We have entered a time of darkness, a time when the truth is obscured by a cadre of wealthy white men who would like to see America stop its clock and do a rewind. These men want to go back to another time. They fancy America in the 1950s, before activists took to the streets and demanded a fiercer reckoning of what it means to be free. These wealthy white men have two things in common, they’re obscenely rich and they got out of going to Vietnam.
Take a look at President Donald Trump, Jeff Sessions and Robert Mercer. These three gents will turn 71 this year, and all three successfully dodged the draft during the Vietnam War. Donald Trump managed to get five deferments and claimed his final deferment to get out of going to Vietnam was due to "heel spurs" in both feet.
Jeff Sessions was draft eligible in 1969, and somehow from 1973 to 1977 he served in the U.S. Army Reserve. There’s a story there!!
Robert Mercer who is not an elected official or a household name, is a major financier behind the Trump Presidential campaign and invested heavily in Breitbart News Service. Mr. Mercer was draft eligible, but the closest he came to serving in the military was working a job at the Air Force Weapons Laboratory at Kirtland Air Force Base while he pursued a degree at the University of New Mexico.
Even though these three men have never seen bloodshed up close and personal, they do not hesitate bringing us to the brink of a new, shinier war.
Be wary of men who puff up their chest to make laws restricting freedom when they have no vested interest in holding a light to shine on the truth. Men of courage uphold the Constitution and do not ingloriously destroy the core fabric of the common good. Real men enrich a nation and its people by protecting equal access to public education, public libraries and all public institutions that protect our health and welfare. Good leaders are stewards of the future and recognize that if they do not take care of what we have today, then nothing will be left for future generations of Americans. Beware of pasty-white, soft-handed men who masquerade as manly.
Patricia Vaccarino
Patricia Vaccarino is an accomplished writer who has written award-winning film scripts, press materials, articles, essays, speeches, web content, marketing collateral, and ten books.
