Archives for August 2020

By now, it should come as no surprise to anyone that the man currently occupying the White House is a liar and a cheat. As his niece, Mary Trump, aptly observes in her blistering tell-all memoir, “Too Much And Never Enough,” Donald Trump long ago embraced “cheating as a way of life.”

So, it comes as no great shock that Trump would attempt anything and everything to win reelection. Or more precisely, to steal another election.

Once Trump and his coterie of criminals realized that Democrats would be more likely to vote by mail this November, it was a simple and obvious choice to try and sabotage the Postal Service. With slow moving mail, many ballots might not be received on time, arriving too late to be counted. And if slowing down the mail isn’t enough on its own, simply creating a perception of problems with mail delivery could be enough to discourage some Americans from voting by mail.

While Trump’s wanting to muddle the November election by actively “kneecapping” the Post Office (Obama’s words) comes as no surprise, the fact that he has so totally messed up such a boneheaded move comes as no wonderment either.

Trump’s narcissism makes it difficult for him to understand the consequences of his actions. Yes, while slowing the mail would most likely disenfranchise many voters (more Democrats), it can’t be done without also screwing over veterans, rural communities, people waiting for their medications and social security checks, etc.

Surprisingly, yet predictively, Trump thinks voters, many in his own camp, will only notice the toll this political stunt will have on mail-in balloting!

Trump is not a thinker. He undoubtedly is not a chess player. He is a man innately bereft of the ability to see the big picture. He is notably unaware of the obvious, direct effects of a policy choice.

The smart move would have been for Trump to start his dismantling of the Post Office much later on, say in October.

Now everyone is wise to his game. And the push back has been fierce, not only from Democrats and some Republicans, but from your average Joe. Things will only get worse for Trump as his scheme unravels. 

As Joshua Holland, of Rawstory.com, puts it, “The most likely scenario is that the backlash forces Trump to back down. If not, this is the kind of thing that might eventually penetrate the media bubble Trump’s die-hard supporters inhabit. When important mail stops showing up in a timely fashion like it used to, it’s hard not to notice.”

The real scary thought in all this is what if we someday have a president as corrupt as Trump, but with at least half a brain … someone better able to pull off his crimes?

Photo | forbes.com