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Yes. Republicans have long ago turned the USPS into a political football in the culture wars. And they want to sabotage mail-in votes this time, that's a new tw

Yes. Republicans have long ago turned the USPS into a political football in the culture wars. And they want to sabotage mail-in votes this time, that's a new twist.

chrisco255 6y ago
That's quite the conspiracy theory. Republicans are generally against mail-in ballots because they are subject to all sorts of interference. Some elections come down to a few hundred votes. As for USPS being a political football...it's a government service.
- salusinarduis 6y ago
  It's not a conspiracy. Fox news has been running content for years characterizing USPS as a mismanaged business that needs to be privatized.
  - chrisco255 6y ago
    Have they? Did one of their contributors have that opinion? Is that a crime? I'm guessing youve never met a libertarian. That's a huge stretch from using the USPS to rig an election. Both sides are accusing the other of trying to take advantage of the sudden surge in interest in mail-in voting. edit reply: you can't on the one hand argue that mail is a reliable way to run an election and on the other argue that a politician is trying to use it for their advantage. Not giving up, he didn't say he was using it. He said the Democrats would use it. Either way, these arguments underscore just how hackable and exploitable mail in voting is.
    - CamperBob2 6y ago
      That's a huge stretch from using the USPS to rig an election. He admitted it on TV. Give it up.
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]
- joshAg 6y ago
  and yet trump just admitted exactly that: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/aug/13/donald-trump-usps-post-office-election-funding https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/aug/13/donald-trump...
  - chrisco255 6y ago
    He wants to make it harder to vote by mail to prevent fraud, not to create it. You know, elections sometimes come down to a few hundred votes. You think the USPS should control the outcome of an election based on how many parcels they misplace? Or how many dead people vote? Or how many non-citizens vote? Or whether a box of ballots in a republican heavy or Democrat heavy area is left behind? It would be trivial to fuck with this system. The last election it was difficult to convince people that Russian bots were not a factor in the election. People were convinced that $100K in social media ad spend were enough to shift an election. Now all of a sudden mail in paper ballots are a bulletproof way to run a democracy.
    - joshAg 6y ago
      “They need that money in order to have the post office work so it can take all of these millions and millions of ballots,” Trump said in an interview with Fox Business’s Maria Bartiromo. “If they don’t get those two items, that means you can’t have universal mail-in voting because they’re not equipped to have it.” “If we don’t make a deal that means they don’t get the money. That means they can’t have universal mail-in voting. They just can’t have it. Sort of a crazy thing,” He is explicitly trying to remove the USPS's ability to handle voting by mail.
      - chrisco255 6y ago
        No I read the postmasters comments. Parcel volume is way down for the post office while packages are up. They are reallocating resources for handling more packages. The USPS parcel business has largely been reduced to junk mail that no one wants.
        6y ago
- seppin 6y ago
  > against mail-in ballots because they are subject to all sorts of interference. Quite the opposite, mail in ballots create an irrefutable and unfalsifiable paper trail for each vote. Republicans (and Trump) are against them because they know the more people vote (ie. the more democratic America is) the less chance they have at winning.
CamperBob2 6y ago
The thread doesn't need to be turned into a political flamefest. Every American voter should be on the same side here. This isn't about what Republicans do, or what Democrats do. It's about what enemies of the state do. Many Republicans are speaking up alongside their usual opponents, because they know very well that when Trump is done with the Democrats, he'll come for them.
- afterburner 6y ago
  Trump has literally said he wants to interfere with the mail because it would be used too much for voting. https://www.cnn.com/2020/08/13/politics/donald-trump-mail-in-ballots-2020/index.html https://www.cnn.com/2020/08/13/politics/donald-trump-mail-in... This is not a "both sides" issue.
- evan_ 6y ago
  What republicans? Certainly not any in power.
  - CamperBob2 6y ago
    The Lincoln Project comes to mind. Not sure they've chimed in about the USPS, however, or if they have had time to do so.
    - seppin 6y ago
      The Lincoln Project counts no elected officials as members. Come on.
    - evan_ 6y ago
      Like I said, nobody in power. The Lincoln Project is a grift. Preaching to the choir monetized.
    - mindslight 6y ago
      The Lincoln Project is fighting for sanity, but at this point the entire party will inevitably share blame for the disasters that have occurred under Trump. At any time senate republicans could announce that they would be agreeable to another impeachment, yet the party establishment continues to sit by and condone the country being torn apart. As a constituent, the only things to do are accept that the Republican Party has gravely failed, work on replacing the congresscritters that contributed to this mess, and plan for a shot in 2028.
bobmalone123 6y ago
One party wants people to show up to vote with their face and ID. The other wants them to vote by mail as much as possible (which is more prone to fraud). Tell me again: who is sabotaging who?
- afterburner 6y ago
  Voter fraud is practically non-existent. Voter ID laws are used to disenfranchise black people and the poor. Voting by mail in a pandemic is very wise. Advising against it is a murderous suggestion.
  - iszomer 6y ago
    Why do these budding political discussions always get the race card pulled up?
    - deleted 6y ago
      [deleted]
    - afterburner 6y ago
      Hey, no one's forcing the Republicans to try to disenfranchise black people or peddle racist ideologies. They did that all on their own.
      - iszomer 6y ago
        Sources? I am genuinely interested why you think they do.
        afterburner 6y ago
        Because black people vote Democrat by a massive margin.
        parrellel 6y ago
        Look up the realignment of the Republican party and the Southern strategy, the Voting Rights Act, and the various hurdles that some states began to re-implement after the gutting of that act in 2013. It's kind of a thing.
letusknow123 6y ago
Considering the democrats cheated in the last election. I don’t think it’s unreasonable to be suspicious of mail in votes. I think just about everyone has a valid ID.

