Paul Brancato Posted July 26, 2020 Share Posted July 26, 2020 1 hour ago, Robert Wheeler said: You are a tool. I don’t believe you quoted me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron Ecker Posted July 26, 2020 Share Posted July 26, 2020 2 hours ago, Robert Burrows said: Great moments in Presidential rethoric- "The only thing that we have to fear is fear itself." (Franklin D. Roosevelt) "Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country." (John F. Kennedy) "I’ll Be Right Eventually." (Donald J. Trump) "Person, woman, man, camera, TV." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Douglas Caddy Posted July 27, 2020 Share Posted July 27, 2020 Washington Post: The whole new list of Trump’s impeachable offenses https://www.rawstory.com/2020/07/the-whole-new-list-of-trumps-impeachable-offenses-post-editorial-chief-details-shocking-new-crimes-by-the-president/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Andrews Posted July 27, 2020 Share Posted July 27, 2020 Tom Cotton calls slavery a "necessary evil." Hot fascist for 2020: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/jul/26/tom-cotton-slavery-necessary-evil-1619-project-new-york-times Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Andrews Posted July 27, 2020 Share Posted July 27, 2020 (edited) On 7/24/2020 at 10:04 PM, Cliff Varnell said: https://m.dailykos.com/stories/1963525 You don't have mail: New postmaster general is generating exactly the anger and distrust Trump wants Neither rain, nor snow, nor gloom of night may prevent Postal Service employees from visiting the box near you, but across the country there’s evidence that political pressure really can “stay these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds.” In New Jersey, residents say they’re going days without mail. In Chicago, citizens complain that their deliveries are running weeks behind. And California residents are fretting over mortgages and rents put in jeopardy by a mail service that seems frozen. There’s no doubt that some of the chatter about a sluggish mail service is of the watched-pot variety; with millions of Americans stuck at home, the visit from the mail person has become much more of a daily highlight than it has been since the days when the Sears catalog was still a thing. But boredom and hyperawareness can’t account for all the claims that have been spreading, particularly ones that suggest specific forms of mail are being privileged while others are left to gather dust. And with Donald Trump complaining about voting by mail, installing a new postmaster general, and constantly threatening the Postal Service’s entire existence, it’s all too easy to believe that service doesn’t have problems; it has sabotage at the highest levels. More than ever, the COVID-19 crisis is forcing people to not just be aware of the mail, but to be dependent on it. More and more of the day-to-day things that people need are being delivered as packages, which makes stories about undelivered packages and post offices with lines around the block doubly frustrating. Not only are people having to waste time trying to locate items that should have been delivered, their time waiting for service at the post office can expose them to the same health threats that caused them to order a delivery in the first place. That problem can be compounded even further if what’s in the missing box is necessary medicine. Other customers are finding that bills are late to arrive. That can mean running up additional costs on medical bills, or causing someone to lose a credit card at a time when that card could be a vital lifeline. Many, though far from all, evictions may have been put on hold during the pandemic, but there’s a growing backlog of Americans who could be on the street as soon as protections are lifted; and some of them could be there because they missed critical paperwork in the mail. Many Americans, especially those working at “essential” but somehow still low wage positions, still receive their paychecks through the mail. When that check is late, it has a cascade effect on everything. So what’s going on? The critical factor seems to be changes introduced by new Postmaster General Louis DeJoy. DeJoy was a predominate Republican Party fundraiser who Trump rewarded with the postmaster job in June, after months of complaints and threats by Trump. As The Washington Post reported two weeks ago, DeJoy immediately implemented a major change in the way the Postal Service operates. The intention seems to have been to reduce overtime and cut back on the number of daily deliveries. The effect is that mail that would have normally been moved along in one day is stuck in place for several days as workers face overwhelming demand and intentionally limited resources. In a memo to workers, DeJoy continually cited his intention to run the Postal Service more “like a business,” and pointed at U.S. companies that had failed in the past. DeJoy did not mention that those companies died from a lack of demand and being outcompeted by lower-price providers, factors that are the opposite of the issues plaguing the Postal Service. Postmaster generals generally have post office experience and generally stay in place for an extended period, but DeJoy slipped into office with almost no attention from Congress or the press. He’s the first person in half a century to lead the office without having started as a letter carrier. But if DeJoy doesn’t know how to carry letters, he certainly knows how to carry water for Trump. DeJoy seems to recognize that his entire role at the Postal Service is to breed contempt with the public. Months of late bills, missing checks, and lost packages are exactly what Trump wants to see, both to bolster his argument against vote-by-mail and to make him “right” about the need to privatize mail delivery. There’s also the little matter that DeJoy himself has between “$30.1 million and $75.3 million in assets in USPS competitors or contractors.” It’s such a major conflict of interest that DeJoy should never have been accepted into the role. Except that an ideological crony with every incentive to wreck the department he’d been handed was exactly what Trump was looking for. Chuck Schumer sent a letter to the postal board of governors and representatives from the Trump White House in June, demanding to see the information on how DeJoy was selected for the position. However … it appears his letter got lost. You can bet it will stay lost, right up until Election Day. Maybe it's time for grassroots action here, such as letters and petitions to investigate the conditions and directives within USPS that are causing late mail, starting this late in the epidemic and this close to the election. Nothing's going to get done, and