IS IT TRUE? September 11, 2011

IS IT TRUE that our first order of business today is to remember the victims and survivors of the attack on our beloved country that occurred 10 years ago today?…that most everyone can tell you where they were that day just like they remember where they were when President Kennedy was assassinated?…that the 911 attacks have changed life in the United States for the paranoid worse?…that before 911 we had an easier life when travelling, less costly regulations, a better economy, two less wars, and a more future driven population?…that before 911 people believed that things would be better for their children and now most expect that things will be worse?…that we as a nation should remember the day and honor the victims but that it is time to stop letting that handful of terrorists dampen our spirits?…that call this a bottom and start to come back up the performance curve?…that the best way to honor the victims of 911 and the victorious dead in our many wars is to live in triumph and continually make America a better nation?…that these people died so that we can do so?

IS IT TRUE that recent weeks have been punctuated with story after story about the financial travails of the United States Post Office?…that for the entire time that this country has had a postal service that the daily mail delivery has filled people with anticipation and that letter carriers in general are seen as vital and productive members of our neighborhoods and towns?…that postal workers are a part of Americana?…that the faces of the United States Post Office are mostly pleasant and the service provided is quite impressive?…that if you think about it to take letter from Evansville to Los Angeles for less than 50 cents in two days time is a pretty impressive feat?…that the USPO does this millions of times per day and very rarely messes up?…that the financial travails of the post office are very much a “made in Congress” type of problems?…that Congress and the upper management of the USPO have failed to respond to the changing dynamic of technology driven changes that have made communication and transactions much easier and even cheaper?

IS IT TRUE that the job of carrying letters cannot be outsourced to other countries but it also cannot be made mandatory for people to use?…that the USPO is rapidly becoming unnecessary and therein lies the problem?…that in the overnight delivery business that companies like UPS, DHL, and FedEx have simply out innovated, out-marketed, and for the most part outperformed the USPO to capture the high end profitable part of the delivery business?…that until someone commercializes a way to email or beam merchandise that overnight delivery will continue to be a growing and profitable business?…that the USPO is not the only government entity that has seen the revenue stream that has failed to respond to the economic changes of globalization of trade?

IS IT TRUE that local and state governments that depend on revenue from sales taxes has been caught with their pants down on being able to enforce sales tax collections from interstate and intercontinental purchases?….that they have known this for 20 years and still have not been able to devise a solution?…that the rank and file of the USPO have been carrying out their duties faithfully for the last 20 years but that the drummer whose tune they have been dancing to is obsolete?…that dancing to the tune of obsolete management whether at the USPO or a private company always leads to obsolescence in the ranks?…that the time for taking the easy road until the wolf is at the door is over if America is to honor all those who have passed before us by going forward into the future in a relevant and prosperous way?