The Courage to Speak Up?
“Edzo”
Ed “Edzo” Kelly is the presumptive heir to the soon-to-be vacant General Secretary-Treasurer (GST) position at the IAFF.
If Kelly is a leader at all he should be feeling a crunch.
Harold Schaitberger and Donald Trump have lots in common, chief of which is their pathologically narcissistic personalities.
They thrive on abusing others.
They need constant affirmation.
They can never admit they are wrong under any circumstances.
They really are two peas in a pod.
Schaitberger has stood by for months as Trump has bashed working Americans.
Trump as used all manner of bigoted and racist speech regarding women, people of color and even those with disabilities.
He also shamed and disrespected the family of an American hero killed in Iraq.
Schaitberger has been silent through it all.
He has not spoken out a single time, even when Trump attacked IAFF members repeatedly.
And so far, Edzo has followed his lead.
Is Ed Kelly a Schaitberger Clone?
Is Edzo so hungry for an IAFF job that he will sacrifice any principals he has?
Edzo was a potent force in Massachusetts firefighters choosing Elizabeth Warren over incumbent Scott Brown.
What happened to the voice of justice for workers and doing the right thing?
If his silence is part of a bid to succeed Schaitberger, it won’t be that easy.
Schaitberger’s inability or unwillingness to defend his members means being anointed by Our Dear Leader as his chosen successor is now a big fat stinker.
Our Dear Leader
(You don’t need to be a Hillary cheerleader to defend your members against racists and bigots.)
Edzo’s silence now will come back to haunt him when his real race arrives.
Folks will ask, and they should, where were you when it was time to defend our members against a bigot?
Saying that he was only a candidate won’t be good enough.
For too long the IAFF has had so-called leaders who made decisions that were good for them and not the members.
Edzo’s silence now means be is also a part of that crowd.
No Sure Thing
Mike Pence
Those in the know say that Our Dear Leader, should he be re-elected, has no intention of serving out a full term.
Here’s why.
In case you haven’t figured it out yet, Schaitberger is always about his deal, first and foremost.
If he can control who his successor will be, he can cut his exit deal.
In 2018, just after the 100th anniversary, Schaitberger can resign after gathering up the votes to name his replacement.
Would he use that tactic?
Of course; he has already.
That’s how he named Tom Miller as GST when Vinny Bollon retired mid-term after Our Dear Leader hectored Bollon in to resigning.
Schaitberger stole democracy right out from under our noses and we did not even flinch.
Edzo has at least two problems.
- Some say that the last thing Schaitberger wants to do is to leave the IAFF where he first found it, i.e., with Local 718 at the helm.
- He entirely controls the castrated and bobble-headed board and could very well line up the votes for an “anybody but Edzo” candidate.
Edzo’s best scenario is for Schaitberger’s pathetic 2016 performance and inability to stand-up for us to result in a weakened lame duck who can’t control the Board votes.
Don’t bet on that though, because the Board has turned over all financial control to the king of slush funds who can buy support left and white.
Even Mike Pence, Trump’s lap dog, has broken with him over Trump’s treatment of the Khan family and the Ryan endorsement in the Wisconsin primary.
Edzo should be Schaitberger’s Pence for all the right reasons.
His deafening silence may seem smart now, but it could come right round to snap him in the ass in the end.
He should be his own man right now, assuming that’s even possible.
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