TWGB: Hiding, and Also in Plain Sight

 

Former Trump campaign strategic adviser Boris Epshteyn to @AriMelber: "Yes, I was part of the process to make sure there were alternate electors."https://t.co/v06GFV4vpO

— MSNBC (@MSNBC) January 22, 2022

It's kind of funny, that, on one hand, we're hearing about secret meetings that happened in the White House with Mark Meadows and other conspirators to overturn the 2020 elections, and we've seen Trump fight releasing White House docs to the January 6th Committee all the way to the Supreme Court (and lost, 8-1, about which, hmmm), but on the other hand, I can't even bat an eyelash about Boris Epshteyn admitting to the alternate elector scheme and describing Rudy Giuliani as having spearheaded it because, well--yes. Obviously?

It actually is pretty shocking to see the actual draft of an EO to seize the voting machines and appoint a special counsel. But there was already solid reporting that Flynn and Powell proposed exactly this (with a strong likelihood that Powell is the author and proposed special counsel pick) and the thing is, they also said that's exactly what they wanted to anyone who would listen. 

It's sort of like when mail boxes and sorting machines were being stowed back before the election--you could see what they were doing. Trump both decried voter fraud (since 2016!) and actually encouraged Republicans to do it (they apparently heard him in The Villages).  It's overt and intended to shock you into compliance with it. Because in the mind of the Trumpists, nothing they do can be wrong, whether it's the extortion of world leaders or election officials. 

They would have a soft coup over basically an uploading error in Antrim Co. for "national security" making American great. But they wouldn't mind thug tactics and head cracking from RW militias along the way. It's a sick joke. 

I am nearly past laughing, though.  Except for gallows humor. 

The DeJoy Proposition

 

Postmaster General DeJoy unveils his 10-year plan for the USPS, which includes higher postage rates, some slower services and reduced post office hours.https://t.co/siVkZHoEkC

— MSNBC (@MSNBC) March 24, 2021

This man should end once and for all the bullshit folderol of "I think a business man would make government work better" because here is this genius, openly saying his business plan for the agency he runs is to make everything expensive and do it worse. 

Imagine this was an actual business business plan. "Hi. I'm doing a shit job everyone complains about, so I am going to hang in and do even more terribly." 

Add to that the conflict of interest he has (being invested in other package transportation concerns) and that he seems to have tried to help Trump sabotage the mail-in vote, launch this SOB in the direction of the sun and measure how long it takes for him to get there. It will be slow and expensive but....

Or just get him out of the postmaster general position. He doesn't seem to get that the mail is a crucial lifeline for people, and that's an important thing for someone running the post office to know. 

F*ckery Afoot

 

State Attorney wants USPS ballot audit after backlog found at Miami-Dade mail facility https://t.co/J3XRLgFgdb

— Miami Herald (@MiamiHerald) October 31, 2020

It's hard not to see that backlog as some kind of election fuckery and wonder 1) who put that into (lack of) motion and 2) just where else something like this might be taking place. I think it points to an interesting dynamic though--if on one hand Trump and his supporters want to crow about a "red wave", the actions of Trump via DeJoy to slow down the postal service and GOP officials everywhere (including court conservatives) tp block voting and try to reduce the ballots acounted--and the propensity of certain Trump supporters to believe they need to engage in intimidation, clearly point to their dead certainty that there is no "red wave" or Trump victory without massive cheating on their part. 

 They do know, deep down, he's toast. There wouldn't be this kind of fuckery afoot if they did not know that. It's all proof of how much they deserve to lose and even they kind of know it.

Mail-Pattern Bald-Faced Lying

Former top Postal Service official testifies Mnuchin and White House were involved in slowing mail https://t.co/clffT4sPuJ

— CBS News (@CBSNews) August 23, 2020

Among the more unbelievable things the current Postmaster General, Louis DeJoy, tried to tell Congress the other day was that he didn't speak with the White House and never discussed the election with them at all, at all. Maybe the election wasn't the primary concern of either the White House or DeJoy, so much as wrecking the institution of the postal service in general (heaven and the public record only know how frequently Trump appointees have turned out to be anathema to the very agencies they are supposed to shepherd). But I don't think for a minute that one of Trump's big contributors has any illusions about the impact of voting on whether Trump stays president or not. Really? With DeJoy's conflicts of interest?

Also unbelievable? That when DeJoy indicates he'll put a stop to the changes that he will--uh, because no, he's said for sure he has no intention to do things like restore the sorting machines that help speed getting things sent properly and efficiently. And make no mistake, the efficiency of the postal service has badly declined since his installation. This leaves local post offices to take certain initiatives, but this is far from a satisfactory situation as more than 600 were taken offline, and there is no plan to reinstall mail boxes that have been removed.

And you can't un-kill the masses of infant poultry that the mail normally would be able to deliver with little harm, or undo the damage of the delays in veterans, disabled persons, elderly, receiving their medicines on time.

This is institutional vandalism. These dumbass self-interested pricks tried to break the system because, like immature thugs, they didn't know the value of it to other people, and were only concerned with what its operations meant to themselves. They didn't concern themselves with how to make something run well or better, but how its operation affected their investments--or even an election meaningful to them.

Well, interfering with the efficiency of the mail and tampering with voting are both criminal. From Trump's own mouth, I think we have reason to believe he has intended both, and that DeJoy has only enacted plans to facilitate both. It would be great if DeJoy resigned or showed any cognizance of wrong-doing, but I don't expect much from TrumpWorld.

He needs the screws put to him legally. and one day, Trump should get the same.

Yes, In Plain Sight and Out Loud

Trump says he'll block funding for the Post Office in an effort to prevent voters from casting ballots by mail https://t.co/s3m31HZPk7

— TIME (@TIME) August 13, 2020

Trump admitted out loud that he's doing exactly what it looks like he's doing. WI Sen. Ron Johnson admitted out loud he's doing exactly what it looks like he's doing, too. This is because Trump is a goddamn cheat, but keep in mind, he gets help in his cheating. And even though small businesses and seniors and vets rely on the mail to survive, keep in mind the Trump Administration selectively screwed up the COVID-19 testing and emergency response because they thought it was only affecting blue states. Depraved indifference and criminal negligence, in addition to bald-faced cheating, seem to be traits the GOP are actively proud of now, in addition to casual racism and sheer ignorance.

In other words, it's a day ending in "y".

UPDATE: Sheesh--I forgot to add, Trump is pretty brazen about how he wants to use the power of government to maintain his on hold in other ways. Barr, for one, model of compliance that his is, is not beyond Trump caviling at.