‘Trump’s Attacks on the Postal Service Deserve Sustained, Red-Alert Coverage From the Media’

Margaret Sullivan, media columnist for The Washington Post:

But what about next week and next month?

Can something as dull-sounding as the workings of the Post Office compete with former Trump attorney’s new tell-all book, whose foreword includes lines like: “From golden showers in a sex club in Vegas, to tax fraud, to deals with corrupt officials from the former Soviet Union, to catch and kill conspiracies to silence Trump’s clandestine lovers, I wasn’t just a witness to the president’s rise — I was an active and eager participant.”

Can it break into the endless political takes on Kamala D. Harris as Joe Biden’s running mate, or the next political horse-race story that’s around the corner?

Fat chance.

But if journalists don’t keep the pressure on Postal Service problems, they will be abdicating their duty. There’s very little that matters more than the Nov. 3 vote. Anything that threatens the integrity of the vote needs to be treated as one of the biggest stories out there — even if it’s not the sexiest.

Just anecdotally, our mail situation here in Philadelphia has been just jaw-droppingly atrocious the last 6 weeks or so. Important bills that just never show up, deliveries showing up weeks late. Never seen anything like it, and I’ve lived here for 30 years now.

★ Saturday, 15 August 2020