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| The Post Office Conspiracy Is First Class Stupidity |
| 2020-08-20 |
| Kurt at TownHall If you believe the mainstream media, Donald Trump is involved in a nefarious scheme to somehow make the USPS into something inefficient and incompetent, which comes close on the heels of his plot to make the sun start setting in the West. If that’s his plan, he already pulled it off decades before he first hit the cover of the New York Post. We conservatives think the president has done a lot of great stuff since humiliating Felonia Milhous von Pantsuit in 2016, but not even the most hardcore Trump Train engineer would go as far as Trump’s frothy pie-holed critics and credit the president with the mastery of time and space. The correspondence conspiracy is pretty much liberal Q, except the eccentric Q folks at least like America. And here’s a special shout-out to the Democrats pushing this intellectual fentanyl for deciding it is a good idea to choose the competence of the post office as their hill for the crusty crustacean’s campaign to die on. Please, continue pointing to the USPS as an example of what you’ll make the entire government into if we’re dumb enough to elect Gropey J. Good thinking, because if there’s anything that real people outside the MSNBCNN bubble love, it’s the post office. It’s the federal DMV, except with stamps. ...Apparently, his plan is to somehow make it so the post office will be unable to deliver vote by mail ballots in order to prevent Democrats from winning the election that their senile old weirdo nominee is in the process of blowing. It might be interesting to examine the details of this conspiracy theory if there was even a coherent conspiracy theory to examine, but there’s not. It’s mostly "Trump bad!," then low and undecipherable mumbling, then "And that’s how he will steal the election!" ...Of course, the whole idea behind vote by mail — the untargeted mass mailing of ballots out into the world that can be harvested by political operatives who all the best and smartest people tell us would never, ever cheat — is to make cheating easier. It’s to steal the election, and that’s why they are accusing Trump of cheating by trying to stop them from cheating. It’s an exercise in remarkable cynicism, but hey, they are, after all, our moral betters. We know because they never cease to tell us. Also, underlying this bizarre and stupid conspiracy theory is more Democrat rent seeking for a beloved constituency. The postal workers’ union is a loyal Democrat adjunct and has naturally endorsed Grandpa Badfinger. Yeah, we’re supposed to trust the election to a bunch of partisan players for some reason — and the USPS is collapsing. It needs yet another bailout. Technology has changed how you correspond. You do it by email now. When was the last time you wrote a letter? You get paid electronically. Who gets a mailed Social Security check in 2020? The postal system, however, remains in many critical ways, essentially unchanged from a century ago. And that’s the way its participants and its Democrat patrons want it. Thank G*d for Kurt. One of the few conservative pundits who do not feel the the need to moonlight as epidemiology/virology/immunology (subjects wherein they know considerably less than nothing) experts |
| Posted by:g(r)omgoru |
| #31 I have a bank account but bo money in it unless a situation calls for it. I have a prepaid Cricket phone service. I have a prepaid card that most of the time has 1 dollar in it. Where do I keep my money? In a few socks. Which are under Colt 45. I went "off grid" on everything after experiencing everything mentioned above, 10 years ago. Takes a little getting used to but I never worry about what is happening to my money. |
| Posted by: Vespasian Ebbereng3110 2020-08-20 21:22 |
| #30 "If you believe the mainstream media, Donald Trump is involved in a nefarious scheme to somehow make the USPS" In first sentence he proved it is not stupid. The Marxist media makes it so. |
| Posted by: Thorong Grundy1520 2020-08-20 20:18 |
| #29 Been happy with Metro PCS in my area, mostly because its mostly reliable and cheap, but yeah, they have a very limited coverage area (if you're not in a denser suburb or a city, you'll have a bad time). |
| Posted by: Vernal Hatrick 2020-08-20 19:20 |
| #28 Verizon isn't any better. Haven't even looked at any of the others because of coverage issues. |
| Posted by: M. Murcek 2020-08-20 17:37 |
| #27 Banking on the phone is the most unsafe way to bank. On the computer you have much more control over what might be lurking on your computer and watching what you do. It's still not great, but much better than mobile. As far as the Post Office, they have really made people distrustful because of how inefficient they act compared to private delivery services. Tracking a package is difficult to impossible. I know they've been hit hard by decreased mail and by Congressional "reforms", but most people don't really care when it comes to choosing what to use. Also, AT&T sucks. They're an awful company, and they're scrounging for cash because they keep overpaying for acquisitions (over-payed for Dish Network, then for Warner Bros). Run by idiots for idiots. |
| Posted by: Vernal Hatrick 2020-08-20 17:24 |
