Letters to the Editor: Does Louis DeJoy think so many Americans are easily fooled about the Postal Service?

To the editor: Postmaster Gen. Louis DeJoy claims that his changes at the U.S. Postal Service are in the interest of increasing efficiency and modernizing the service. (“Postmaster says USPS ‘fully capable’ of handling ballots but offers no plan,” Aug. 21)

The automated sorting machines that he has removed and junked can each sort thousands of pieces of flat mail per hour. I guess he wants us to believe that human sorters can do the job faster and cheaper.

DeJoy also claims that the lower volume of mail currently, in the pandemic downturn, justifies removing postal boxes and sorters. When the election comes and after that the Christmas holiday arrives, apparently he believes the Postal Service will be better prepared to handle the avalanche of mail without all that unnecessary equipment.

DeJoy has a degree in prevarication from Trump University, and we were born yesterday.

Saul J. Faerstein, Beverly Hills

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To the editor: I guess DeJoy and President Trump never saw the movies showing Pony Express riders and then pilots risking their lives to get the mail delivered. They probably never had to wonder if they would get a check in time to pay the rent or medicine to keep someone alive or if their vote would count.

While Trump sees the will of the people as a threat, voting is a right that is a blessing and duty to most citizens. Trump’s attempts to generate doubts and to make voting difficult by creating chaos show his fear of democracy.

Irving Weinstein, Ventura

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To the editor: There has been a concerted effort to privatize the U.S. Postal Service for years. Now we are seeing the final chapter.

How can removing and destroying sorting machines make the Postal Service more efficient when every other business is using technology to increase efficiency and reduce personnel? This doesn’t pass the smell test.

What used to be a trusted, reliable arm of the U.S. government is being destroyed before our eyes, and worse, just before the most important election of our lives, and when citizens must choose between voting safely by mail or risking illness by going to the polls.

My prediction is that in order to clear the inevitable backlog, the Postal Service will have to seek the help of a private company. And, I bet mailing a letter will be far more expensive for all of us and not nearly as reliable.

Christine Reiter, Pasadena