About those naughty medical workers with their “insatiable appetites” for the tools to save our lives – Politico has a jolting story:

Last week, a Trump administration official working to secure much-needed protective gear for doctors and nurses in the United States had a startling encounter with counterparts in Thailand.

The official asked the Thais for help—only to be informed by the puzzled voices on the other side of the line that a U.S. shipment of the same supplies, the second of two so far, was already on its way to Bangkok.

Oops. The shipment was put on hold (which I guess means told to bob around in the ocean) while the geniuses in the Trump administration figured out how to cover their asses aka “what went wrong.”

The heightened scrutiny comes as American health care workers complain of severe shortages of masks, goggles and gloves amid a nationwide spike in coronavirus cases, and as Democrats rip the administration for shipping aid to other countries while vastly underestimating America’s own needs.

Foreign aid is a good thing, both inherently and instrumentally, but at the same time it’s more than a little pointless to send supplies Over There while ordering in supplies from Over There. Cut the duplication of effort, I would suggest. Also…talk to each other. Find out who is sending what where, and co-ordinate.

There is bipartisan agreement on the need to resupply American hospitals and take care of domestic shortages first. But the issue is tricky: Other countries’ ability to fight the virus directly affects the U.S.—an infected man from Wuhan, the sprawling capital of Hubei province in China, is believed to be the first to bring the novel coronavirus to American shores in January—and millions of Americans work, serve, and study overseas in countries that have been hard hit.

Point taken, but at least co-ordinate, and also tell Trump to shut the fuck up with the blaming medical workers for needing equipment.

H/t What a Maroon