| #26 #21, DV you are correct. The hackers are looking at balances. Credit cards don't worry me but bank accounts and investment accounts certainly do. Mason jars under the porch? |
| Posted by: M. Murcek 2020-08-20 17:20 |
| #25 @ #18 - Banking apps on mobile devices: That is another "no way, José". |
| Posted by: Clem 2020-08-20 17:11 |
| #24 I used to have an AT&T dial up internet account. The only way to get rid of it was to cancel the credit card they were billing. I talked to lots of "customer service reps" who didn't even understand what dial up was. |
| Posted by: M. Murcek 2020-08-20 17:03 |
| #23 I've been with AT&T wireless since 1983. Remember Motorola DynaTAC phones? Well, I've been on this unlocked Samsung Galaxy S8+ for a little over two years and they are sending mixed signals about whether it will still work on their network after February 2022. I'll be lucky if the phone lasts that long. AT&T would like me to get a new phone branded to them, "open a new line" and sign a new contract for "unlimited data." Oh and they'd like me to buy their "get a new phone every year" plan. And get DirecTV. And get their internet service which would require me to dump my self owned infrastructure in house and pay rental in perpetuity for their boxes. Yeah, I'm going to be shopping around. |
| Posted by: M. Murcek 2020-08-20 16:54 |
| #22 M. Murcek AT&T enrolled me in paperless billing without my permission too. They then billed me for 3 months at one time and refused to reimburse me, told me I would be credited each month. Guess what? The very next month I was charged again. Got rid of AT&T. |
| Posted by: Deacon Blues 2020-08-20 16:36 |
| #21 I still worry before I fall asleep every night none of that is enough. It isn't. Hackers have defeated 2FA (2 Factor Authentication). The best play for normal people is to make it as much of a pain in the butt (lots of work to do, like defeating 2FA) for not much reward. They won't go after the little fish much. But have a nice, juicy account that has some 20k plus in it on run by a 3rd party vendor that has weak perimiter/interior security (Looking at you Target), then it is a very worth while time to take. |
| Posted by: DarthVader 2020-08-20 16:35 |
| #20 Very true, TW, if it's online it's inherently insecure. I rely on two factor authentication for logins, sign up for any unusual activity alerts and look at accounts once a week at least rather than wait for the billing cycle. I still worry before I fall asleep every night none of that is enough. |
| Posted by: M. Murcek 2020-08-20 16:24 |
| #19 If you can access it online, so can hackers, as they regularly demonstrate. Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to persuade Mr. Wife to give up online efficiency for better security. Going back to the article, it was mentioned to me the other dqy that while the postal workers union plumped for Mr. Biden, it’s likely many to most of the membership will vote for President Trump. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2020-08-20 16:14 |
| #18 What always makes me laugh is people who have a banking app on their phones. Convenient until something goes wrong. I'll pass. |
| Posted by: M. Murcek 2020-08-20 15:55 |
| #17 /\ My natural gas company did the same. I had no choice. |
| Posted by: Clem 2020-08-20 15:18 |
| #16 AT&T "enrolled" me in paperless billing without my sayso. Not a big deal but it says what everyone who's ever dealt with them knows about their "customer service" |
| Posted by: M. Murcek 2020-08-20 15:05 |
| #15 Chase pesters me non-stop to go paperless for my CC statements. No way, José. |
| Posted by: Clem 2020-08-20 15:01 |
| #14 Every month I print my three credit card statements by logging onto my accounts. Then I mail a check. Only people going into my bank account besides me is my insurance carrier. Utility bills still come in the mail. |
| Posted by: M. Murcek 2020-08-20 14:22 |
| #13 With the advent of email, USPS became irrelevant. Now all we ever get in the mail are bills and junk. We could get the bills with email and we don't want the junk. And when it comes to packages, gimme FedEx. |
| Posted by: Abu Uluque 2020-08-20 13:35 |
| #12 ^ Damned interesting. I use the USPS for some very expensive stuff and have never had a problem. FedEx is becoming absurdly expensive. I notice my incoming is pretty evenly split among USPS, FedEx, UPS and Amazon's fleet. When you think about the volume being moved it's a bit surprising it all works as well as it does. An aside. In history class I was taught two of the things that make a real country are specie (coins) and an official postal service. |
| Posted by: M. Murcek 2020-08-20 12:47 |
