It's official: Trump is sabotaging the USPS to rig the election

[View in browser]( [Mother Jones Daily Newsletter]( August 13, 2020 Hello, Let's talk about the mail. Can we talk about the mail? I've been dying to talk about the mail with you all day. President Trump has pulled a [Cosmo Kramer]( and waged a war on the United States Postal Service. First, Trump got his ally Louis DeJoy a shiny gig as postmaster general; DeJoy promptly [overhauled the organization's leadership]( and enacted cost-cutting measures that slowed down mail service. At his nightly press briefings, Trump has made a habit of falsely calling mail-in voting—the safest way to cast a ballot in a pandemic—fraudulent. And today, Trump made it clear that the reason he's [sabotaging the USPS]( is to rig the election in his favor. Maybe he's afraid he can't win any other way. All that in mind, are you registered to vote? Yes? Excellent. Onward and upward. —Abigail Weinberg [House Donations Ad]( [Top Story] [Top Story]( [Trump Makes It Official: He’s Sabotaging the Post Office to Rig the Election]( Republicans will let him manipulate the federal agency with impunity because they believe it'll rig their elections, too. BY INAE OH [Trending] [George W. Bush couldn't convince Americans to get vaccinated. Trump may do even worse.]( BY KIERA BUTLER [Donald Trump, who bragged about passing a cognitive test, is attacking AOC's intelligence]( BY ABIGAIL WEINBERG [As Biden promises to rein in private prisons, they're throwing money at Republicans]( BY MADISON PAULY [QAnon candidates keep winning primaries and top Republicans keep welcoming them in]( BY ALI BRELAND [House Subscriptions Ad]( [The Big Feature] [Special Feature]( [The Infuriating History of Why Police Unions Have So Much Power]( The uprisings of 2020 might have finally cracked their invulnerability. BY SAMANTHA MICHAELS [Fiercely Independent] Support from readers allows Mother Jones to do journalism that doesn't just follow the pack. [Donate]( [Recharge] SOME GOOD NEWS, FOR ONCE [Laughter Is Powerful, Personal, and Political]( It’s no secret that laughter works miracles. It stimulates and relaxes muscles, reduces pain, and [improves]( moods and immune systems. Laughter sustains us. But sometimes when we, women of color, need it the most, it’s hardest to come by. And we need it right now. More than ever, you might say—even if it is always right now, and always more than ever. Laughter is my superpower. And it is loud. My laughter fills rooms, resonating and expanding from bass notes to mezzo-soprano. When I laugh hardest, it’s a full-body experience, my stomach rounded out, eyes shut, ribs shaking, and one arm reaching to cover my wide-open mouth. The truth is that my laugh is as essential to me as anything else. It’s a form of survival and catharsis in the face of suffering. But I remember too many times and spaces in which, and people for whom, my laughter has been too loud. Elderly white ladies in almost every kind of setting, particularly restaurants; middle-aged white men in office spaces; extended family. When I started a career in my mid-20s, I was both embarrassed and indignant at being told to laugh quietly or not at all. To make myself smaller. To take up less space. I would nervously apologize. Now I don’t. Apology would justify the unjustifiable: the right someone presumes to have to referee my laugh, to tell me to take my place in the background. I might laugh when just a smile would do—but I see no reason to mute my joy or withhold its expression. The foreground is ours to claim by organizing, protesting, voting, running for office, [hiking](, writing, and laughing. Comedians [Sarah Cooper]( and [Ziwe Fumudoh]( know it too. They get me laughing by using humor as an act of resistance—to racism and sexism and a culture of racialized misogyny that’s all too familiar in the United States. To laugh loudly is to reject the assumption that women of color must, at all costs, watch our place. Cooper and Fumudoh are in their place and out front. And they are [really](, [really]( funny. Photos of Kamala Harris are everywhere this week as we witness her historic rise as a vice presidential candidate. She is [smiling big](, unabashedly taking pleasure in the moment. I imagine she knows the power of vocalizing, whether she’s at the back of the room or holding the mic; at the edge of power or the center of it; in a moment of rage or a fit of laughter. —Venu Gupta is Mother Jones' Midwest regional development director. Laugh with her at recharge@motherjones.com. Did you enjoy this newsletter? Help us out by [forwarding]( it to a friend or sharing it on [Facebook]( and [Twitter](. 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