The anti-mandate protests in Canada have been all over the news for the past week. Those truckers have an important message that isn’t being heard by the right people. That message: they are not expendable and they have more power than the politicians. If they have a concern, we had better listen. It’s a message that President Asterisk would be well advised to pay attention to.
I’ve been reading about supply chain issues for months. Last week I got a first-hand education. It’s not just pictures on the news and lying politicians – we really have broken some of the best parts of America in the last two years. My family saw just how badly, last Thursday when my wife and I went out for dinner and ran a few errands.
We met our daughter and grandchildren at a major restaurant chain for dinner. Our daughter really likes their pancakes – except there weren’t any pancakes. In fact, about half of the items on the menu were covered with little stickers that said “sold out.” The place was being operated by one waitress, one helper, and one cook. Though obviously grossly understaffed, the biggest problem was that the restaurant was running out of food. The waitress apologetically explained that the supply truck scheduled to arrive 3 weeks earlier had just arrived that afternoon. The previous week’s truck was still AWOL, and any expectation of getting that week’s order was just wishful thinking. They order supplies, and with luck some of it may arrive in a few weeks. To their credit, the staff made their best effort to make it a good meal in spite of limited options. But there is only so much a cook can do without food. Is this our new normal? All I could think of was the Soviet Union, circa 1989.
On our way home, we stopped at major big box store for a few groceries. The store wasn’t terribly busy. There was no panic buying like in the spring of 2020. But many of the shelves were bare. We asked a young man in a blue vest when he expected the store to be resupplied. He shrugged and said, “I don’t know, maybe in a couple of days.” I halfway expected him to ask, “Who is John Galt.”
Our last stop of the night was at one of the membership warehouse stores – different logo, same story. There was no rice available. The pallet of water softener salt was also empty. There was a tiny stack of toilet paper, not the usual small mountain of the white rolls. A sign read, “Limit 1 per customer. Hoping for a delivery in a couple of days. Please call ahead.”
It seems that anyone selling anything on Thursday night was hoping for a delivery. That word “hoping” speaks volumes. Before the Wu-flu pandemic, our supply system was the envy of the world. There was no “hoping” for a delivery. People ordered supplies, and the supplies arrived on schedule. It was efficient, predictable, and kept the nation fed. Now our supply chain has been reduced to crossed fingers and wishful thinking.
We’ve reached the first anniversary of President Gremlin’s promise to shut the virus down. How has that worked for America? He pushed through a COVID relief package that paid people to not work. But he didn’t stop there. He’s also pushed vaccine mandates that have resulted in essential workers being fired from their essential jobs. Apparently, it didn’t occur to any of the geniuses in this administration that there are no non-essential workers. Toilet paper may not seem like a critical thing, until it’s unavailable. It’s not rocket science. When people don’t work, things don’t get made, deliveries are late, and waitresses spend their evening giving supply chain lessons to customers rather than serving them food.
Not to worry, our President informed us. Once we’ve beaten this pandemic, life will get back to normal. Just, keep wearing those masks. Anything will do – surgical masks, cloth masks, bandanas, even makeshift masks cut out of old t-shirts. Of course, what the “party of science” didn’t mention was that masks are about as effective at blocking the virus as a screen door is at blocking a cold wind. But they do help keep the panic going and are a good show of obedience – so there is that.
Our government has also incentivized the medical industry to fudge the COVID numbers. We met a man at a local park who told us about his brother. He had gone to the emergency room with an infected leg wound. Unfortunately, he had no insurance. Luckily, all he had to do was cough once (as recommended by the doctor), and he was suspected of COVID. Voila, his medical bill was then paid by the government. We have no idea how many people have really caught or died from the Wu-flu. But those big numbers sure make for good panic porn.
Through fear, laziness, government stupidity, or refusal to take a risky medical treatment that doesn’t work, people are at home rather than on the job. Products aren’t being made, trucks aren’t moving, store shelves are bare, and waitresses have nothing to serve. While the nation’s transportation system crashed and burned, the Department of Transportation Secretary went on family leave to get acquainted with his new adopted baby – for two months. I guess that identifies one non-essential worker.
So now we have hundreds of cargo ships parked off the coast waiting to unload – sometimes for weeks. What is lunch-bucket Joe’s solution? Mandatory overtime and fines. He has demanded that longshoremen work overtime to get those ships unloaded. They’re working the overtime, but the ships aren’t getting unloaded because there isn’t anywhere to put the containers. The ports are overflowing with containers waiting for trucks to pick them up. It seems that trucks that don’t meet California’s new emission standards can’t enter the state. How much worse will it be when that Canadian trucker protest moves to the United States – as is planned?
But Joe didn’t stop with keeping the ports open and idle 24/7. He’s also fining the cargo ships for not unloading faster. That’ll get things moving. We’ll just penalize the shipping companies for not unloading faster to the trucks that aren’t there. If it works, we should do the same thing for the airport TSA lines. We should just fine people for waiting in line too long. I’m just saying, it’s the same logic – and a scary window into Joe’s thinking. Fines and mandates won’t fix the problem. The only way to fix the problem is to stop the COVID panic, get government out of the way, and let the private sector spin back up.
So, where are those missing trucks? They’re parked somewhere while Mayor Pete attends to more pressing matters. He’s back from maternity leave and working on a new tax scheme. Oh, and he’s trying to solve our racist overpass problem too. He’ll get around to the truck thingy once those problems are solved.
Here’s a truly scary statistic: the average grocery store has a 3-day supply of food – and that’s during normal times. During a crisis – with panic buying – stores will be stripped bare in hours, not days or weeks. Stores depend on resupply by an army of trucks and suppliers every day. Supplies that don’t arrive on time are a big and serious issue. The average American, and certainly our President, has no appreciation for how delicate our supply system is. Thousands of protesting truckers in Canada are pointing out the problem, but somehow our leader still doesn’t get it. Mere weeks of disruption are the difference between a well-fed nation and starvation.
Is our administration showing any urgency to address any of this? The only thing that Biden seems to have any energy for is calling everybody racists for not allowing him to take over the vote counting in the states. But then I’m sure the White House pantry is well stocked. Maybe he’ll care when the ice cream supply runs low.
Author Bio: John Green is a political refugee from Minnesota, now residing in Idaho. He currently writes at the American Free News Network and The Blue State Conservative. He can be followed on Facebook or reached at greenjeg@gmail.com.
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