It looks from here like Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, of Greensboro, hates the US Postal Service.

All conservatives do — USPS is a fine example of a useful, affordable and effective government service, which conservatives believe the government should not be in the business of doing.

And it exists independent of the profit motive, which is anathema to the conservative philosophy — because why shouldn’t someone make a buck off this?

The Post Office has long been in the crosshairs of the GOP. In 2006, the Bush administration dealt a fatal blow, requiring the USPS to fund its pension and medical payouts for the next 75 years, a term unheard of in the public or private sector. The timeline gave the agency 10 years to sock away $110 billion, which is an awful lot of stamps. That period ended in 2016.

Fast-forward to the coronavirus age: Like virtually every other business and concern in the world, the USPS found itself on shaky footing. But while Congress turned on the tap in terms of unemployment payouts and business loans both large and small, the USPS got frozen out. It eventually borrowed $10 billion from the Treasury Department last week; in turn, the Post Office agreed to turn over details of its 10 largest clients — FedEx, UPS and Amazon among them.

This is the loan President Trump said he’d withhold until they quadrupled prices. Because why should it cost just 55 cents to send a letter from New York to California? Someone could make a buck off that!

Now, we have the specter of the 2020 election, which will rely more than usual on timely, affordable and accurate mail delivery, all of it overseen by Louis DeJoy.

DeJoy — and, for that matter, his wife Dr. Aldona Wos —  is an unabashed political operative, responsible for hundreds of millions of dollars in donations to Republican candidates and GOP-friendly causes. They’ve hosted presidents Bush and Trump iun their Irving Park home. His appointment to postmaster general, though, is more than just a reward for a job well done.

The new deal allows DeJoy, who spent most of his professional life in the logistics and distribution business, a deep trove of information on lucrative contracts. It serves to erode faith in the mail, which DeJoy has already abetted by making major changes to the mail stream and carrier operations.

And that gives Trump more ammunition in his quest to de-legitimize the 2020 election.

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