(ThyBlackMan.com) In one of the last scenes from the movie “Titanic,” the ship’s captain stoically stands alone on the bridge, awaiting the inevitable end. The bow begins its downward plunge as seawater breaks through the windows, claiming his life, ironically on what was to be his final voyage before retiring.
For those of us who saw it, the scene remains embedded upon our psyche, perhaps rekindled as we witness Donald Trump’s final days. We see Trump, like the sea captain, left to ponder how his ship of state came to hit an iceberg – his in the form of the Jan. 6 Capitol building break-in by a group of supposedly all pro-Trump supporters – leading to tragedy.
One who probably enjoyed watching the Titanic captain’s demise is Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi. As Trump faces his few remaining days in office, his nemesis, Pelosi, plots a similar end for him.
While Trump has accepted responsibility for hitting his iceberg, the fallout from it is fueled by the same political enemies he fought his entire term. Those enemies served as the proverbial albatross around Trump’s neck, fighting him every step of the way. Some battles were warranted, but many more were not – such as the never-ending Russia collusion hoax that became a rallying cry for Pelosi and her minions, only to crash in flames.
But what probably is most devastating for Donald Trump who, admittedly, created many of his own problems due to an oversized ego, is the abandonment by many of his allies, not only in Congress but on his staff as well, now seeking out the remaining lifeboats. As if not painful enough, Pelosi wants to ratchet things up to make Trump’s departure as personally unpleasant as possible. The vindictive Wicked Witch of the West (WWW) has made it clear if Vice President Mike Pence fails to take action under the 25th Amendment to remove Trump immediately, which he opposes doing, or Trump refuses to resign, impeachment proceedings will be initiated. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has said the earliest the case could come to trial is Jan. 19.
Donald Trump’s impeachment could well be sought after leaving office for two reasons: 1) The infliction of pain upon WWW’s opponents has always been part of Pelosi’s persona, and this obviously would allow her to continue Trump’s “walk of shame” even after leaving office; and 2) successful impeachment precludes Trump from becoming the “gift that keeps on giving,” potentially prohibiting him from running for office in 2024.
Despite House Majority Whip James Clyburn’s suggestion no articles of impeachment be sent until after Biden’s first 100 days in office, allowing him time to get his agenda jumpstarted, Pelosi seems undeterred in moving forward.
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy recognizes the further divisiveness Pelosi’s penchant for punishing Trump will create and has even asked Biden to call her and her fellow anti-Trump attack dogs off. But we will see Pelosi, who like the Wizard of Oz’s Tin Man lacking a heart, pursue an unhelpful impeachment action to diminish Trump’s major accomplishments.
The majority of Trump’s journey as president, like the Titanic’s, was successful before encountering a killer iceberg. Perhaps a future generation of historians, able to write truthfully without intimidation, will note those successes.
Many occurred in a region prior administrations foundered – the Middle East. In 2017, to shake the Arab nations up, showing them a strong U.S. commitment to Israel, Trump implemented a resolution every president since Bill Clinton had been obligated to fulfill but, fearing the potential fallout, failed to do so. This 1995 resolution called for the U.S. to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and to move the U.S. Embassy there.
With that done, Trump then discretely went about tackling something “experts,” such as former secretary of state and Iran nuclear deal negotiator John Kerry, said was impossible without first negotiating a breakthrough Palestinian peace deal with Israel. However, with both Egypt and Jordan having peace agreements in place with Israel since 1994, Trump knew the supposed impossible was not. Previous U.S. administrations had wasted energy exploring a Palestinian accord with leaders uninterested in one. Even a 2017 offer by Israel committing to make Gaza the “Singapore of the Middle East” was insufficient to motivate the Palestinian Authority to accept a deal greatly beneficial to their own people.
Trump, however, turned his attention to negotiating peace deals between Arab states and Israel in an effort to isolate the real Middle East threat – Iran. With Tehran continuing to wreak havoc in the region while discreetly working on a nuclear arms capability, Trump knew the mullah fear factor was pushing Arab nations closer to Israel.
The first such agreement took time to secure but, achieved in 2020 with the United Arab Emirates, others quickly followed suite – Bahrain, Morocco and Sudan. The agreements were collectively known as the “Abraham Accords,” appropriately named after the father of the three great faiths to evolve over the past four thousand years – Judaism, Christianity and Islam. The stumbling block Trump had overcome in all four deals was recognizing Israel’s right to exist. Yet, despite this major breakthrough, Pelosi – in typical classless form – incorrigibly dismissed it as a “distraction.” Perhaps motivated by the accords, Pakistan’s top cleric astonishingly conceded the land of Israel “belongs only to the Jews.”
Despite the November election fraud brouhaha, Trump has not been distracted from brokering yet another breakthrough – a Jan. 5, 2021, peace deal ending a four year feud between Saudi Arabia and Qatar.
Donald Trump achieved other major successes during his four years. He made good on his promise the COVID-19 vaccine would be available in 2020 after enduring merciless attacks for promising the impossible, including being told, even if available, many would not take it. Subsequently, some of his worst critics claimed head-of-the-line privileges to receive it.
Trump’s accomplishments economically were miraculous as well, achieving the lowest unemployment rate for blacks in history, while outrageously being labeled by Pelosi’s cheerleaders as racist. America was destined for additional economic accomplishments had it not been for the coronavirus.
The list of Trump accomplishments goes on. What feats Trump and Pelosi together could have accomplished. Nonetheless, Trump did great things for America and is entitled to leave office, his head held high.
Nancy Pelosi supposedly is Catholic, although she prioritizes politics over religion by supporting abortion. During Catholic services, attendees make a proclamation from John 14:27, “Peace I leave you, my peace I give unto you.” To a heartless witch, this proclamation means nothing, perhaps justifying for Pelosi an appropriate replacement – the letter “w” for the letter “b.”
Written by Lt. Col. James Zumwalt
