Trump is a menace because of the GOP. Which is why I cannot see any circumstance under which I would cast a vote for any Republican in my lifetime. They fed this monster, and continue to do so. One thing I've heard frequently is pundits saying the hush money case is a "weak case." This is false. I think they say "weak" when what they rea…
Trump is a menace because of the GOP. Which is why I cannot see any circumstance under which I would cast a vote for any Republican in my lifetime. They fed this monster, and continue to do so.
One thing I've heard frequently is pundits saying the hush money case is a "weak case." This is false. I think they say "weak" when what they really mean is it's a minor crime relative to everything else Trump is guilty of. But this is not a weak case. Trump's co-conspirator was convicted and did hard time for this. And all these Republicans who foment unrest by framing this as a political prosecution didn't have a damned thing to say when Michael Cohen was convicted of it, because Cohen had turned against Trump and testified against him. These "normies" know this isn't about politics, it's about the rule of law, and they do not seem to mind that they're pouring gasoline on the fire. And these same people pray to God Trump will either drop dead or end up in jail before he becomes the party's nominee. Never Trump. Never DeSantis. Never Republican.
They've had so many off ramps. So many opportunities to stick the knife in an end this slow rolling catastrophe. They have not only consistently refused to do so, they have done everything in their power to mitigate and revive his political viability from its much deserved place on the ash heap of history. They're more than merely complicit in it. They're responsible for it all.
Well said - completely agree. And it seems to be getting worse. Today 3 House Committee chairs say they want Braggs to come testify. Good God.
Does anyone else feel that we are watching a 5 alarm fire burn out of control and everyone is standing around commenting on the fire instead of pulling the alarm?
Don, one aspect you forgot in your execellent pundit-take-down: Who cares if there is minor punishment, the fact of a Federal conviction is big, huge. In any subsequent proceeding he could rightfully be IDed as a convicted criminal (felon if the punishment allows).
Even if the judge in a subsequent case rules that the hush money case conviction itself is inadmissible, it will keep TFG even further from the witness stand because any legitimate cross-examination should start with a variation on, "Mr. T, you just said that not only did you not pay Ms. Daniels, you never had sex with her. Mr. T, you are 76 years old, correct (or 77 depending upon the date of trial)? In your entire life, have you ever told a lie? I am not asking what the lie was, only if you acknowledge ever having told a lie?"
Since no one would believe a "no", the next line of questioning after the "yes" goes down the lane: And, since you acknowledged that you have told a lie, why did you do that? The answer is always going to be a variation on "to look better, to gain an advantage, because it was in my interest at the time."
Well of course also if it were Democrats doing all these crimes, they would be pout with the pitchforks and calls for burning at the stakes. The hypocrisy is beyond mind boggling!
This is the truth but why do we still see so many anti-Trump Republicans wistfully searching for the one honest Republican they might be able to see their way to support? Pence ain't so bad, DeSantis isn't really dangerous, is there anybody out there? No no no and I say this as a former Republican. At every point when they could turn toward the light, they turn toward the dark. Now they're lining up to investigate the investigators looking at Trump's crimes.
This party has forfeited its right to public trust. Full stop.
I agree. I once considered myself to be a centrist, unaffiliated. As “things” have grown more divided, I’m started leaning more to the left. Today I cannot vote for a republican. It’s because the party stands for something un-American. I get that they’re afraid of going extinct. And it’s clear why. But here we are!
Sadly, they won't become extinct because so much money, networks, Fox, OneAmerica, Newsmax, commentators, and so other grifters are making money destroying our country and they have ready followers, mostly in Rural America now, which makes them powerful still.
That and there is no real avenue for a third party to replace them. With a better system we could see what support is out there for a center right sane party.
I fear it is both too late for a center right sane party and too early (now that we missed the first window) for a center right sane party. The current GOP has to be burned to destruction with as many election cycles it takes. Any attempts too early will just guarantee GOP victories.
A third party is untenable because we have a two-party system, a *structure* of single-seat districts and plurality elections and the electoral college, that impels us always toward two and only two choices. You're in the top two, or you're a spoiler, or you're invisible. The only way to have a different party become relevant is to knock an existing one *out* of national top-two contention.
