20/20 Gonzo 49: Splatting A Fly

Certainly don't want to court any postal animosity, no confusion regarding envelopes, direct marketing, and graduation announcements to my home address, only respectful admiration to the postpeoples of America, the sorters, the front desk, the drivers, the slotters, the dotters, the entire operation.  Awed by the story of The Pony Express, riding those mustangs from Missouri to California, stables 10 miles apart, toting one revolver, a water pouch, and a mochila containing the sacred communications, usually arriving on the west coast within 7-10 days.  But they closed up operations after telegraph technology progressed, couldn't make money, the business model collapsed, and Buffalo Bill, Johnny Fry, and the Cliff Brothers were out of work, but not for long, they went on to find more lucrative careers anyway.  Like the Pony Express of 160 years ago, we can do without the U.S. Postal Service now, we have FedX, we have UPS, we have Amazon, we have eBills, we have social media, we have drones, and all the rest.

The shamed voter will vote for sure.  They will crawl through a pit of snakes, they will wade through sewer muck, they will dash through a grapefruit size hail storm to vote.  And shaming is at record levels, the go-to tactic for social justice and public health, for sins of fathers and mothers of centuries ago, for skin color, for subconscious thoughts, for economic success.  It's really contrary to what most were taught growing up, do unto others.  But shaming is ineffective against the unashamed, mostly it's ignored, like a fly is ignored, mild irritation and waving away, but eventually the fly swatter starts splatting, there's little guilt involved in splatting a fly.

It's on now, well into the final 3 month countdown to the U.S. presidential election.  One side is stirring the soup of racial and class discontent, counting on a shamed and guilt ridden population, systemically shaming, projecting superficial systemic outrage at systemic unfairness, a system they are from, a system they developed and maintained, a system they shook down, a system that shook them down.  Yes, we know, the system sucks.  The other side looks unworried, like they know something, and you know they do, a calm confidence, like they got the goods, like they got the votes, like they've won the argument, like the check is in the mail, tucked inside an overpriced Hallmark greeting card, post-dated for early November, when the system eventually, and shamelessly, yields our President.  Even the checkmarked votes from the U.S. Mail will be systemically counted, within 7-10 days.