Thursday, August 27, 2020
Four Things We Must Do to Save the Post Office From Trump-GOP Attack
The stakes could not be higher.
by
Robert Reich
https://www.commondreams.org/views/2020/08/25/four-things-we-must-do-save-post-office-trump-gop-attack
It’s no secret Donald Trump will do anything to hold on to power. His latest strategy is to sabotage the United States Postal Service, courtesy of his handpicked Postmaster General Louis DeJoy.
A Republican mega donor with no postal experience, DeJoy instituted sweeping measures that have caused massive mail delays across the country. As national outrage reached a fever pitch, DeJoy announced he would delay policy changes that slow down mail delivery, until after the election.
But the USPS is still very much under attack.
DeJoy’s statement is nothing more than empty rhetoric. He didn’t even list which policies he would postpone. One of the few policies he did mention was overtime pay, which he said would be paid “as needed,” but guess who decides what’s needed? He does.
DeJoy also needs to repair the damage he’s already done. He told House Speaker Nancy Pelosi he has “no intention” of replacing removed mailboxes and sorting machines, and instructed USPS employees to not reconnect or reinstall the sorting machines.
And nothing is forcing DeJoy to follow through even on his weak promises. If the past three and a half years have shown us anything, it’s that we can never count on Trump officials to follow through on their promises.
Trump openly admitted he was sabotaging the post office to stop people from voting. Now his political stooge postmaster general is basically saying “trust me.”
Sorry, Mr. DeJoy, we don’t trust you.
Congress must step in and do four things to protect the Postal Service and the integrity of mail-in voting before it’s too late:
1. Provide needed funding for the Postal Service in the next COVID-19 relief bill.
2. Force DeJoy to repair all the damage he’s already caused, returning the USPS back to full capacity.
3. Fully investigate DeJoy‘s conflicts of interest. DeJoy still has at least a $30 million stake in his former company XPO Logistics, which directly competes with the Postal Service — putting him in a position to profit directly from any loss of Postal Service customers.
4. Pass legislation specifically blocking the Postal Service from instituting any changes that would slow mail delivery in the lead-up to November.
Trump and DeJoy will stop at nothing to sabotage the USPS and steal the election — and there’s no telling the damage Trump will wreak if he’s able to swindle a second term.
Call your members of Congress at (202) 224-3121 and demand your representatives take these urgent steps to save the USPS and protect the election. The stakes couldn’t be higher.
As Israeli Bombing of Gaza Continues, US Media Show Little Interest
Mainstream outlets are largely ignoring the IDF's near-daily attacks, which began in early August.
by
Brett Wilkins, staff writer
https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/08/25/israeli-bombing-gaza-continues-us-media-show-little-interest
Israeli air and ground forces continued to attack Gaza Monday while continuing to tighten a devastating blockade on the besieged territory. The latest bombing, ostensibly targeting Hamas, has been occurring nearly daily since August 6, and has largely been ignored by the U.S. corporate media.
Over the past few weeks, balloon-borne incendiary and explosive devices, as well as some rockets, have been launched from Gaza into Israel, causing dozens of mostly small brushfires that have harmed no one.
Haaretz reports Israel Defense Forces (IDF) warplanes and tanks struck what it said were "Hamas military posts and underground infrastructure" in densely-populated Gaza "in response to explosive balloons" launched into Israeli territory.
The Palestinian news agency WAFA reports the IDF attacks targeted an area east of the town of al-Qarara, in Khan Younis. Israel also bombarded an agricultural area near the Sufa border crossing with artillery fire, destroying property but causing no casualties.
Al Jazeera reports Israel is also tightening its crippling economic blockade on Gaza, prohibiting the importation of fuel for the territory's only power plant. On August 10, Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz ordered the closure of the Kerem Shalom border crossing with Gaza, part of an effort to deprive its people of fuel in retaliation for the balloon and rocket attacks. The crossing is the sole point of entry for goods between Israel and Gaza.
Israel's Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) said that the attacks from Gaza "will first and foremost harm the residents of the Gaza Strip, its economic growth, and the attempts to improve the civilian situation of its residents."
According to Haaretz, power outages caused by the fuel shortage have left residents with only a few hours of daily electricity. Photos posted on Twitter and other social media show children sleeping on the floor in the summer heat due to lack of air conditioning.
UNRWA, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees in the Near East, responded to the Israeli fuel cutoff by calling on "all concerned parties to maintain a supply of electricity that is sufficient to meet the basic needs of the civilian population," citing "14 years of an illegal blockade and the socio-economic impact of the Covid-19 pandemic."
"The closure of the power plant has caused the power feed to decline to two or three hours per day, followed by 20 hours of interruption," UNRWA said in a press release. "Such poor power feed will negatively impact the wellbeing and safety of the people of Gaza. It will also have devastating effects on Gaza's vital services, including hospitals, thus putting the lives and health of nearly 2 million people, including 1.4 million registered Palestinian refugees, at risk."
Hamas, the militant Palestinian resistance group, recently admitted to launching missiles at Israel in response to the IDF attacks.
"[Hamas] is ready to stop any Israeli aggression toward Palestinians," Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum said in an August 21 press release. "[Israel] must end its violations, stop the ongoing escalation, and end the 14-year-old siege imposed on Gaza."