| #11 Every American post office I’ve ever been in is staffed by more efficient and more helpful people than any post office I have been in elsewhere in the world. That said, here is a comment I saw on another website in response to complaints about horribly slow delivery in the time of the Rona, with lashings of Trump blame: Please don’t drag the USPS into your partisan dislikes. I am a former letter carrier and many of the changes requested are desperately needed. He’s trying to get Congress to stop the insanity of pre-funding retiree health care 40+ years into the future. That was a nasty little money grab by Congress at a time when the USPS was actually making money and the Congress (bi-partisan) was trying to find money to shore up their budgets. As a result, they’re far behind on capitol improvements and are operating under systems that should have been updated 20 years ago. Many of the changes are much needed such as not continually sending out carriers when they’ve finished their routes because more mail has come from the distribution center. That’s something that was implemented in the last 10 years and it cost a ton of overtime and put no pressure on distribution to get the mail to the individual offices in a timely manner. He’s advocating going back to the old system of having a cut off time when the letter carriers hit the street with the available mail and anything that comes in late goes the next day. That was SOP for decades and was safer because carriers weren’t working 12-14 hours a day and delivering at night with headlamps. Don’t believe the talking points, they’re political in nature. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2020-08-20 12:37 |
| #10 major redirect from 0bamagate... Another burning of the Reichstag |
| Posted by: Omeng Snoluth4397 2020-08-20 11:49 |
| #9 My experience is the larger the post office the more unhappy the employees seem to be. Any time I wind up in a small post office in the sticks everyone seems to be in a good mood. |
| Posted by: M. Murcek 2020-08-20 10:07 |
| #8 USPS used to be a place where WWII and Korea Vets were given an opportunity to serve. Most proudly wore a nicely pressed uniform. The the USPS became an Affirmative Action venue in the 70's. No surprises wen it all went to hell. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2020-08-20 09:55 |
| #7 It is deeply inefficient. It is a financial disaster. Article I, Section 8, US Constitution The Congress shall have Power... To establish Post Offices and post Roads; Doesn't say anything about efficient or profitable. If you are a textualist, you need to go to Article V to change that. If you believe in a living, breathing Constitution that is whatever the courts feel its should be, you'll be in fine company. It was done because it is a means of unifying a country. It is particularly important for the rural areas. It costs just as much to send a letter across town as to Barrow AK. It was never meant to be efficient. The problem was created by making it sort of kind of separate business it was never intended to be. That gave the unions the leverage to get into the game. It should revert back to its original state as much of patronage as anything else. Then you could hold your local representative or senator personally responsible for performance. That's accountability. |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2020-08-20 09:54 |
| #6 The USPS...more "systemic racism" there. |
| Posted by: Clem 2020-08-20 08:58 |
| #5 The Post Office has 640,000 employees. They are represented by the postal union which supports Biden/Harris. Postal Union endorsement. No wonder the Dems are so hot-to-trot for mail-in voting. What could possible go wrong with that? Rioting in O.K. with the Dems but not in-person voting at the polls? There is something wrong with that. |
| Posted by: JohnQC 2020-08-20 08:38 |
| #4 I dislike the Post Office. It is deeply inefficient. It is a financial disaster. I don't really even think it is "necessary" any longer, although I admit it is one of the few governmental bodies specifically authorized by the Constitution, so it has that going for it at least. But I wouldn't trust it for anything important. I will be voting in person. |
| Posted by: Vernal Hatrick 2020-08-20 08:27 |
| #3 2020/08/19 I went to a mailbox to mail two letters. As I was trying to stuff the letters though the small security slot they didn't seem to want to fall through. When I got on my knees to see what was going on I noticed other letters through the small opening of the slot. The box appeared to be full! As I drove away I thought and suspected that the mail carriers are skipping picking up at mail boxes. All of a sudden my thoughts were filled with conspiracy theories as to why carriers would skip picking up at mail boxes because of the all the recent news stories about mail deliveries being delayed because of cost cutting. Who is going to be blamed for these delays during this crazy political season? This is one of the few mail boxes still around in Los Angeles. It is near the AARP nice office building of course because AARP has a lot of political clout with one political party. The AARP lobbied for and was rewarded for Obama Care. But it's just a coincidence that the American Postal Workers Union endorsed Joe Bite Me. |
| Posted by: boomerc 2020-08-20 08:16 |
| #2 Stupid, absolutely but not without it's purposes. Since it's pretty obvious not to mention already proven that mail in voting is unreliable at best, why would anybody be so adamant in demanding it? Simple. Delegitimize the election results, regardless of what they are. Considering many schools are opting out of in person classes and lower end unemployment remains high there should be a lot of available hands as it were for all kind s of mischief. They can't destroy us from without, but they will never stop trying from within. |
| Posted by: Cesare 2020-08-20 07:48 |
| #1 If you ask me some of the Q stuff was leaking the truth (around a lot of looney froth) to discredit the fact that 0bama spied on Trump to help the dem candidate. |
| Posted by: Bright Pebbles 2020-08-20 04:59 |