Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Anthony S. Fauci, said recently there is “no reason” most Americans can't vote in person this November and that voting is “as safe as going to a grocery store.”

The doctor said “if you go and wear a mask and if you observe the physical distancing and don't have a crowded situation there's no reason why you shouldn't be able to vote.”

The political controversy presently circulating through the airways that we must have mail-in voting is the biggest made-up controversy since the president was accused of conspiring with Vladimir Putin to steal the 2016 election.

One has to really question the subject…and that is…do we really have to worry about the postal service.

Claims that mail sorting is being reduced and postboxes are being removed to disenfranchise voters are not backed by the facts.

The cuts have been a factor for years going back to the Obama years.

In the long term this is just another series of confidence-reducing scandals that have been dominating this year's political picture.

Instead of pushing states to fix their election laws there are those politicians who are trying to blame those in control in Washington.

Our present leaders in Washington are not trying to defund the Postal Service…just a month ago the United States Postal Service got a $10 billion loan.

We cannot endorse the narrative that Washington is manipulating the post office…who is afraid of an election by the voters at their polling places?

Ed Townsend provides year around "Beyond The News"coverage in this column with over 60-years of photojournalism analysis and insight. The column can also be read on his Web blog at http://bght.blogspot.com