(DON THOMPSON / iNFOnews.ca)

OPINION

Waterloo, Iowa is a relatively small town (pop. 67,243) in the American Midwest. We - decent people who value democracy - owe one of its residents a huge debt of gratitude. Early this past Tuesday morning, Kimberly Karol, president of the Iowa Postal Workers Union and a 30-year veteran of the U.S. Postal Service, warned fellow Americans that the Trump Administration was yanking equipment out of service to undermine the public’s faith in the ability of the U.S. Postal Service to deliver mail-in ballots in November.

You see, it wasn’t until an interview with Karol airing on National Public Radio at 5:10 A.M. Tuesday in Iowa that anyone but the perpetrators knew of the evil plan to derail the U.S. Postal Service.

Kimberly Karol is no less a hero than Paul Revere or W. E. B. Du Bois or Sinclair Lewis...all of whom saw a threat to democracy...rose to the occasion and did the right thing. It is fitting that Kimberly Karol hails from a small town in the Midwest. So many American heroes came from humble beginnings...never even visiting the nation’s capital...touring its monuments and seeing the sights. Maybe Americans like Kimberly are simply too busy ensuring American democracy doesn’t become an historical footnote in their lifetimes.

Two weeks ago, the sorriest excuse for a president of the United States - Donald Trump - called Louis DeJoy...a million-dollar donor to his re-election campaign...to the Oval Office. Amid all that is going on with COVID-19...it was a strange time for a meeting with the new Postmaster General. Apparently, so strange the White House initially denied such a meeting...before being forced to admit the truth when news media pressed the issue.

That is when Louis DeJoy - whose only qualification for Postmaster General is his loyalty to Donald Trump - got his marching orders...destroy the 245-year old U.S. Postal Service. Of course, that would benefit DeJoy and his wife...who have between $30 Million and $75 Million in investments in contractors that compete directly with the Postal Service.

The U.S Postal Service is iconic. Nowhere in the world is mail delivered more quickly...more efficiently than the U.S. That has always been the case...since the first Postmaster General...Benjamin Franklin. The U.S. Postal Service has a storied past.

"Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds," has been the informal motto of the American postal worker since the words were inscribed on New York City’s General Post Office Building in 1914. So monkeying around with the mail is considered un-American by real Americans.

Speaking of un-Americans, the rest of Trump’s and DeJoy’s plan...at least what we have come to learn...included removing 502 high-speed bar-code mail sorters from around the country...and another 169 pieces of equipment that make the postal service efficient. How efficient? At 91% favourability, the U.S. Postal Service is the highest rated government or quasi-government agency.

Each of these 502 bar-code readers can process 36,000 pieces of mail per hour...without them...millions of pieces of mail are delayed. The other part of the plan - again, that we know about - was removing thousands of U.S. Postal Service drop boxes...you know...those red, white and blue boxes that Americans have come to trust when they drop a letter in...it actually gets there in a few days. Interesting, too, that all the bar-code readers and mail boxes being ripped out - some actually thrown in dumpsters - happen to be in states with large numbers of Democrat voters. 

Well, because of Kimberly Karol, the corrupt Postmaster General and even more corrupt President of the U.S. couldn’t carry out their plan to undermine the U.S. Postal Service. Oh, they’re still trying.

But folks are watching these un-Americans...these idiots who couldn’t organize a fire in a dumpster without incurring third-degree burns...and they will not succeed. Because of Karol’s heads up, DeJoy must testify before the House of Representatives on Aug. 24 about these and other irregularities within the Postal Service.

Lots of Americans are keeping tabs on their local post office...the people who work there are heroic...but they might be forced to do things they don’t want to do. Real Americans are learning, with Republicans...watch what they do...don’t listen to what they say.

Democracy and freedom are never safe...anywhere. While I’m proud travesties like this aren’t happening here in my adopted homeland, I know we should never be complacent. If you had said this could happen in America four years ago...I would have laughed at you.

Of course, the target of all this Trumpian nonsense is the election. There will be people - millions - standing in line to vote on Nov. 3. At every voting precinct the volunteers who make sure our votes count...are always older citizens...and adorable as they are...most will not be there this election because of COVID-19. So, my fellow Americans reading this, if you are healthy and not as long in the tooth as say...me at 70...volunteer. Contact your local voting officials.

I know we - good and decent people - are weary...frustrated by the lies and shenanigans of this disgusting president...but persevere. True Americans will take the country back from the brink of destruction. Meanwhile, I’m raising a toast to Kimberly Karol...an American hero.

— Don Thompson, an American awaiting Canadian citizenship, lives in Vernon and in Florida. In a career that spans more than 40 years, Don has been a working journalist, a speechwriter and the CEO of an advertising and public relations firm. A passionate and compassionate man, he loves the written word as much as fine dinners with great wines. His essays are a blend of news reporting and opinion.

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