May 6, 2015
By Thomas J. Mackell, Jr., Ed.D. Special Advisor to the International President,
International Longshoreman’s Association
North Bergen, NJ – Well it has begun. The Main Street supermarket is chock full of some twenty potential Republican presidential candidates who are now on display and will be crisscrossing the country and the airwaves for the next 570 days showing off their stuff. We live in the era of the perpetual presidential campaign.
And the puppeteers, the Koch brothers and their wealthy cohorts, have defined which five of the candidates will receive the initial payment of their largess. They include Jeb Bush, Scott Walker, Ted Cruz, Rand Paul and Marco Rubio. A frightening cast of characters, all of whom are devoted to the destruction of the middle class in one manner, shape or form by the pull of a string from the Kochs.
The Koch brothers will be doling out $300 million to these five Republican hopefuls as they assess their ultimate purchase of the presidency leading to the staggering erosion of Democracy. We live in a pathetic and precarious time. The social, cultural and civic fabric of society is on the chopping block and in serious jeopardy.
As President Obama prepares to leave office, the economy is still fragile and unsteady. The challenges to American power and influence are more pronounced and widespread than they have been in decades. The U.S. will be forced over the next administration to have a face-off with Russia, China, Iran and Islamic terrorists. This will be no pretty picture.
The net result is that next year's election is critical. The primary concern is how to regain trust and faith in government. The Republicans will be challenged to articulate a definitive approach to deal with these monumental issues, and Hillary, in all likelihood, will have to defend the president's legacy which could become cumbersome.
Oh, let's not forget that four of the Supreme Court justices are 76 or older. Could be lots of change in the Court.
It really is time for the American people to wake up and see where we are heading. I don't think that most people want to get up one morning and find that their rights and freedom have been stolen by the elitists who are driven to remake America in their image, and that image doesn't include the 99 percent.
That means lower wages, offshoring of jobs, increased automation and the resultant downsizing of jobs, no benefits-healthcare or pensions, no unions, no right to collective bargaining, no sound education policies to educate the masses. And staunch any embracing of the immigration of new potential Americans, expect a continued attack on same-sex marriage, Social Security and Medicare, abortions and the right to own a gun.
I don't know about you, but the prospects of this kind of world is certainly not to my liking, nor do I think that the rest of us should be too happy.
I have visions of a world dominated by "Mad Max" characters where the 99% battle one another for food, water, oils, weapons and shelter.
In this age of unacknowledged error (that means political-speak) we are looking for clarity, intellectual integrity and a definitive path forward. There must be one candidate that stands for what is right and is willing to express it. Policies that affect millions of Americans' lives are at stake. Let's not accept a fool's vision of what our society should look like.
