A few lines from a Bukowski poem goes: “As the sun is masked, we are born like this, into this, into these carefully mad wars…”
Last month I wrote a piece called “Prepare for the paralyzed Presidency.” The premise was if the Republicans lose control of Congress after the 2018 midterm elections the Democrats might attempt to impeach President Trump.
If impeachment is pursued by the Democrats it won’t be for its feasibility. It will be an act of political torment. This torment would make the office of the presidency ineffective for the remainder of President Trump’s first term. The historical comparison I drew upon was Bill Clinton’s second term when the Republican impeachment process effectively left America without a president.
The world watched as America turned on itself, so did America’s enemies.
During that period (1998-2000) 9/11 was planned, U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania were bombed, and a U.S. Navy destroyer (USS Cole) was attacked by a terrorist group named Al-Qaeda, and all of these events were orchestrated by a little known man name Osama bin Laden.
Then-Republican Governor George W. Bush defeated Vice President Al Gore in one of the most controversial elections in American history. (The news said Gore won Florida in the evening then retracted at the end of the night declaring Bush the winner of the state. There was a recount, the Supreme Court got involved, and Bush ended up President of the United States.) And America turned on itself again over the outcome of the presidential election.
Now, on June 26, 2001, Thomas Friedman reproduced a memo by bin Laden in his New York Times column. Bin Laden bragged, “I had some of our boys discuss an attack against the U.S. over cell phones, the CIA picked it up, and look what happened. The FBI team in Yemen, which was investigating our destruction of the USS Cole…just packed up and left—even though the State Department was begging them to stay. Then we made a few more phone calls, hundreds of Marines—Marines!—who were conducting a joint exercise with the Jordanian army cut short their operations…Then all the U.S. warships in Bahrain, which is headquarters of the U.S. fifth fleet, were scared of being hit by us. They evacuated Bahrain’s harbor and sailed into the Persian Gulf…There’s a military term for this; it’s called retreat…This is a superpower? The U.S. press barely reported it; the White House press didn’t ask the president about it. But trust me, everyone out here noticed it…God is great. America is stupid.”
Months later, 9/11 happened.
Now, if history of this unfortunate nature repeats, it will start with “American stupidity.” America has elected the most controversial President in its nation’s history, and Americans are fixated on stupid presidential tweets and whatever offends their self-righteous sensibilities.
The world and America’s enemies haven’t stopped watching.
A recent headline said this: “Bin Laden’s son is poised to unify terrorist worldwide, Hamza bin Laden isn’t just being prepared for a leadership role in his father’s organization.” He’s now the figure best placed to reunify the global jihadi movement. Hamza bin Laden’s first message of 2017 was entitled, “Advice for Martyrdom-Seekers in the West.”
Bukowski’s poem ended: “Born out of that, the sun still hidden there, awaiting the next chapter.”
(J. Pharoah Doss is a contributor to the New Pittsburgh Courier. He blogs at jpharoahdoss@blogspot.com)
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