Aug 19, 2020 2 min read

I receive my ridiculously numerous medications by mail. I also receive bills (unfortunately, but I like a paper record), magazines, bank statements and other financial stuff, personal letters, reports from Medicare (see above), ads and invitations (mainly from assisted living facilities), holiday cards, get well cards (did I mention I’m 76?), solicitations for charities, CDs, books, tools, and other things I’ve ordered. I also send things through the mail (see “bills,” but also checks to family members in moments of need, like now). In other words, I have many interactions with the U.S. Postal Service beyond possibly voting. I think that’s pretty common.

One of the core symptoms of narcissistic personality disorder is a lack of empathy, an “impaired ability to recognize or identify with the feelings and needs of others.” A current example is President Trump’s campaign against the post office. He seems to believe that, in a fair election, with as many people as possible voting safely by mail, he would lose. So, he has been working hard to disrupt and disrespect the postal system. For instance, he has appointed Louis DeJoy as Postmaster General. DeJoy and his wife, according to one report in USA Today, “may claim up to a total $75,815,000 in assets from U.S. Postal Service competitors.” Does that sound like a person who would be dedicated to the success of the post office? DeJoy has already eliminated overtime for postal workers, in spite of the increase in demand on the postal system because so many of us are “sheltering at home.” Also, the president has talked for months and months about the possibility of fraud, but in all that time, he has found no solid proof.

Trump is afraid he would lose if voting was safe and easy, so he’s gumming up the postal system. I’m afraid he would still win. But I hope the pain he has already started to inflict by his actions will awaken people to his pathological self-centeredness.

Rev. Gerard H. Weiss

Washington