Assuming we last long enough, I'd truly like to see what effect eliminating the electoral college -- always undemocratic and embraced nowhere else on earth -- would have on giving the losing candidate the office he lost (twice in 20 years now). The founders warned against a party system of any kind. I wonder if they were thinking of how a party could manipulate the EC.
I've long favored a third party option, but as you say, now is not the time for that. The only sensible plan forward is repeated, relentless, and hopefully crushing defeat. Only once the Republican Party in its current form is vanquished can we begin to consider changes that may increase the odds of a Republican winning. Ideally "right-liberal" Republicans and R-leaning Independents would vote for the Democrat to have the most effect. At minimum, they need to not case a vote for a Republican.
I have come to think that to save the country and the planet both Putin and DJT need to be crushed like bugs, asap!!! Crushed! Not handled with kid gloves. Not man handled. Crushed! This drip drip drip nothingness is making people crazier.
I'm not terribly convinced it is possible under the current framework. Note I mentioned a better system, which we don't have and aren't in much danger of getting any time soon.
It may not be possible for an electable third party, but an unelectable one (i.e., No Labels) can certainly gum-up the works as a spoiler against Democrats. Hell, if anything, I wish the moderate Republicans would break away and start their own center-right party with the sole intention of bleeding away support from the Republican's MAGA candidates.
Perhaps now is the time to dust off the ol' Democratic-Republican moniker. It aptly describes the non-MAGA Republicans as in favor of democracy as opposed to the authoritarian ones. This way they don't have to stop being Republicans, but differentiate themselves from the fringe that took over.
No Labels is highly suspect as a mechanism to bleed the Rs that are currently voting blue and the R leaning Indies that are doing the same. Net result is that the Dems lose. No Labels is protecting their anonymous donors rather aggressively. And I saw a map the other day of states they are targeting. All the battleground states and the swing states. I don't trust them as a genuine 3rd party. Sounds like a dirty trick waiting to happen, imo.
Ditto. Short of some sort of role reversal where Democrats were putting up someone egregious (i.e., a Trump in Democrat clothing), unless the Republican party rejects the MAGA crowd (or any subsequent permutations of its ilk) and can openly and honestly explain how and where it had gone wrong, I just can't imagine ever supporting a Republican. There is no such thing as a moderate/normie Republican if they keep siding and voting with the nut jobs!
Yep! Even Chris Sununu says he will endorse the orange god king if he becomes the GOP nominee, but of course he will never be one according to Sununu. His reason is that the alternative is catastrophic to our country. WTF!!! What did the democrats do to destroy this country? What did Biden do, so that Sununu thinks that the orage god king is better than Biden?
Unless all these so called "normies" wake up (they are delusional?) or man up and tell the truth like Cheney, we as country, are doomed. One of two major political party is actively inciting visceral hatred toward the other, what can go wrong?
The problem is that "normal Republicans" have to spout this bullshit if they have any chance of advancing in the Republican Party. I think Sununu and others like him don't believe what they say but don't have the guts to walk away like Cheney or Kinzinger.
Exactly. That's what I see my congressman, Rep. Mike Lawler, doing all the time. He edged out Maloney to win in a Biden +8 district and then declared that he was going to Washington to 'put a stop to Biden's socialist agenda'. Watch John Heilemann's interview with him during the March 12 episode of the Circus; he comes across as nothing more than the embodiment of a Republican messaging memo.
Another great part of the Republican Jesus Youtube video someone linked the other day is the part where the poor, sick woman crawls to Jesus and asks him to heal her. He answers, "Yes, of course I could heal you....but who will pay for it? Yes, it's a sad story, but it does not make me responsible."
You know the funny part of all of this is that they claim to believe in heaven/hell after they die. Jesus made it very clear who will go to heaven in Matthew 25:31-40. He also told the rich young man to sell everything to follow Him. Yet their behavior is the complete opposite of what they say they believe. They clearly don't believe in the heaven/hell their Evangelical faith tells them exists.
