America’s Arsonist in Chief
Ben Cable (Originally posted on Substack)
Donald Trump has a new hobby: trying to light democracy on fire, one mailbox at a time. If he can’t stuff it, rig it, or bully it into submission, he’ll just burn it down. Forget election integrity—this is election arson. Trump’s war on mail-in voting has nothing to do with fraud and everything to do with fear. He knows that when everyday Americans—seniors, soldiers, the disabled, parents working double shifts—get to vote, his chances start to look like the inside of a charred USPS drop box.
Republicans know it, too. That’s why the same party that once bragged about “absentee voting” now treats mail-in ballots like a contagious disease. It’s not about the votes themselves, it’s about who uses them. When democracy works too well, their answer is to jam the machinery with gasoline, matches, and lawsuits.
What Trump Said This Week
This week, Trump stood up and announced: “I’m the Postmaster General of Chaos now.” On August 18, 2025, he bragged that lawyers are drafting an executive order to end mail-in voting nationwide and put voting machines on the chopping block, too. Instead, he wants everyone to vote on “watermarked paper ballots”, because nothing screams 21st-century democracy like a counterfeit-bill detector from a strip-mall payday lender.
Trump even claimed that states are just “agents of the federal government” who must obey his commands. That’s not how the Constitution works, but hey, when has he ever let reality get in the way of a good power grab? Legal experts immediately pointed out that presidents don’t get to decide how elections are run. But if bluster were law, we’d all be living in the United States of Trumpistan by now.
The Scale of Mail-in Voting in 2024
Here’s the part Trump would prefer you not know: in the 2024 presidential election, nearly 47 million Americans voted by mail—about 30% of the 158 million total ballots cast. That’s not a niche; that’s a juggernaut. You can’t torch nearly a third of the electorate without also torching the idea of the republic, the democracy itself. But then again, maybe that’s the whole point.
Why Mail-in Voting Is Essential
Mail-in voting isn’t just a convenience; it’s a lifeline.
- Military personnel: Soldiers overseas don’t get to pop into their local church basement on Election Day. Absentee ballots are their only tether to the ballot box they fight to defend.
- Seniors: Many can’t risk their health standing in line for hours. Cutting off mail voting is like telling grandma to choose between her lungs and her voice.
- Disabled Americans: When polling places still aren’t fully accessible, mail-in ballots are the equalizer. Without them, disability rights become empty slogans.
- Working families & rural voters: Try telling a single mom on a 14-hour shift or a farmer an hour from the nearest polling site that mail-in voting is “optional.” For them, it’s the difference between having a voice and being silenced.
Killing mail-in voting doesn’t “protect elections.” Its voter suppression dressed up as patriotism.
The Constitutional Roadblock
No matter how many matches Trump waves around, the Constitution hands the keys to the states—not the White House. States decide the “times, places, and manner” of their elections. If Trump really wants to ban mail-in voting, he’d need Congress, the states, and probably divine intervention. His executive order would collapse in court faster than one of his casinos in Atlantic City.
Final Word: Don’t Let the Arsonist Steal Your Ballot
Trump isn’t trying to safeguard democracy; he’s trying to become its arsonist-in-chief. Mail-in voting gives tens of millions of Americans a way to participate in elections. And that’s exactly what keeps him up at night. Because in the end, his nightmare scenario isn’t fraud, it’s turnout.
So here’s the call to action: Don’t let the arsonist steal your ballot. Register Now. Request your mail-in ballot early. Help your neighbors, your parents, and your friends do the same. Show up by mail, by early vote, by in-person vote, because a flood of ballots can drown out every flame he sets.
Democracy doesn’t die when Trump lights the match. It dies only if we stop voting.
Citizen Ben
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