The 2 million people of Gaza—more than half of whom live in poverty, according to the United Nations—have been subjected to a brutal blockade since 2007 over acts of Palestinian resistance, including rocket attacks against Israel. Although Israel ended its illegal 38-year occupation and settler colonization of Gaza in 2005, it maintains a physical and economic stranglehold on the enclave. Israel has launched three major wars against Gaza since 2008, killing and wounding thousands of civilians while destroying much of the territory and displacing many thousands more.
The privation suffered by the people of Gaza has been so severe that human rights activists often refer to it as the "world's largest open-air prison," a description echoed by world leaders including former British Prime Minister David Cameron.
As the latest Israeli attack on Gaza continues, U.S. media have been accused of largely ignoring the assault. "U.S. corporate media, focused on the coronavirus and election coverage, have shown little interest in the renewed violence in the Middle East," wrote Alan MacLeod for the media monitor group Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting (FAIR) late last week. "Searching for Gaza on the websites of NBC News, CNN, MSNBC and PBS elicits no relevant results. Nor has Fox News addressed the bombing, although it did find time to cover the archaeological discovery of an old soap factory in Israel's Negev Desert."
"The reporting on the latest round of attacks on Gaza follows the patterns we have often remarked on," MacLeod added, "downplaying Palestinian suffering and viewing the conflict from an Israeli state perspective."
The new Israeli attacks on Gaza are occurring as U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo visits Israel, where he raised eyebrows and ire by recording a speech in Jerusalem to be aired during the Republican National Convention (RNC) on Tuesday. Pompeo's move defies tradition—and perhaps more than that, according to some appalled career diplomats.
"It's just shredding the Hatch Act," one anonymous current U.S. diplomat told the Associated Press, referring to a federal law banning government employees from political activity while on the job.
"This is really a bridge too far," concurred former U.S. assistant secretary of state for African affairs Linda Thomas-Greenfield. "Pompeo is clearly ensuring the State Department is politicized by using his position to carry out what is basically a partisan mission."
President Donald Trump fulfilled a campaign promise by relocating the U.S. Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem in May 2018, drawing widespread condemnation not only in the Middle East but around the world. The U.S. remains Israel's largest benefactor by far, providing around $3.8 billion in annual military aid, as well as diplomatic cover for what prominent international critics call Israeli crimes including illegal occupation and settler colonization of the West Bank and East Jerusalem, as well as aggression in Gaza, and ethnic cleansing and apartheid in the occupied territories.
NY Attorney General Files Federal Lawsuit, Demanding Trump and DeJoy Reverse 'Authoritarian' Changes Made to USPS
"During this critical time, Americans deserve better than a mail slow-down rooted in political gamesmanship."
by
Julia Conley, staff writer
https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/08/25/ny-attorney-general-files-federal-lawsuit-demanding-trump-and-dejoy-reverse
Accusing President Donald Trump of "authoritarian actions," New York Attorney General Letitia James on Tuesday filed a federal lawsuit against his administration over its changes to the U.S. Postal Service.
The state of New York was joined by Hawaii, New Jersey, and the cities of New York and San Francisco in the legal challenge.
On social media, James condemned the disruption of mail delivery across the U.S., pointing to its "life-threatening impacts" on people who need medications, pensions, and paychecks, as well as its expected impact on the general election.
"This USPS slowdown is nothing more than a voter suppression tactic," James said in a statement. "Yet, this time, these authoritarian actions are not only jeopardizing our democracy and fundamental right to vote, but the immediate health and financial well-being of Americans across the nation."
With millions of Americans expected to vote by mail this year to avoid spreading the coronavirus at in-person polling places, Postmaster General Louis DeJoy's elimination of overtime hours, removal of mailboxes and mail-sorting machines, and slashing of post office hours has been denounced by civil rights groups and Democratic lawmakers in recent weeks.
The lawsuit led by New York State comes a day after DeJoy, a Republican megadonor, testified before the House Oversight Committee, admitting to lawmakers that he knew little about how the agency he oversees operates and refusing to cooperate with requests for documents about the changes he's made.
In the lawsuit, James raised alarm over Trump's open and emphatic attempts to undermine the mail service at the same time that the president was baselessly claiming that an election conducted largely by mail would yield a fraudulent result.
"Changes in USPS operations are in line with President Donald Trump's repeated and public statements in opposition to mail-in voting and his intent to impair the delivery of mailed ballots by cutting off the resources needed for the USPS to operate," James said, "because mailed ballots would specifically harm Republicans' abilities to win elections, even going so far as to make clear last month in a tweet that 'Republicans, in particular, cannot let this happen!'"
Other officials involved in the lawsuit described how people in their cities and states have already been negatively impacted by DeJoy's changes, and how the election could be undermined by the sabotage of mail delivery.
"Now more than ever San Franciscans are relying on the USPS to deliver critical services, like medication, legal services, and election mail," tweeted San Francisco City Attorney Dennis Herrera.
"Countless people in New Jersey and across the nation, including some of our most vulnerable citizens, rely on the mail for prescription drugs and other things that help them survive," said New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir Grewal. "During this critical time, Americans deserve better than a mail slow-down rooted in political gamesmanship."
Following public pressure, DeJoy said last week that he would suspend further changes to the mail service until after the Nov. 3 election, but when speaking to lawmakers on Monday he declined to commit to reversing the changes already made.
James and the coalition of law enforcement officials joining the lawsuit are calling on the U.S. District Court in the District of Columbia to "vacate all the recent changes made by the USPS and halt the USPS from further implementing the changes on the grounds that they violate statutory and constitutional law."
"No individual, organization, entity, or elected official is above the law," tweeted James. "Period."
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