Cost Trumps Patriotism, But Should Cost Trump Security

Greetings, loyal minions. Your Maximum Leader is still without his ubercomputer. A dude from Microsoft did call and tried to take your Maximum Leader through the same routine that Tommy did last weekend. Your Maximum Leader put the kibbosh on that, and asked (politely yet firmly) if this "dude" had anything to try that had not be done before. The dude admitted that he did not. Your Maximum Leader asked the "dude" if he was the wunderkinder that was promised. The dude admitted he was not. Indeed, he was a level below Tommy and wondered how he got this ticket. Anyway. Your Maximum Leader asked if he should expect a callback. The dude insisted that this ticket was still in the queue to be answered by someone in Seattle. To which your Maximum Leader responded that if he did not receive a call by 7pm EST on Friday, the hard drive would be reformatted and the software manually added back.

Lucky your Maximum Leader believes in backups.

Moving along. Your Maximum Leader noticed this item on the Reuters news wire. Our neighbours to the north are in a snit because the Canadian flag lapel pins they give out are made in China. Just like all the national flag lapel pins in the whole world. Canadian legislators determined it was their patriotic duty to keep flag-bearing lapel pins from being outsourced overseas; but couldn't find a way to deliver them at a reasonable price. So, cheap pins outwieghed their patriotic duty to keep Canadians employed.

Excursus: There is nothing hucksterish about selling velvet Elvis paintings on the side of the road Mr. Angus. It is probably the first entrepreneurial step down the road to building a real small business for many.

This brought to mind one of your Maximum Leader's little peeves. The amount of overseas supplied materials required to fabricate defence related items. Your Maximum Leader is specifically talking about things such as computer chips made in asia that go into computers that go into everything the military buys. Things like various engine components to military aircraft that are fabricated in South Korean plants and shipped to the US for assembly. Things like missile guidance system components that are made in Taiwan.

All these little things are the things that keep not only the American economy, but the American military going.

Now. Your Maximum Leader is a free-trader. And he doesn't believe that "globalization" is a bad thing. Indeed, he things it is a generally good thing. But he doesn't want his nation's security potentially imperiled by the vagueries of just-in-time inventories dependent on the labour situation in Seoul, or Taipei, or Shanghai.

One of the few things your Maximum Leader does not object to the US government paying top dollar for is defence equipment procurement. Indeed, he would prefer to have his government pay top dollar to a US contractor to produce aircraft, ships, tanks, guns, computers, kevlar vests, night vision goggles, portable communication devices, missiles, bullets, and all that fun war making stuff in the United States.

He realizes that this would dramatically increase defence spending costs. But it is a cost that he would pay for the piece of mind that comes from knowing that his defence is home grown. He would gladly fly an American flag made in China and wear a Taiwanese Old Glory lapel pin, if it meant that the F/A-18 Superhornet was made with parts manufactured exclusively in the United States.

Your Maximum Leader would gladly sacrifice the United States Department of Education to offset the increase in the Pentagon budget.

(Oy! Your Maximum Leader forgot. He would gladly sacrifice the US Department of Education for simple budget reduction...)

Anyway. It is something that he hasn't studied in great detail. Perhaps when the ubercomputer is back in operation he'll try and find some white paper or something on the subject and write more.

Carry on.