His bombshell was launched on Wednesday June 3, 2020, regarding the Trump White House insensitive, divisive and unworthy handling of the brutal, installment murder of another non-confrontational Black man, George Floyd : “Donald Trump is the first president in my lifetime who does not try to unite the American people—does not even pretend to try. Instead, he tries to divide us…. We are witnessing the consequences of three years of this deliberate effort. We are witnessing the consequences of three years without mature leadership. We can unite without him, drawing on the strengths inherent in our civil society. This will not be easy, as the past few days have shown, but we owe it to our fellow citizens; to past generations that bled to defend our promise; and to our children.”
James Norman Mattis is a distinguished embodiment of America’s highest dedication to its armed forces. He put in 44 years in the Marine Corps and retired as a USMC General.
The man whose combination of sheer, unflappable courage and intelligence earned him the triple nicknames of “The Warrior”, “Mad Dog” and “Monk”, came from retirement to serve as the 26th US Secretary of Defense from January 2017 to January 2019. He kept his frustrations with President Donald Trump away from any public drama, leaks or spats.
Yes; the United States of America is the proverbial land of milk and honey! It is the land of magic and creative geniuses. Apple, Google., Microsoft, Tesla, and Amazon.
Its wealthy citizens have remained the most philanthropic group of people in the history of mankind.
In assessing its known armada and constellation of military might, quantum of its formidable technological innovations and vast economic resources, I believe that the United States is the world’s only hyper-power, that is, Super power plus.
Practically, it is the world’s most diverse, most creative and competitive market. Regardless of your adversity, ethnicity, race, religion, gender or orientation, it offers immigrants endless opportunities; almost.
Yes; almost. Almost, because the existential realties of America’s “original sin” of slavery in the 17th century are seen, oppressively, in police brutality, financial red-lining and assorted but subtle institutionalization of racism. Almost, because the coarse apostles of the swine gospel of White supremacy and the inheritors of the fruits of the inhumane labor and brutal exploitation and bloody sacrifices made by the enslaved Africans in America, are still demanding all the advantages taken by their slave-owning families!
Alongside the neo-Nazis and other anti-Semitic and anti-blacks gangs, they represent those Trump called “good people on both sides….”
Mr. Trump probably believes that the 4 policeman who conspired until their chocking to death of Mr. Floyd count among his “good people.”
Like Floyd’s issue, Trump’s provocative and threatening tweets and comments on related and recent of these events on race, racism, the police casual killing of mainly African American boys reveal the character of our president.
Which, necessarily, leads to the critical question: how deeply do black lives matter to Mr. Trump?
Thankfully, beyond Trump’s giddy attitude, for all of its material successes, America’s real strength rests on the prudent balance of the constitutional assignment of roles and the moral clarity to execute your obligations with a certain sense of fairness and decency. All, elements of character.
In fact, one of the greatest Presidents of these United States, Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919), underscored it with these timeless words: “Americanism is a question of principle, of purpose, of idealism, of character. It is not a matter of birthplace or creed or line of descent.”
Somehow, someway and somewhere, Trump seems captivated by the arrogations of an imperial presidency. That is, King Donald of America.
I must say, that the 45th President of the United States Donald J. Trump is more in the grips of the seduction and apparati of power. These past almost 40 months of the Trump presidency continue to reveal the man and his leadership character.
On this critical issue of character, here’s another insightful angle from a woman who has worked in the White House in the 1980s:
“In a president, character is everything. A president doesn’t have to be brilliant… He doesn’t have to be clever; you can hire clever… You can hire pragmatic, and you can buy and bring in policy wonks. But you can’t buy courage and decency, you can’t rent a strong moral sense. A president must bring those things with him…”, are the very canonical points of the former speechwriter for President Ronald Reagan and a Pulitzer Prize winner Peggy Noonan.
Peggy wrote those decades before the never-before-seen squad of racially-divisive men and women and President took over, completely, the Republican Party, the White House and the so-called Christian Right.
And, what I see, like Mattis and millions of others is a terrible beauty!
*Dr. Chido Nwangwu who appears as an analyst on CNN and SKYnews serves as Founder & Publisher of the first African-owned, U.S-based newspaper on the internet, USAfricaonline.com, and established USAfrica in 1992 in Houston. He is the author of the November 2020 book, MLK, Mandela & Achebe: Power, Leadership and Identity. @Chidö247
