, easier, option but it's still costly because there are contractual commitments to the contractor and various subcontractors that need to be unwound. So the least disruptive path for all involved was for the government to get a discount on some other GD contract. I'm not arguing that that's the ideal solution, just pointing out why it worked out that way.
I do think that there are plenty of "learning opportunities" in that fiasco, and that painful penalties should be laid on the responsible parties - not the folks who carried out the decisions, but GD (the corporation) as well as those people in their individual, not corporate, capacity who made the decisions and created the environment where questionable decisions were the expected thing.
Your essays are wonderful! Clear, cogent, perfectly analyzed, as your essays are. Thank you for your work.
Well said. The circularity of it is wonderful, especially with your Texas example. Creative solutions require failure, but are only creative if failure creates solutions.
This is so good. Thank you very much.
This is absolutely BRILLIANT. I worked in military procurement for 20 years and I went to schools to re-learn these very same lessons. I say "re-learn" because every 5-6 years someone came along and "streamlined" the acquisition process (Darlene Druyon's "Lightning bolts" was my favorite) to shorten development or reduce oversight. The end result was always the same - flawed processes, delays, expensive overruns, and retrofits. The real lesson: Don't take down the fence until you know why it was built. We never seem to learn it.
ISTR Harry Truman came to FDR's attention because he aggressively conducted oversight into procurement waste, fraud, & abuse during FDR's 3rd term as we were ramping up production for WW2.
Well, as least they were able to quickly get Harvey Milk's name off a ship to protect us from....hmm. I can't remember what we were being protected from, but gosh darn it they didn't mess around with silly bureaucracy.
It's hard to write compellingly about process and procedures but you did it Mary! Again!
Thank you. Another splendid piece shining light into our dark times.
“Trump bad”
I love it.
just as well, because you're paying for it.
So clearly explained, as always. Your grasp of all these nightmare scenarios is outstanding, as is your ability to then weave them together and to make them understandable.
One can thump their chest over and over appearing manly but if it’s an ass you’re beating it will still be just an ass.
It took too long for most to see the incompetence ..and even still! Facts be damned , won’t surpass the lies repeated ..like …”Trust me” until trust is all but gone (along with the money).
The shame is realized not by the guilty but by those fooled..and the guilty are a long way from accountability.
That all holdings, possessions, accounts, and freedoms ( baring [over]due process) of those guilty be confiscated to pay reparations won’t come even close to restoring the damage, nor the cost.
Our great grandchildren will still be paying that bill.
Making America Great had already been established. FYI .
But Greed threw The Cloak of Deception smothering everything but their Gloat ,Pride, Secrecy, Spin …even their “transparency”…. “We’re gonna be so rich”. Remember ?
Many will remember the complicit list…hopefully bring it to justice.
The lesson will teach . Maybe a renewed standing in honor that doesn’t get fooled again. There’s many a guardrail to strengthen , warning flags to adhere to the law be consistent, and requirements for those breaking oaths to be quickly removed from office.
Tall orders.
I’ll do my best ..VOTE
"It reads less like an advanced defense-manufacturing facility than an extremely expensive episode of Looney Tunes sponsored by the Department of Defense."
I presume that the crates were all marked "Acme". Meep meep!