No, they believe. At least some of them do (probably far more of them than a lot of people on the Left think), BUT:
1) They only really focus on certain parts of their beliefs--and they are far more Old Testament than New (it has to do with their identity/psychology and with why they are also "conservatives;" and
2) They will be forgiven for their sins (regardless of what they actually do) because they are justified by their faith.
It is more complex than that, but that is the gist of it.
You'd think there'd be a parable about the rich person who kept all their money and looked down on the poor for not being blessed by God. Probably in there at first, but didn't survive the edit.
Sununu is shallow at the very least. He was on TV the other day and spoke about giving opportunity. I live in a working class town (full of illegal day care sites) and wanted to ask him - so you want to subsidize daycare to give families more opportunity?
With the sorry state of the current GOP, doing the bare minimum it would require to earn my vote, a la Kinzinger/Cheney, means instant excommunication from the party.
Don, I completely agree and also will never vote Republican again. After the party sold its sold to Donald S (for Satan) Trump and still stands behind him, I can barely stomach what is coming from all the sycophants and cronies of the GOP.
Yeah, I don't have a smartphone, so no auto correct, I do have Grammarly, but it asks before it changes anything and it won't work on substack anymore for some reason...because he made a new post, I figured it couldn't hurt to tell him in case he didn't know...I have before and some people didn't know
Hi Aggman, in case you didn't know, under the three dots next to reply is an option to edit...you can fix any errors that way without having to repost...
Vote by mail is the way to go. The time window is big enough to fix errors if you don’t receive your ballot; you can study the issues quietly as you vote at home. Which is why Republicans have decided they hate it.
Love my vote by mail. I get a text from our Registrar of Voters when they mail out the ballots, and a text when they receive my vote and it is processed.
Love that! I’ve not experienced that level of tracking, but I think it might be available if people sign up for it. Thanks for the reminder to look into it.
Well, with DeJoy in charge vote by mail is no longer a really safe option. I do like getting my ballot in the mail but I do also like dropping it in the box on election day. I used to enjoy the practice of democracy. Now it's a death defying moment.
Speaking of DeJoy: I recently mailed my old phone to my daughter by USPS, just one state away. It took 10 days! And when she finally received it, there was a “Return To Sender” sticker on it, that was then overruled by her neighborhood carrier. Unbelievable. Pony Express would have been much faster. I checked its tracking and saved it - it ricocheted all over the place! Their mission to privatize USPS is well underway.
It is, indeed. The GOP has been after this for 30 years. Putting in DeJoy finishes it. I still have NO IDEA why Biden has allowed this to continue but rich people are not nearly as dependent on the USPS as the rest of us are!
I too have been tracking packages and seeing them bounced back and forth between stations for no apparent reason.
I’ve been curious too why DeJoy is still there. His conflict of interest is glaring, along with his possible sabotage of ballot mailing speed during the pandemic.
I’m having a glimmer of memory that there might be a reason, but I can’t remember it. Sigh. So much corruption, so little time to follow it.
The stated "reason" is that only the Board of Governors can fire him so Biden can't touch him. I call BS on that, as Biden could presumably remove the Board of Governors. Yes, of course, the GOP would just do it as soon as they got in, tit for tat, but the GOP will do it ANYway, as that is what they DO. And Biden has chosen one or two new members who have fallen into line with DeJoy.
So I do not know who is getting paid off for what but I do know that both parties are destroying the once-great USPS -- though the destruction started with half-privitizing it and then making it fund an unrealistic insurance/retirement program 75 years in advance.
Well there it is. I knew about the unrealistic and political demand that they fully fund their retirement program for 75 years. It’s upsetting to hear that Biden appointees are falling in line. What the heck?
My daughter was surprised that I got so upset at the poor performance, and I explained that to me and people of a certain age, the Postal Service is almost a core piece of Americana. It was a triumph of a young, huge, can-do country. Delivery employees wore uniforms and were part of the fabric of the neighborhood. (Same thing was true of milkmen! Hard to imagine home delivery of dairy products today.). Seeing it perform so poorly felt like another stab of the knife of our unraveling.
Yes. And for rural Americans it is an actual lifeline, for medicine and checks and other essential s. It ranks up there with social security for seniors. Essential. Trusted. Relied on. Unraveling.
