ben & Jerry's mail delivery

Up until 1971 it was the US Post Office, and everybody assumed it was government-supported (subsidized), as any national service ought to be.

Then, under President Drahcir W. Noxin, who believed the government should be run "more like a business" it became the US Postal Service, and by an act of Congress was made over into a quasi-governmental agency, whatever that means. The way I understand it, the USPS is like Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac -- neither fish nor fowl, hence fully Frankenstein's monster, a real clusterschnazzle.

In practical terms this means the postal service hasn't received any taxpayer money since the early '80's, excepting minor subsidies to offset the cost of service for the disabled and overseas delivery.

And that's messed up. We're talking about the goddam post office here, not Church's Fried Chicken. The post office is not in farking business, it's the post office, for chrissake. It's also the country's second-biggest employer, right behind the federal government itself, so I don't think messing with it or punishing it because it didn't "show a profit" or "compete effectively" and all the rest of that Chamber of Commerce horse hockey is a very good idea.

Really, it should just go back to being the US Post Office, a part of the government which provides a government-supported service. There's no reason for all this complexity and all these bool shite expectations, which have now brought us to the point of closing down half the processing centers and laying off thousands and thousands of people.

And folks wonder why it is that the rich get richer and the poor get screwed.