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President Trump鈥檚 plan to destroy democracy was on full display last week, as he made the  U.S. Postal Service his new battlefield, with Postmaster General Louis DeJoy leading the charge.

This is coming at the worst possible time for the health of our nation, because as Americans stay home to avoid the COVID-19 pandemic. And for many Americans, especially those in rural communities and people () who receive their medication by mail, the post office is a lifeline.

The reason for Trump鈥檚 action is clear: He assumes voting by mail favors Democrats (, who have been one of Trump鈥檚 more supportive demographics). He believes he can only 鈥渨in鈥� reelection if he makes it impossible for large numbers of people to vote by mail. So he鈥檚 drummed up the entirely (it doesn鈥檛; it鈥檚 the most secure method) and claims that mail-in voting can be (it can鈥檛).

And he鈥檚 working the post office to make sure voting by mail just doesn鈥檛 happen. He鈥檚 said it out loud: .

Let鈥檚 count the ways he鈥檚 doing this, just to get them out of the way:

1. DeJoy, who is also a major Trump donor, has ordered postal carriers to if the trucks are not loaded in time. (Mail carriers used to wait until the mail was ready before trying to deliver it, and even made multiple trips if necessary. .)

2. from sorting facilities across the country and in some cases destroyed.

3. Mail drop boxes have been removed from cities and communities across the country.

4. DeJoy has said for ballots.

This all happened right before Trump himself , followed days later by voters in North Carolina receiving . In his effort to distinguish between voting by absentee ballot (good enough for the president) and 鈥渕ail-in voting,鈥� Trump has focused on framing the latter as a fraudulent scheme by Democrats, despite the proven security and efficacy of five states that conduct nearly all voting by mail, and have for years. (He also had his ballot sent to Mar-a-Lago, and there are .)

After a public outcry, DeJoy has now said he鈥檚 , and will allow mail carriers more overtime. He鈥檚 refrained from saying whether he鈥檒l restore those services, and at this point, this administration has long lost any right to the benefit of the doubt that they鈥檙e not deceiving us.

So, the theory goes: mail-in voting gets suppressed, or at least damaged enough that a huge number of ballots are to have them delivered by Election Day, Trump declares victory on election night (if he has a narrow Electoral College lead), or cries 鈥渇raud鈥� and demands that no mailed-in ballots be counted (if he trails Biden narrowly). Then, he and his campaign sue to stop ballots from being counted, even in those 20 jurisdictions where mailed-in ballots are accepted so long as they are postmarked by Election Day (or by the day before Election Day, in some cases). If necessary, , even if Biden leads in the state after Election Day. It鈥檚 the 2000 election鈥檚 鈥溾�� all over again, except it鈥檚 playing out in multiple swing states.

But there鈥檚 another benefit to this in the minds of many Republicans and 鈥渟mall-government conservatives,鈥� aside from a (fraudulent) Trump victory. It also helps along another long-held Republican goal: forcing the Postal Service into financial jeopardy, then using that as an excuse to privatize the mail.

The USPS doesn鈥檛 鈥渓ose鈥� money, it costs money, because it鈥檚 a service, not a corporation.

We鈥檙e already seeing the usual talking points trotted out, such as this one from Richard Grenell, the former Acting Director of National Intelligence, in which he cited the Postal Service . Naturally, Grenell did not mention the 2006 law that, in part, requires the Postal Service to 鈥攁 financial burden not placed on any other government agency or service, and a part of the law only included at the insistence of President George W. Bush鈥檚 administration.

Here鈥檚 the thing: The USPS doesn鈥檛 鈥渓ose鈥� money, it costs money, because it鈥檚 a service (check the name), not a corporation. All government operations cost money, none more so than the military. So why this animus toward the mail?

Well, it鈥檚 not just the mail. Republicans have long worked to privatize or outright eliminate the Environmental Protection Agency, and the Department of Education, and the Department of Commerce, and the Department of Energy, and many others. In many cases, Trump鈥檚 appointees have been long opponents of the very agencies they were named to lead, such as Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, who never attended public schools, long supported religious charter schools, and has had .

Ever since the ink was barely dry on the New Deal, the modern Republican Party has been working on a , not just to a fictitious time of happy White suburban families in the mid-20th century, but to the of the 19th century. Government, the theory goes, is only good for sending the Army off to fight a war abroad and keeping the rabble in line at home. Taxation is only for those not rich enough to buy their own exceptions to the tax code.

Under this theory, everything that is a 鈥渟ervice鈥� would be on the cutting block, and people are sometimes surprised to learn just what the federal government is paying for with their tax dollars. Cut the Agriculture Department? No more school lunches. Cut Commerce? Say goodbye to the National Weather Service when and with increasing frequency. Cut Energy? Well, it鈥檚 a backward way of eliminating nuclear weapons, but the Energy Department is also the largest government researcher in the physical sciences. Cut Housing and Urban Development? Your local fire department might not be able to replace its trucks, and your sidewalks might not get built, because .

We saw what happened at the State Department: after former Secretary of State , leaving multiple ambassadorial posts unfilled, foreign policy was largely delegated to Jared Kushner, . Ambassadors now apparently only serve to and resorts. , turning them into vehicles solely to funnel taxpayers鈥� money upward to corporate overlords and their allies in government leadership.

So, yes, Trump鈥檚 attack on the U.S. Postal Service is about the election, but it鈥檚 also just one small troop movement in the greater war on government oversight鈥� or even competent government. Republican activist Grover Norquist is most known for his famous line, 鈥淚鈥檓 not in favor of abolishing the government. I just want to shrink it down to the size where we can drown it in the bathtub.鈥� His advocacy group, Americans For Tax Reform, has helped drive the Republican agenda ever since the 1980s, when deregulation fever caught hold in the Reagan administration and never let go.

So far, Congress鈥檚 response has been weak. Both houses went on recess without passing legislation to bolster the post office (and without passing a pandemic recovery plan, either). After much outcry, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called the House of Representatives back into session, and the House is scheduled to to support the Postal Service ahead of the election, but it鈥檚 up in the air if the Republican-led Senate will pass it, or even give it a hearing.

This train can be derailed, and we are still having an election on Nov. 3. There are competing sets of recommendations for how to handle the crisis at the post office, but they all boil down to 鈥渧ote early.鈥� Request your ballot as soon as it鈥檚 possible in your state, then vote at the first opportunity. .

While it may be counterintuitive, your best bet in making sure your ballot is counted is to find out where in your state you can drop off your ballot, at either a local elections office or in a designated drop box if they are available. .

Calls to 鈥�#SaveTheUSPS鈥� are poignant, but if Trump wins reelection, the Postal Service (and many other services) will likely die of criminal neglect anyway. The post office won鈥檛 disappear if you hand-deliver your ballot this year. A different administration will be more likely to save the post office permanently, and maybe the rest of the defunded and hamstrung government, too. It鈥檒l take a lot of work, but it鈥檚 what鈥檚 necessary to stop the slide back into an age of even bigger monopolies and unchecked exploitation.

We won鈥檛 get another chance to do this. Decades of Republican planning are now coming to fruition before our eyes. We鈥檙e in that bathtub right now, and the water is rising.