"The August 2020 US Politics Thread is highly thought of, but nobody likes me. It can only be my personality. That's all."

making it hard to vote by post is bad for republicans in at least one state they basically have to win (florida)

Ruining the postal service is bad for other reasons too

― Steppin' RZA (sic), Friday, August 14, 2020 4:13 PM bookmarkflaglink

not least that it hurts businesses who are now dealing with a litany of complaints due to lost packages/slow service. I had packages in tow both before and after the Dejoy procedural fuckery and I saw differences in the timing almost instantly.

Being outraged is fine and appropriate, saying “that’s it, he’s done it, we’re doomed” is a bit much

https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/politics/elections/2020/04/09/wisconsin-election-milwaukee-had-5-voting-sites-while-madison-had-66/2970587001/

But JFC, even setting aside the gigantic elephant in the room with voting, this USPS bullshit should be getting a far more vocal outcry from the Dems than I'm seeing. All the people waiting on medication and paychecks, the people that will get evicted at worst and hammered with fees at best for late card payments and rent checks, just on and on and on.

I mean, we're fine and this is far from the worst case example, but one of my wife's biggest consulting gigs requires that she gets paid by physical check. Her most recent one was mailed two and a half weeks ago and still hasn't gotten here. This shit is insidious and will do so much damage.

i'm not saying this is good news, but the "BREAKING 🚨 15 ALARM FIRE #RESISTANCE" stuff is a little OTT imo, and risks doing more harm than good.

i don't think any of us disagree that the USPS bullshit is terrible.

Of course it's not the entire state, but it's pretty fucking awful for a city the size of Milwaukee to only have five open polling places.

absolutely hammering this as a policy issue is good politics.

but telling your own voters that it's over and their votes won't count is ... not.

and I can confirm I also had a package sent from CA take 2+ weeks to arrive when usually it would take 5 bus days.

it's definitely a legit concern. fortunately my 401k check didn't take as long

reminder: https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/how-to-vote-2020/

jon do you live in DC, Guam, PR, USVI, or AS? if not, you have an immediate recourse to help drive action about this

I think it's plenty of cause for alarm. Who would have imagined how easily he could destroy the USPS. Let's not pretend this is the only way they'll try to curtail voting. How many other surprises do we have coming?

jfc

making it hard to vote by post is bad for republicans in at least one state they basically have to win (florida)

hasn't Trump already said "vote by mail is fine in Florida"

like, this was also the primary, as well.

I know the worry is that often when polling places are closed in past elections, they're closed in low-income or minority areas that tend to vote Democratic, which could skew voter turnout towards Republicans. Fair concern. but...that's already been happening in GOP-governed states in past years, and is nothing new. That's a case of selectively closing only certain polling areas while leaving others open, meaning there's still plenty of polling places, but this particular district has to travel an unusual number of miles to get there and may not have access to transportation.

but if during the Presidential election, major cities are besieged with a lack of polling places, and mail-in voting was significantly hampered, that...would impact both parties pretty significantly, not just Democrats. GOP didn't make any noise during the primary because...well, duh.

I just called my reps. I hope this energizes dem voters, but jon is right - ruining the USPS is gonna fuck up tons of other stuff.

Hence why a few off-the-record Republicans, Mindy Moderate of Maine excepted, have started saying "uhhhhhh" aloud.

Fuck'em.

that hasn't really been the focus of his posts, though, the 'other stuff' (other than the mention of his wife's check). I'm trying to find where people ITT are like "lol fuck the mail service, let's roast weenies"

hasn't Trump already said "vote by mail is fine in Florida"

― frogbs, Friday, August 14, 2020 4:20 PM (forty-seven seconds ago) bookmarkflaglink

yeah i assume someone said "excuse me sir, you're being a moron". but if the USPS isn't delivering it doesn't matter.

I mean, yes I'm clearly spiraling in my worst fears here. But let's not pretend there's no basis for some very real concerns here. Jfc. I'm just as shocked to see how many people here are coming across very, "this will be fine, don't worry".

these people are not competent enough to steal a national election

This North Carolina Trump Victory mailer telling people to request a ballot in the mail blurs out the second half of Trump's tweet, which in part reads "Bad things happen with Mail-Ins." https://t.co/UfXTVpq79u

— Ben Collins (@oneunderscore__) August 14, 2020

We've talked about turnout already. In Georgia this past June, for example, democratic turnout was reportedly *triple* that of the 2016 primary. And numbers were up iirc in Milwaukee and Louisville as well. Not that some bullshit won't go down on election day, but so far the momentum has seemingly made up for at least some of the artificial setbacks.