That’s what I hear. I guess Amazon delivers using USPS, and I use Amazon a lot. But Amazon returns are handled by UPS and it’s very smooth and easy. Maybe Amazon is spreading out their business? Other than that, I’m surprised to realize I rarely use the regular mail - so much now is done online, like communicating, bill paying and direct deposit (which is how I get my Social Security). But definitely I’ve always relied on it being solid. The unfortunate experience mailing the phone came as a shock. Maybe it was a fluke.
I remember during the DeJoy scandal, there was a fair amount of coverage how the Postal Service business has changed rather dramatically in the past couple decades. As they say, change is the only constant. But I’m old! It’s my job to object!
Yes, I agree - I usually drop mine in the collection box. Even then, I don’t trust my own little corrupt town, so I drop it at another location. Paranoia seems more reasonable these days.
Our county live-streamed the entire counting process in 2022; I don’t know if that was a new precaution or if they always did it.
I too remember the olden days somewhat fondly, standing in line, chatting up whoever was nearby without tension. I wouldn’t want to do it now, that’s for sure.
Trump is a menace because of the GOP. Which is why I cannot see any circumstance under which I would cast a vote for any Republican in my lifetime. They fed this monster, and continue to do so.
One thing I've heard frequently is pundits saying the hush money case is a "weak case." This is false. I think they say "weak" when what they really mean is it's a minor crime relative to everything else Trump is guilty of. But this is not a weak case. Trump's co-conspirator was convicted and did hard time for this. And all these Republicans who foment unrest by framing this as a political prosecution didn't have a damned thing to say when Michael Cohen was convicted of it, because Cohen had turned against Trump and testified against him. These "normies" know this isn't about politics, it's about the rule of law, and they do not seem to mind that they're pouring gasoline on the fire. And these same people pray to God Trump will either drop dead or end up in jail before he becomes the party's nominee. Never Trump. Never DeSantis. Never Republican.
I know I sure won’t vote Republican ever. Never have except locally where there is no other choice, never will.
They've had so many off ramps. So many opportunities to stick the knife in an end this slow rolling catastrophe. They have not only consistently refused to do so, they have done everything in their power to mitigate and revive his political viability from its much deserved place on the ash heap of history. They're more than merely complicit in it. They're responsible for it all.
Absolutely true
Well said - completely agree. And it seems to be getting worse. Today 3 House Committee chairs say they want Braggs to come testify. Good God.
Does anyone else feel that we are watching a 5 alarm fire burn out of control and everyone is standing around commenting on the fire instead of pulling the alarm?
As I've said before, his reply should be "I will treat your request with the same regard you treated the requests of the J6 committee."
Don, one aspect you forgot in your execellent pundit-take-down: Who cares if there is minor punishment, the fact of a Federal conviction is big, huge. In any subsequent proceeding he could rightfully be IDed as a convicted criminal (felon if the punishment allows).
Even if the judge in a subsequent case rules that the hush money case conviction itself is inadmissible, it will keep TFG even further from the witness stand because any legitimate cross-examination should start with a variation on, "Mr. T, you just said that not only did you not pay Ms. Daniels, you never had sex with her. Mr. T, you are 76 years old, correct (or 77 depending upon the date of trial)? In your entire life, have you ever told a lie? I am not asking what the lie was, only if you acknowledge ever having told a lie?"
Since no one would believe a "no", the next line of questioning after the "yes" goes down the lane: And, since you acknowledged that you have told a lie, why did you do that? The answer is always going to be a variation on "to look better, to gain an advantage, because it was in my interest at the time."
NEVER EVER !!! (ty)
Well of course also if it were Democrats doing all these crimes, they would be pout with the pitchforks and calls for burning at the stakes. The hypocrisy is beyond mind boggling!
Yes 1000%.
This is the truth but why do we still see so many anti-Trump Republicans wistfully searching for the one honest Republican they might be able to see their way to support? Pence ain't so bad, DeSantis isn't really dangerous, is there anybody out there? No no no and I say this as a former Republican. At every point when they could turn toward the light, they turn toward the dark. Now they're lining up to investigate the investigators looking at Trump's crimes.
