WASHINGTON — You won't read it in a column by a man — sorry, guys — but House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., has perfect political pitch when it comes to impeaching President Donald Trump. Depend upon it, sir.

Trump knows it, too, which is why he sounds like a desperate man, with dark words like "arrest for treason" and "Civil War" — when you thought he couldn't sink lower.

The angry, white 73-year-old fears no man, but he does beware the power of Pelosi. The speaker has bested him before, in the government shutdown.

Washington has a short memory, but Trump remembers defeats and grows grudges to Shakespearean proportions.

The speaker's strategy is to keep the impeachment inquiry simple and swift, focused on how Trump's dealings with Ukraine's president violated the Constitution. As the plot unfolded, I'd never seen a leader in Congress conduct a crisis with such finesse and clarity.

Intense and solemn, Pelosi speaks words to the moment, such as "we have no choice" facing clear "abuse of power." We followed the facts to this "sad week for our country." She adds earnestly that she prays for the president. A nice touch.

Impeachment is a moment whose time has come, breaking like dawn after a long political night. A mix of valor and grace as she glides across the Capitol's marble floors, the Baltimore mayor's daughter is ready for the battle of her life. Pelosi learned her precinct politics early as a girl in Baltimore's Little Italy, where her father was a beloved city leader.

This is what steady leadership looks like now, in vogue, clad in a pink pantsuit and heels. So much rides on those shoulders — the hopes of half the nation, who wish to see Trump impeached.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., represents dour old-school rule. Like Trump, he knows the moment belongs to Madam Speaker, more popular in public opinion than he.

Since Pelosi publicly held back from impeachment for months, her caution gives the grave turning point more credibility. Nobody can say that she rushed to judgment.

The catalyst was a whistleblower CIA officer's report that the president urged Ukraine to investigate past business activities of Joe Biden's son Hunter in that country — asking a flat-out "favor" of President Volodymyr Zelensky before releasing millions in military aid.

Such a quid pro quo could hurt a possible political opponent, Biden, who bragged about getting a prosecutor in Ukraine fired while he was vice president.

House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff is first officer in the field. Pelosi chose the California Democrat to lead the impeachment inquiry because he's articulate and "on the level" — a phrase she likes.

Schiff can be trusted to steer straight through the shoals and bluster of heavyweights like Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who may be smack in the center of all things Ukraine.

Pompeo listened in on Trump's call to Zelensky, despite his initial demurs. The House inquiry is bound to include Rudy Giuliani, Trump's loudmouthed lawyer, as well as William Barr, the attorney general whom Pelosi declared has "gone rogue."

A foreign power's election interference worked out so well for Trump before, so why not now?

For now, the 235 House Democrats, once restlessly divided on impeachment, have fallen behind Pelosi like soldiers at their posts.

The House has enough votes to impeach Trump tomorrow and send the charges across the Capitol for a Senate trial to acquit or remove him.

Seldom so unified, why did Democrats go lightninglike to the barricades? All the invective that Trump barreled their way on Twitter has created an era of hard feelings — compared with the Era of Good Feelings long ago in the 1820s.

Even if the Senate fails to convict, Republicans will have to go on record, one by one, if the House impeaches Trump. Voting would truly be a trial for each, especially those up for reelection, like McConnell, Sen. Ben Sasse, R-Neb., and Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa. Trump could not wash his stain away.

We live in "times that try men's souls," as Thomas Paine wrote in 1776. The difference is, there's a woman to save our souls.

To find out more about Jamie Stiehm and other Creators Syndicate columnists and cartoonists, visit the website creators.com