After scathing criticism that it’s top leadership is taking partisan political actions that benefits Donald’s Trump’s reelection, USPS announced that it is drawing down such actions as removing mail boxes, mail sorting machines, and ending overtime, until after the election. It had even sent out letters warning states that their ballot mail-in deadlines may mean that they would not arrive in time to be counted; a few Republican state legislatures took advantage of this, refusing to set the deadlines for earlier dates. It doesn’t take an astrophysicist or a brain surgeon to see that such actions so near the election are clearly meant to sabotage the election process, particularly since Trump himself baldly asserted that the very reason why he supported these actions was to hinder mail-in voting.
Trump was also more than a bit the hypocrite when he refused to support additional funding for USPS to help maintain the integrity of mail-in voting; the obvious reason was because of the fear that making mail-in balloting more efficient would allow more people (mainly minorities) to vote against him, even though it would also assist Trump voters (like senior citizens) just as much. Rarely does Trump do or say anything that makes any logical sense, but given his fears and paranoia—which resemble more that of a megalomaniacal dictator than the leader of the “free” world—some “sense” can be made of it from his warped perspective.
Trump’s selection for Post Master General, Louis DeJoy, came under fire for not being wholly honest about his private sector background. He has a considerable stake in XPO Logistics, a firm dealing mainly in LTL shipping loads, although like UPS is losing ground to Amazon’s own logistics service. DeJoy is being accused of seeking to create long-term harm to a “competitor”—USPS—to the benefit of XPO. However, it should be pointed out that the alleged intent of USPS focusing less on letter mail carrier service and more on its package delivery service might “legitimately” suggest that such actions are meant to increase “efficiency.” DeJoy himself has no background at all in mail delivery service, and thus can claim to be only looking at this from a purely “business” perspective. He is also just another in a long-line of appointees—like Gordon Sondland—who have no qualifications for their posts save as a “reward” for being a major Republican campaign donor.
Like Sondland—who testified during the impeachment hearings—DeJoy apparently feels no particular loyalty to Trump’s person, just his political stands. In his statement yesterday, DeJoy claimed that “There has been a lot of discussion recently about whether the Postal Service is ready, willing and able to meet this challenge” of delivering election mail. Because of those questioning his motives for “downsizing” USPS’ ability to handle such mail so close to the election, he decided “To avoid even the appearance of any impact on election mail, I am suspending these initiatives until after the election is concluded.”Trump, of course, continued to defend such “downsizing,” asserting that it was “needed” to “prevent” more “fraudulent” ballots from being processed. There has been little or no proof of Trump’s charges of ballot fraud, but that is only a function of his paranoia and power-madness.
Retired U.S. Navy Admiral William McRaven, who led the Seal team that eliminated Osama bin Laden, accused Trump of sowing chaos and distrust in the country’s institutions (William Barr is engaged in that as well), asserting that "Today, as we struggle with social upheaval, soaring debt, record unemployment, a runaway pandemic, and rising threats from China and Russia, President Trump is actively working to undermine every major institution in this country.” Accusing Trump of being an “overzealous autocrat,” McRaven stated that by “undermining the US Postal Service” and thwarting mail-in voting, “he is taking away our voice to decide who will lead America. It is not hyperbole to say that the future of the country could depend on those remarkable men and women who brave the elements to bring us our mail and deliver our vote.
For now, the immediate danger seems of have passed—or has it? Forbes is reporting that despite DeJoy’s statement, “new reporting on Wednesday suggests that much of the damage has already been done and that some of DeJoy’s changes weren’t immediately halted after he released the statement.” Evidence that the dismantling of sorting machines was continuing in post offices in Portland, Oregon and Grand Rapids, Michigan is continuing on “orders from Post Master General DeJoy.” He has been called to testify before Congress, so he will have to answer a few questions concerning this.
People cannot just dismiss what is going on concerning USPS. We should remember that its financial problems became acute when Congress passed a law requiring it to “pre-pay” medical benefits for employees many decades into the future which no other business or institution is required to do. Email and online financial services have dug into its traditional letter mail services, reducing income. But one must remember that private, for-profit companies not only remain a much more expensive package carrier option, but have proven themselves inefficient and often times incompetent regular mail carriers; Fedex has all but abandoned its “smart post” service, and UPS “mail innovations” usually induces groans when sellers use it. Trump’s efforts to undermine USPS merely to keep himself in power like some pathetic tin-pot dictator must be seen in that light, and opposed in the strongest possible terms.
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