Volodymyr Zelenskyy - political genius
or why Donald Trump won't be on Mount Rushmore
If you’ve never been to Mount Rushmore, it’s likely because you weren’t in the Air Force (or a USAF dependent) or bored enough while travelling along I-90 to stop at Exit 57 and have a look. It’s easily the biggest man made tourist trap in the world thanks to keeping South Dakota lakes well-stocked for President Calvin Coolidge’s fishing trip there in 1923.
Presidents Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln, and Roosevelt (Theodore not Franklin) are enshrined there representing the birth, growth, development, and preservation of America, respectively. At least that is the official version of things.
What is notable about the quartet of Presidents that was carved into Six Grandfathers Mountain from 1927 to 1941 is that all four were radicals in their time and political geniuses. Washington refused to be King. Jefferson built the blueprint of America. Lincoln stanched secession and slavery. Roosevelt was a brilliant reformer. No wonder Donald Trump hinted more than once he’d like to be added to the monument.
And today, March 16th, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy proved to be their equal in his address to Congress. His speech was part prodding, part pleading, but mostly it was reminding the House and Senate that fighting back against evil and tyranny is what America does best…even when is is belatedly done.
The speech to Congress is not a singular one. Zelenskyy has given similar speeches to various nations in hopes that a unified NATO would militarily imbue some rationality into Putin and raise the political stakes for him sufficiently to either negotiate or retreat.
The Zelenskyy short list to Congress is a No-Fly Zone or enough aircraft to allow Ukraine to enforce one on its own. In case you missed the speech, Zelenskyy brilliantly brought up both Pearl Harbor and 9/11 as a not so subtle reminders of how critical air defense and dominance are militarily.
Trump’s chances of being added to Mount Rushmore went from abysmal to non-existent on July 25, 2019. That is the date of Trump’s alleged “perfect phone call” to newly elected Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Three months into his Presidency, Zlelnskyy knew he needed some military muscle to defend himself from Putin’s creeping desire to recapture Ukraine in a twisted version of eminent domain —Kviv was founded in 482 BCE some 1629 years before Moscow was a small burg. Given the military encroachments by Poland, Russia, and other countries in what is now Ukraine during the First Millenium, Putin’s actions in Crimea and along Ukraine’s borders were more akin to “lebensraum” than claimed sovereignty by Russia.
In the midst of a thirty minute phone call with Volodymyr Zelenskyy, President Trump doomed himself from any enshrinement on the side of a mountain. With the 10 words “I would like you to do us a favor, though…”, Trump got an impeachment instead.
Trump’s First Impeachment lays out all the reasons why Trump is no political genius — the attempted quid pro quo of military equipment for political dirt on Joe Biden and his son was as egregious as it was ham-handed. The multiple violations of federal law, i.e. abuse of power, and efforts to obstruct Congress easily met the constitutional standard of “high crimes and misdemeanors”.
Americans of Eastern-European descent account for about 5% of the U.S. population1 and their affinity for conservatism is likely waning given current events. The Democrats would do well to continuously remind voters that the GOP is the Party of the Putin and that the Democratic Party is the Servant of the People2 for the same reason.
About 2.2 million people of which nearly 900,000 are Ukraninian-American.
The Servant of the People is the centrist political party to which PresidentVolodymyr Zeelnskyy is a member