An axiom in politics is that the social safety net -- i.e. Social Security and Medicare -- is the electrified "third rail" in politics, to be avoided by politicians at all cost. With demagogic autocrat and lifelong cheater Donald "COVID Donnie" Trump looking at his weak poll numbers and anticipating defeat, he's been thinking of ways to sabotage and discredit the November election which will be held with the COVID-19 pandemic still active.
The one that he's latched on to glaringly is to undermine the absentee / mail-in ballot process, one that's been successfully used since the Civil War. Not long ago, he acknowledged that increased voter participation in elections is bad for Republicans, and he sees "kneecapping" the Postal Service as a way to suppress the vote. Being a sociopath and soulless monster, he doesn't care if crippling the Postal Service to aid in his reelection has collateral damage, like slowing delivery of prescriptions, pension checks, bills, etc.
The vast majority (91%) of Americans have a favorable view of the Postal Service, which make it a tough straw man for Trump and his lickspittle Postmaster General Louis DeJoy. A poll of rural voters in Pennsylvania, which skewed 56% to 34% Republican, indicated they'd be less likely to support a candidate who cut the Postal Service's budget (57%). Of course, significant numbers of rural Republican voters say they won't use the Postal Service to cast their ballots, and are "not concerned" about changes at the Postal Service. Wait until the effects of Trump's attack on the Postal Service trickle down to them personally, although they'll likely blame delays on
UPDATE: Trump's Postal Service "fixer" now says he's suspending all operational "initiatives" (snort) until after the November elections. Public outrage apparently worked. Now, let's get them the funding they need to do their jobs. The "Maddow Maxim" applies here: watch what they do, not what they say.
UPDATE II: Perhaps the threats of legal action by 20 states, possible FBI investigation, this got DeJoy's attention. Those are a lot of bullets to take for COVID Donnie.
2 comments:
Sure they're "suspending initiatives" now... they've already taken out the sorters targetted in blue areas and picked up mailboxes. It'll be news when they put them back, which I bet won't be until it's too late to process ballots in time.
bluzdude -- Your skepticism is entirely warranted. The Trumpers are dishonest and criminal. Let's see what they do, and not trust them to do the right thing.
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