This party has forfeited its right to public trust. Full stop.
I agree. I once considered myself to be a centrist, unaffiliated. As “things” have grown more divided, I’m started leaning more to the left. Today I cannot vote for a republican. It’s because the party stands for something un-American. I get that they’re afraid of going extinct. And it’s clear why. But here we are!
Yeah don’t bother talking about “moderate” Republicans. If they’re still members then they’re complicit.
Apparently.
Sadly, they won't become extinct because so much money, networks, Fox, OneAmerica, Newsmax, commentators, and so other grifters are making money destroying our country and they have ready followers, mostly in Rural America now, which makes them powerful still.
That and there is no real avenue for a third party to replace them. With a better system we could see what support is out there for a center right sane party.
I fear it is both too late for a center right sane party and too early (now that we missed the first window) for a center right sane party. The current GOP has to be burned to destruction with as many election cycles it takes. Any attempts too early will just guarantee GOP victories.
A third party is untenable because we have a two-party system, a *structure* of single-seat districts and plurality elections and the electoral college, that impels us always toward two and only two choices. You're in the top two, or you're a spoiler, or you're invisible. The only way to have a different party become relevant is to knock an existing one *out* of national top-two contention.
Assuming we last long enough, I'd truly like to see what effect eliminating the electoral college -- always undemocratic and embraced nowhere else on earth -- would have on giving the losing candidate the office he lost (twice in 20 years now). The founders warned against a party system of any kind. I wonder if they were thinking of how a party could manipulate the EC.
They warned against faction... and immediately broke into factions.
The EC was their insurance policy that the "right" type of person would be elected President (one of them or someone like them).
It never really worked... and then failed spectacularly in the opposite direction.
I've long favored a third party option, but as you say, now is not the time for that. The only sensible plan forward is repeated, relentless, and hopefully crushing defeat. Only once the Republican Party in its current form is vanquished can we begin to consider changes that may increase the odds of a Republican winning. Ideally "right-liberal" Republicans and R-leaning Independents would vote for the Democrat to have the most effect. At minimum, they need to not case a vote for a Republican.
I have come to think that to save the country and the planet both Putin and DJT need to be crushed like bugs, asap!!! Crushed! Not handled with kid gloves. Not man handled. Crushed! This drip drip drip nothingness is making people crazier.
I'm not terribly convinced it is possible under the current framework. Note I mentioned a better system, which we don't have and aren't in much danger of getting any time soon.
It may not be possible for an electable third party, but an unelectable one (i.e., No Labels) can certainly gum-up the works as a spoiler against Democrats. Hell, if anything, I wish the moderate Republicans would break away and start their own center-right party with the sole intention of bleeding away support from the Republican's MAGA candidates.
Perhaps now is the time to dust off the ol' Democratic-Republican moniker. It aptly describes the non-MAGA Republicans as in favor of democracy as opposed to the authoritarian ones. This way they don't have to stop being Republicans, but differentiate themselves from the fringe that took over.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democratic-Republican_Party
No Labels is highly suspect as a mechanism to bleed the Rs that are currently voting blue and the R leaning Indies that are doing the same. Net result is that the Dems lose. No Labels is protecting their anonymous donors rather aggressively. And I saw a map the other day of states they are targeting. All the battleground states and the swing states. I don't trust them as a genuine 3rd party. Sounds like a dirty trick waiting to happen, imo.
There's also the Forward Party getting on state ballots; I have no idea if they will balance the No Labels party or make it worse.
That no labels thing could be an issue if Trump isn't on the ticket. If he is, I don't think they'll be a factor.
Ditto. Short of some sort of role reversal where Democrats were putting up someone egregious (i.e., a Trump in Democrat clothing), unless the Republican party rejects the MAGA crowd (or any subsequent permutations of its ilk) and can openly and honestly explain how and where it had gone wrong, I just can't imagine ever supporting a Republican. There is no such thing as a moderate/normie Republican if they keep siding and voting with the nut jobs!
There are no democratic Trumps!
