We in the newspaper business have been concerned about the ability of the United States Post Office to deliver the mail in a timely manner for as long as I can remember — specifically periodicals.
Slow delivery of newspapers outside our immediate three-county area is the main reason we have a website for each of our publications with free access for any subscriber.
There is currently a conspiracy theory — being promoted by many Democrats, and the liberal media — that President Donald Trump is trying to sabotage the mail in order disenfranchise voters for the November election. It is based on lies.
In the same way, lies of a Trump-Russian collusion were used by Democrats to cast doubt on the 2016 election, these falsehoods are being spread to make a possible Trump second term look illegitimate.
Lie Number One: The Postal Service is removing sorting machines to sabotage the delivery of mail-in ballots.
Truth: Postal volume, specifically first-class mail, has dropped by almost 50 percent since it’s peak in 2000 due to electronic communication. Because of this, the post office has been consolidating operations since before Trump’s presidency. This means removing equipment that is not needed.
Lie Number Two: Blue mail collection boxes are being removed ahead of the election to make it harder for voters to mail their ballots.
Truth: Some people just cannot understand the laws of supply and demand. The iconic blue boxes are moved frequently (and sometimes retired) depending on mail volume. Again, this is nothing new. Under the Obama administration, 12,000 blue mailboxes were removed from usage.
One photo being used to spread this lie was taken in Wisconsin. The photo is of hundreds of blue collection boxes on an industrial lot. The problem is this is the lot of Hardford Finishing, Inc. They refurbish the boxes.
Lie Number Three: Blue collection boxes have been locked to prevent public access.
Truth: In high crime neighborhoods postal employees routinely place locked caps after the last pickup of the day and then remove them in the morning. All for a logical reason — most thefts from the boxes occur at night.
Lie Number Four: California Democrat Senator Jerry Nadler has tweeted that Trump is dismantling the postal service and wants it to go broke before the election.
Truth: A large increase in package delivery during the COVID-19 pandemic has brought in new revenues for the post office. Also, earlier this year, Congress allocated a $10 billion loan to the Postal Service. This is just another made-up crisis by Nadler and the Democrat leadership.
The lies about the post office do not stop there. If you want more details you can find them with an Internet search for “Debunking 10 myths about the U.S. Postal Service,” or go to this column on our website for the link.
Make no mistake, the USPS is in a financial crisis and has been losing money for years. It is in desperate need of reforms and help.
In June Trump appointed a new Postmaster General, Louis DeJoy to help fix these problems. His qualifications include decades of experience as CEO of New Breed Logistics, a supply chain company. This is just what the post office needs, help from someone with real-world experience.
Now he is being attacked by Democrats in congress.
When the subject comes up about voting by mail, remember, in Missouri, we have two options.
We are all familiar with the first, absentee ballots. The second is a mail-in ballot for voters who are concerned about the coronavirus. Both of these options require notarization by a notary republic. This is for a logical reason, to verify the person casting the vote is who they say they are.
Now the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Missouri is suing Missouri to force the elimination of the notary requirement for mail-in ballots.
Without notarization, the integrity of Missouri’s election will be compromised. Each polling precinct has Democrat and Republican election judges on hand to confirm the identity of each voter.
If there is no need to verify who is voting by mail, then why don’t we get rid of election judges in our polling places? We could just walk in, pick up a ballot (or two), and vote.