Yes. Republicans have long ago turned the USPS into a political football in the culture wars. And they want to sabotage mail-in votes this time, that's a new twist.

chrisco255 6y ago

That's quite the conspiracy theory. Republicans are generally against mail-in ballots because they are subject to all sorts of interference. Some elections come down to a few hundred votes. As for USPS being a political football...it's a government service.

salusinarduis 6y ago
It's not a conspiracy. Fox news has been running content for years characterizing USPS as a mismanaged business that needs to be privatized.
- chrisco255 6y ago
  Have they? Did one of their contributors have that opinion? Is that a crime? I'm guessing youve never met a libertarian. That's a huge stretch from using the USPS to rig an election. Both sides are accusing the other of trying to take advantage of the sudden surge in interest in mail-in voting. edit reply: you can't on the one hand argue that mail is a reliable way to run an election and on the other argue that a politician is trying to use it for their advantage. Not giving up, he didn't say he was using it. He said the Democrats would use it. Either way, these arguments underscore just how hackable and exploitable mail in voting is.
  - CamperBob2 6y ago
    That's a huge stretch from using the USPS to rig an election. He admitted it on TV. Give it up.
deleted 6y ago
[deleted]
joshAg 6y ago
and yet trump just admitted exactly that: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/aug/13/donald-trump-usps-post-office-election-funding https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/aug/13/donald-trump...
- chrisco255 6y ago
  He wants to make it harder to vote by mail to prevent fraud, not to create it. You know, elections sometimes come down to a few hundred votes. You think the USPS should control the outcome of an election based on how many parcels they misplace? Or how many dead people vote? Or how many non-citizens vote? Or whether a box of ballots in a republican heavy or Democrat heavy area is left behind? It would be trivial to fuck with this system. The last election it was difficult to convince people that Russian bots were not a factor in the election. People were convinced that $100K in social media ad spend were enough to shift an election. Now all of a sudden mail in paper ballots are a bulletproof way to run a democracy.
  - joshAg 6y ago
    “They need that money in order to have the post office work so it can take all of these millions and millions of ballots,” Trump said in an interview with Fox Business’s Maria Bartiromo. “If they don’t get those two items, that means you can’t have universal mail-in voting because they’re not equipped to have it.” “If we don’t make a deal that means they don’t get the money. That means they can’t have universal mail-in voting. They just can’t have it. Sort of a crazy thing,” He is explicitly trying to remove the USPS's ability to handle voting by mail.
    - chrisco255 6y ago
      No I read the postmasters comments. Parcel volume is way down for the post office while packages are up. They are reallocating resources for handling more packages. The USPS parcel business has largely been reduced to junk mail that no one wants.
      - 6y ago
seppin 6y ago
> against mail-in ballots because they are subject to all sorts of interference. Quite the opposite, mail in ballots create an irrefutable and unfalsifiable paper trail for each vote. Republicans (and Trump) are against them because they know the more people vote (ie. the more democratic America is) the less chance they have at winning.

CamperBob2 6y ago

The thread doesn't need to be turned into a political flamefest. Every American voter should be on the same side here. This isn't about what Republicans do, or what Democrats do. It's about what enemies of the state do. Many Republicans are speaking up alongside their usual opponents, because they know very well that when Trump is done with the Democrats, he'll come for them.

afterburner 6y ago
Trump has literally said he wants to interfere with the mail because it would be used too much for voting. https://www.cnn.com/2020/08/13/politics/donald-trump-mail-in-ballots-2020/index.html https://www.cnn.com/2020/08/13/politics/donald-trump-mail-in... This is not a "both sides" issue.
evan_ 6y ago
What republicans? Certainly not any in power.
- CamperBob2 6y ago
  The Lincoln Project comes to mind. Not sure they've chimed in about the USPS, however, or if they have had time to do so.
  - seppin 6y ago
    The Lincoln Project counts no elected officials as members. Come on.
  - evan_ 6y ago
    Like I said, nobody in power. The Lincoln Project is a grift. Preaching to the choir monetized.
  - mindslight 6y ago
    The Lincoln Project is fighting for sanity, but at this point the entire party will inevitably share blame for the disasters that have occurred under Trump. At any time senate republicans could announce that they would be agreeable to another impeachment, yet the party establishment continues to sit by and condone the country being torn apart. As a constituent, the only things to do are accept that the Republican Party has gravely failed, work on replacing the congresscritters that contributed to this mess, and plan for a shot in 2028.

bobmalone123 6y ago

One party wants people to show up to vote with their face and ID. The other wants them to vote by mail as much as possible (which is more prone to fraud). Tell me again: who is sabotaging who?

afterburner 6y ago
Voter fraud is practically non-existent. Voter ID laws are used to disenfranchise black people and the poor. Voting by mail in a pandemic is very wise. Advising against it is a murderous suggestion.
- iszomer 6y ago
  Why do these budding political discussions always get the race card pulled up?
  - deleted 6y ago
    [deleted]
  - afterburner 6y ago
    Hey, no one's forcing the Republicans to try to disenfranchise black people or peddle racist ideologies. They did that all on their own.
    - iszomer 6y ago
      Sources? I am genuinely interested why you think they do.
      - afterburner 6y ago
        Because black people vote Democrat by a massive margin.
      - parrellel 6y ago
        Look up the realignment of the Republican party and the Southern strategy, the Voting Rights Act, and the various hurdles that some states began to re-implement after the gutting of that act in 2013. It's kind of a thing.

letusknow123 6y ago

Considering the democrats cheated in the last election. I don’t think it’s unreasonable to be suspicious of mail in votes. I think just about everyone has a valid ID.