Yep! Even Chris Sununu says he will endorse the orange god king if he becomes the GOP nominee, but of course he will never be one according to Sununu. His reason is that the alternative is catastrophic to our country. WTF!!! What did the democrats do to destroy this country? What did Biden do, so that Sununu thinks that the orage god king is better than Biden?
Unless all these so called "normies" wake up (they are delusional?) or man up and tell the truth like Cheney, we as country, are doomed. One of two major political party is actively inciting visceral hatred toward the other, what can go wrong?
Unfortunately, if I were in charge of handicapping, Doomed is a 10 point favorite right now.
The problem is that "normal Republicans" have to spout this bullshit if they have any chance of advancing in the Republican Party. I think Sununu and others like him don't believe what they say but don't have the guts to walk away like Cheney or Kinzinger.
Aggman, Cheney didn't walk away, she was given the boot. She wouldn't give them the satisfaction of going away without a fight.
Wouldn't it be wonderful if they cared more about the welfare of our democracy than their own careers?
I think most of them may say they would vote for him, but, won't...no one will know...it's just about keeping the pro Trump people within their grasp
They might not vote for him in the privacy of a voting booth, but none of them will openly oppose him or speak against him.
Great leaders all.
Exactly. That's what I see my congressman, Rep. Mike Lawler, doing all the time. He edged out Maloney to win in a Biden +8 district and then declared that he was going to Washington to 'put a stop to Biden's socialist agenda'. Watch John Heilemann's interview with him during the March 12 episode of the Circus; he comes across as nothing more than the embodiment of a Republican messaging memo.
To quote the Man they say they love and follow, "what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and lose his soul?" They lost their souls long ago.
So true
Someone posted a youtube of republican jesus the other day. To paraphrase:
"A lot. It profits him a lot of money."
Another great part of the Republican Jesus Youtube video someone linked the other day is the part where the poor, sick woman crawls to Jesus and asks him to heal her. He answers, "Yes, of course I could heal you....but who will pay for it? Yes, it's a sad story, but it does not make me responsible."
I gotta go find that video. Good grief.
Go to YouTube and type in GOP Jesus.
You know the funny part of all of this is that they claim to believe in heaven/hell after they die. Jesus made it very clear who will go to heaven in Matthew 25:31-40. He also told the rich young man to sell everything to follow Him. Yet their behavior is the complete opposite of what they say they believe. They clearly don't believe in the heaven/hell their Evangelical faith tells them exists.
No, they believe. At least some of them do (probably far more of them than a lot of people on the Left think), BUT:
1) They only really focus on certain parts of their beliefs--and they are far more Old Testament than New (it has to do with their identity/psychology and with why they are also "conservatives;" and
2) They will be forgiven for their sins (regardless of what they actually do) because they are justified by their faith.
It is more complex than that, but that is the gist of it.
But you're using facts and logic. They cannot process either.
I think it’s fair to say, they don’t believe in anything Jesus stood for. Their “Christianity” is just a holier than thou weapon to control others.
Right on Eva. So sad, but soo true.
You'd think there'd be a parable about the rich person who kept all their money and looked down on the poor for not being blessed by God. Probably in there at first, but didn't survive the edit.
Sununu is shallow at the very least. He was on TV the other day and spoke about giving opportunity. I live in a working class town (full of illegal day care sites) and wanted to ask him - so you want to subsidize daycare to give families more opportunity?
With the sorry state of the current GOP, doing the bare minimum it would require to earn my vote, a la Kinzinger/Cheney, means instant excommunication from the party.
Don, I completely agree and also will never vote Republican again. After the party sold its sold to Donald S (for Satan) Trump and still stands behind him, I can barely stomach what is coming from all the sycophants and cronies of the GOP.
I meant to say, "sold its soul."
we know - autocorrect gets us all.
Yeah, I don't have a smartphone, so no auto correct, I do have Grammarly, but it asks before it changes anything and it won't work on substack anymore for some reason...because he made a new post, I figured it couldn't hurt to tell him in case he didn't know...I have before and some people didn't know
Hi Aggman, in case you didn't know, under the three dots next to reply is an option to edit...you can fix any errors that way without having to repost...
That is so kind of you, to take the time to explain that. Thank you!