everything's going to be gotten away with, unless postal customers raise a stink. Edited July 27, 2020 by David Andrews Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James DiEugenio Posted July 27, 2020 Share Posted July 27, 2020 (edited) The above two posts are extensions of the rise of the rabid right. Tom Cotton is the guy who wanted the protesters bombed from the sky if you recall. And the NY Times let this nut write an editorial for them, in fact they asked him to write it. They ran for cover after and did all they could to cover up how it happened. But what do you expect from a paper that hired Bari Weiss? The second story is much more complex and longer in genesis than Trump. The idea of ruining the USPS was Charles Koch's concept at first. It was his goal to discredit a government program that worked well, and relatively cheaply. Like the anti New Dealers with the TVA. So what did the nutty Koch do? One of his agents got a bill through congress to make the USPS fully guarantee all health care benefits through 2056!! LOL. 🤮. Now ask Koch how many private companies do that? It worked. And the USPS surplus was now turned into a deficit. Know who was.a part of this? That moderate Republican Susan Collins. After this, and ever since, the USPS has been on the ropes. With his personal dispute with Bezos, Trump is trying to accelerate the move toward extinction. For the life of me I don't know why the Dems do not seize on this as an issue. The whole thing about not working overtime is, I think, intended to slow down election results and UE checks. One of the first things they should do after November is to explain how important the USPS is, what Koch tried to do and change that law. Edited July 27, 2020 by James DiEugenio Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe Bauer Posted July 27, 2020 Share Posted July 27, 2020 (edited) Susan Collins. On the real important issues, she's no moderate. Reminds me of Clarence Thomas. Even on our month to month budget we have resolved to send $25 to the campaign of Collin's opponent this year. Edited July 27, 2020 by Joe Bauer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ray Mitcham Posted July 27, 2020 Share Posted July 27, 2020 (edited) Removed comment. Edited July 27, 2020 by Ray Mitcham Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Thomas Posted July 27, 2020 Share Posted July 27, 2020 Trump supporters fume at the president’s campaign for spamming them with ‘sleazy’ text messages https://www.rawstory.com/2020/07/trump-supporters-fume-at-the-presidents-campaign-for-spamming-them-with-sleazy-text-messages/ “You FAILED to use your 5x match,” reads one text message. “It EXPIRED… Why did you let us down? LAST CHANCE.” “We texted you TWICE,” reads another. “Why did you let your 500% Trump House Patriot match expire AGAIN? We’ll give you 1 more chance.” “I’m constantly getting texts like this from yesterday,” wrote one of Schlichter’s followers in response. “I received 4 of the same text, all within 10 mins of each other. I texted ‘STOP’ & got a text stating I’m now unsubscribed, only to have a different number send me more of the same the next day.” “I’m getting multiple texts a day similar to this. AND THE EMAILS…my emails have doubled because of the incessant begging for money from the GOP and various campaigns. Makes me sorry I ever donated to anyone’s campaign.” Steve Thomas Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Govus Posted July 27, 2020 Share Posted July 27, 2020 James DiEugenio said of the long-lived attack on the USPS by the Republican Party: "For the life of me I don't know why the Dems do not seize on this as an issue." The target of the attack is the largest public-sector union there is. Republicans would destroy the USPS to get at it. The Democrats could have made restoring reasonable management of the USPS a priority after, what, 2006? 2008? It's crippled by a wholly unjustified requirement to fully fund future retirement today. Services could be added, not dropped. Services like rural banking. Democrats being AWOL on this for so long is a feature, not a bug. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Douglas Caddy Posted July 27, 2020 Share Posted July 27, 2020 Trump's National Security Adviser has the virus https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/12237148/donald-trump-robert-obrien-coronavirus-positive/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Douglas Caddy Posted July 27, 2020 Share Posted July 27, 2020 "Mr. Thomas says, the association is planning to send instigators into the camp on Saturday night to start a riot. The police will then have the right to enter the camp, arrest the labor organizers, and evict the migrants." Chapter 22 -John Steinbeck, The Grapes of Wrath Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Andrews Posted July 27, 2020 Share Posted July 27, 2020 (edited) 7 hours ago, James DiEugenio said: The idea of ruining the USPS was Charles Koch's concept at first. It was his goal to discredit a government program that worked well, and relatively cheaply. Like the anti New Dealers with the TVA. Good to know the nefarious history, but the upshot has been that the mail has been working fine through the pandemic up until last week, and the complaints and action will need to proceed upward from that. Trumpolini's not making the trains run on time. Grafitti-tagging the post offices and tangling with police on the steps will not be the solution. Edited July 27, 2020 by David Andrews Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James DiEugenio Posted July 27, 2020 Share Posted July 27, 2020 Then just adjust the prices for Amazon. I don't think very many people would argue that point since Bezos is becoming the John Rockefeller Sr of the 21st century. Although I am all for that, its not the underlying problem. That 2056 bill stopped the post office from altering the decor, further modernizing, and adding new features to its buildings. Plus this new guy who Trump appointed Postmater with utterly no experience, has significant investments in UPS. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Andrews Posted July 27, 2020 Share Posted July 27, 2020 (edited) 3 minutes ago, James DiEugenio said: That 2056 bill stopped the post office from altering the decor, further modernizing, and adding new features to its buildings. Plus this new guy who Trump appointed Postmater with utterly no experience, has significant investments in UPS. I have hated every modernized post office lobby I've walked into. Hated the dispiriting aesthetics and hated the waste. Modernize the back ends. Edited July 27, 2020 by David Andrews Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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