You can add John Legend, Better Midler, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Ice-T and Sara Bareilles to the growing list of Americans who are incensed that the Trump-appointed Postmaster General appears to be doing his best to dismantle the U.S.P.S. in advance of what is expected to be a historic amount of mail-in voting in the upcoming Nov. 3 presidential election.
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Their tweets come on the heels of a lawsuit filed by mail-in voters in six states this week — California, Pennsylvania, Illinois, New Jersey, Wisconsin and New York — in Federal District Court in Manhattan that asks the court to declare that Trump and Postmaster General and Trump fundraiser Louis DeJoy have violated voters’ rights by seriously dialing back Post Office services and asking that the administration ensures that the U.S.P.S. is adequately funded, according to the New York Times.
Legend, who has seriously ramped up his political activity this year, tweeted, “Since the President is crippling the Postal Service because he knows Americans don’t want to vote for him, here are some alternatives,” providing a link to an article with helpful information on how to safely cast your ballot not using the postal service.
Midler also offered some helpful advice on other ways to avoid having your ballot get lost in the mail or delivered too late, as well as a dark vision for what she suspects Trump’s plan is for his possible second term.
“What’s Trumps vision for his second term? Revenge, plain and simple,” the frequent Trump critic/singer tweeted. “He’ll be ramping up his smearing, he’ll find a way to jail the disloyal, he will defund #SocialSecurity, #Medicaid; he will sell off the #PostOffice for parts.”
The sentiment from Bareilles to a head-scratching tweet from Trump on Monday (Aug. 17) that appeared to completely contradict his recent statements vowing to de-fund the postal service in order to restrict mail-in voting based on false claims that it will lead to election fraud said it all: “what the actual f–k is wrong with you.”
DeJoy, who is one of just five Postmaster Generals to come from the private sector since 1971, has no history working in the postal service and his actions since taking over in June have raised alarms among voting rights advocates. They include removing more than 670 mail sorting machines, removing hundreds of curbside mailboxes, cutting back work hours and overtime and eliminating late delivery trips in a reported attempt to cut costs at the chronically in-the-red agency. The moves, however, have also resulted in mail service dramatically slowing, with some deliveries that used to take days now taking weeks, including crucial medicines for veterans and Social Security checks for the elderly.
Trump admitted last week that he is purposely denying funds to the U.S.P.S. to make it harder for people to vote by mail in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, raising alarms that he is weaponizing the service in order to impact the ability to vote in November. “If we don’t make a deal, that means they don’t get the money,” Trump, who votes by mail in Florida, told Fox Business Network host Maria Bartiromo last week about his unwillingness to cut a deal with Democrats on an urgent coronavirus relief bill that has stalled in Congress. “That means they can’t have universal mail-in voting; they just can’t have it.”
Veteran rapper Ice-T also was not having it with DeJoy’s actions, posting an image of mailboxes with locks on them and writing, “BS of the day… This election s–t is so corrupt it’s crazy.”
In the midst of all the postal madness, there was a slight ray of light when Cursive singer Tim Kasher did the thing we were all thinking and reached out to actor John Ratzenberger — you know, chatty Cheers mailman Cliff Clavin — who offered up an very important message in a Cameo video. “Why not do all your Christmas shopping early at the Post Office store?” Ratzenberger suggested. “Why not translate the dollar amount you’re gonna pay for Aunt Tilly’s new hat and just buy her that amount of stamps — Easy to carry, easy to mail, easy to ship — and it’s worth something.”
An important message from none other than Cliff Clavin (@dratzenberger) himself, asking us all to help keep @usps in business!! (thank you for your service, Mr. Ratzenberger) #SaveUSPS #USPS pic.twitter.com/bbS43gNcIP
— Tim Kasher (@timkasher) August 16, 2020
Spent a lot on that Cameo, gotta get my money’s worth @usps haaaaa
— Tim Kasher (@timkasher) August 17, 2020
Check out the other celeb tweets below.
What the actual fuck is wrong with you https://t.co/BIt0Rwb4PZ
— Sara Bareilles (@SaraBareilles) August 17, 2020
Since the President is crippling the Postal Service because he knows Americans don't want to vote for him, here are some alternatives. Research the options in your state and vote as early as you can. https://t.co/iY4u8N7SDd
— John Legend (@johnlegend) August 16, 2020
BS of the Day…. This election shit is so corrupt it's crazy…. https://t.co/DVQc71RvN5
— ICE T (@FINALLEVEL) August 17, 2020
One more time. Take this in and send it to someone who needs it. NOW. https://t.co/Bj5A2p1a9q
— bettemidler (@BetteMidler) August 17, 2020
— Lin-Manuel Miranda (@Lin_Manuel) August 17, 2020
What’s Trumps vision for his second term? Revenge, plain and simple. He’ll be ramping up his smearing, he’ll find a way to jail the disloyal, he will defund #SocialSecurity, #Medicaid; he will sell off the #PostOffice for parts.
— bettemidler (@BetteMidler) August 17, 2020
why can't we live in a country where if you want you can just vote over the internet?
— TeeKay (@timkubart) August 17, 2020