You are most welcome...comes from years of running forums and being sure everyone knows all the bells and whistles...and the rules
Funny, that's how I read it the first time.
Vote by mail is the way to go. The time window is big enough to fix errors if you don’t receive your ballot; you can study the issues quietly as you vote at home. Which is why Republicans have decided they hate it.
Love my vote by mail. I get a text from our Registrar of Voters when they mail out the ballots, and a text when they receive my vote and it is processed.
Me too. Colorado.
Love that! I’ve not experienced that level of tracking, but I think it might be available if people sign up for it. Thanks for the reminder to look into it.
Well, with DeJoy in charge vote by mail is no longer a really safe option. I do like getting my ballot in the mail but I do also like dropping it in the box on election day. I used to enjoy the practice of democracy. Now it's a death defying moment.
Speaking of DeJoy: I recently mailed my old phone to my daughter by USPS, just one state away. It took 10 days! And when she finally received it, there was a “Return To Sender” sticker on it, that was then overruled by her neighborhood carrier. Unbelievable. Pony Express would have been much faster. I checked its tracking and saved it - it ricocheted all over the place! Their mission to privatize USPS is well underway.
It is, indeed. The GOP has been after this for 30 years. Putting in DeJoy finishes it. I still have NO IDEA why Biden has allowed this to continue but rich people are not nearly as dependent on the USPS as the rest of us are!
I too have been tracking packages and seeing them bounced back and forth between stations for no apparent reason.
I’ve been curious too why DeJoy is still there. His conflict of interest is glaring, along with his possible sabotage of ballot mailing speed during the pandemic.
I’m having a glimmer of memory that there might be a reason, but I can’t remember it. Sigh. So much corruption, so little time to follow it.
The stated "reason" is that only the Board of Governors can fire him so Biden can't touch him. I call BS on that, as Biden could presumably remove the Board of Governors. Yes, of course, the GOP would just do it as soon as they got in, tit for tat, but the GOP will do it ANYway, as that is what they DO. And Biden has chosen one or two new members who have fallen into line with DeJoy.
So I do not know who is getting paid off for what but I do know that both parties are destroying the once-great USPS -- though the destruction started with half-privitizing it and then making it fund an unrealistic insurance/retirement program 75 years in advance.
Well there it is. I knew about the unrealistic and political demand that they fully fund their retirement program for 75 years. It’s upsetting to hear that Biden appointees are falling in line. What the heck?
My daughter was surprised that I got so upset at the poor performance, and I explained that to me and people of a certain age, the Postal Service is almost a core piece of Americana. It was a triumph of a young, huge, can-do country. Delivery employees wore uniforms and were part of the fabric of the neighborhood. (Same thing was true of milkmen! Hard to imagine home delivery of dairy products today.). Seeing it perform so poorly felt like another stab of the knife of our unraveling.
Yes. And for rural Americans it is an actual lifeline, for medicine and checks and other essential s. It ranks up there with social security for seniors. Essential. Trusted. Relied on. Unraveling.
That’s what I hear. I guess Amazon delivers using USPS, and I use Amazon a lot. But Amazon returns are handled by UPS and it’s very smooth and easy. Maybe Amazon is spreading out their business? Other than that, I’m surprised to realize I rarely use the regular mail - so much now is done online, like communicating, bill paying and direct deposit (which is how I get my Social Security). But definitely I’ve always relied on it being solid. The unfortunate experience mailing the phone came as a shock. Maybe it was a fluke.
I remember during the DeJoy scandal, there was a fair amount of coverage how the Postal Service business has changed rather dramatically in the past couple decades. As they say, change is the only constant. But I’m old! It’s my job to object!
Yes, I agree - I usually drop mine in the collection box. Even then, I don’t trust my own little corrupt town, so I drop it at another location. Paranoia seems more reasonable these days.
Our county live-streamed the entire counting process in 2022; I don’t know if that was a new precaution or if they always did it.
I too remember the olden days somewhat fondly, standing in line, chatting up whoever was nearby without tension. I wouldn’t want to do it now, that’s for sure.
I like seeing my ballot into the counting machine.