Neanderthal - other than my very recent post wishing more posters were as pissed off as I am, I haven't at all been suggesting folks here don't care! I'm just surprised by lack of more vocal outrage generally, not on ilx. I don't think anyone here is saying "fuck the USPS", not at all.

xxxpost

the thing that annoys tf out of me with the alarmism amongst my voters in my county is that they have always had a confirmation system where you could verify receipt and acceptance of your ballot. i.e., not just that they got it, but that it was valid/accepted.

if it's not, for some reason, you are able to go to your polling place, indicate what happened, and vote in person. I've invalidated mail-in votes before because I've lost them and just gone and voted in person anyway.

now....I recognize not all places operate like that, but the people whining are THE PEOPLE WHO LIVE IN MY COUNTY WHO HAVE PRESUMABLY VOTED BY MAIL BEFORE.

Look, I get that it isn't always helpful or productive to be alarmist and outraged, but at the same time seeing how easily Trump completely dismantled and destroyed the USPS is pretty fucking alarming and outrageous!

these people are not competent enough to steal a national election

Fortunately, there is no national election. There are 50-53 state/territory elections.

good grief

remember this guy

We need more people to speak up. pic.twitter.com/1ZL7mkJ3WQ

— Anthony Scaramucci (@Scaramucci) August 14, 2020

Sorry guys, caek says it's no big deal at all and we should all just chill. There are, like, norms and rules and shit, so this is all no big deal and everything is absolutely going to work out just fine as long as we keep condescending to people who might feel a little alarmed.

Sorry guys, caek says it's no big deal at all and we should all just chill. There are, like, norms and rules and shit, so this is all no big deal and everything is absolutely going to work out just fine as long as we keep condescending to people who might feel a little alarmed.

Are you sure that's what he said?

i
can't help wonder why
all the flowers had to die
i think about you

and now
summer's come and gone
and the nights they seem so long

come on over tonight
come on over

jon, i get where you're coming from, and i'm scared too, but this is what the "trump's gonna win" containment thread is for

i'm worried trump might win. i'm not super worried he's going to win *because* of whatever he thinks he's doing to the USPS. i think that's at least as likely to hurt him, both in terms of its effect on voting in states like florida, and the politics of *messing with the USPS*. i also think it hurts people who depend on the USPS, so i hope he stops doing it.

outrage that implies "your vote won't count, it's over" (which granted is not what's happening, unless you follow like seth abramson or something, or jon gets a primetime tv show) is not helpful. and as for "are you worried about the other things that might happen"? i guess? depends what they are.

what if the votes become self-aware

and change themselves

Not that I've been entirely in the "justified" lane this afternoon myself, but I think there's room for some justified fear and outrage in this thread too! Or there very well should be. It just feels really complacent in here at times and that frustrates me.

Dems should pull a Benghazi on Trump and Republicans over this USPS voter suppression fiasco and hit them with hearings.

OOOOOH. Whoa. HEARINGS you say? I am sure they're quaking over the thought of hearings they will refuse to attend, questions they will refuse to answer, and subpoenas they will ignore. Yippee!

there is a vast space between complacency and assuming we're all doomed

this thread is a fart

be

OOOOOH. Whoa. HEARINGS you say? I am sure they're quaking over the thought of hearings they will refuse to attend, questions they will refuse to answer, and subpoenas they will ignore. Yippee!

the goal is not to fix this USPS. it's to win the election. benghazi hearings worked by that definition.

Democratic bills to reestablish the WPA, CCC and double the budget and workforce of the USPS, then have whichever team did the new Markey ad start publicizing them.

but in Florida, if you're a teacher, despite having a union, if you strike, they can instantly fire you and take your teaching license, as well as your Florida pension.

xpost - There sure is. And believe me, I'm not proud of feeling so doomed this afternoon, I get it. But this isn't the first time folks in these politics threads have been shamed for playing out their worst case fears and anxieties. There's a lot of just "calm down, things will be fine" going on when, clearly, re: USPS, not everything is going to be fine. At least not today, not tomorrow, not in the near future.

have you considered not "playing out your worst fears and anxieties" on this thread?

There's a lot of just "calm down, things will be fine" going on when, clearly, re: USPS, not everything is going to be fine. At least not today, not tomorrow, not in the near future.

this is not what's happening.

good piece about the markey ad https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2020/08/ed-markeys-incomprehensibly-thrilling-2020-election-ad.html.

feel like they could sell biden like that (it would be a lie, but fine).

Don't worry caek, your condescending attitude is doing a great job of chasing me away from these threads. I forgot about the rolling Trump containment thread and shouldn't have posted here, gotta make sure I toe the line in the appropriate thread.

i don't think it's a good idea to "play out your worst fears and anxieties" in any thread fwiw.

jon, it's not a matter of toeing the line, and your fears are justified imo - it's just that the containment thread is a better place for freaking the fuck out, vs talking here in an at-least-barely sub-panic tone

(don't worry, there's still plenty of policing over there, with ppl yelling at those freaking out for freaking out in the "freak out here" thread)

xp