Dear Editor,
It is all but a foregone conclusion for me that Donald Trump will triumph in the US come November. It is a vision that introduces some considerable consternation. But what are the options? I look across the aisle at President Joe “Where am I” Biden, and there is no challenger of substance, no presence with meaning. This is notwithstanding his recent State of the Union fireworks. A matchstick flaring, then fizzling. It is more than America in for it; the rest of the world would be well-advised to brace itself. I study America with a Trump resurgence climaxing, and I can’t help but think of Guyana. Same boat, same lack of opponents, same nasty, dutty story.
It is a difficult place for me. I was ready to vote for Trump in the 2016 tussle. Now I am glad that I didn’t vote at all. If I were to vote this year, it could not be for Joe Biden. Not for a leader that is a plodder and a dodderer, and a Democratic party that has no clue about what to do with immigrants at the border, woke and cancel cultures (whatever the hell those are), and generalized lawlessness. Trump and Republicans are for guns, the military, and a loudmouthed, boorish, loutish version of a one-man Vulcan vision. Guyanese should recognize their own homegrown equivalent. Come to think of it, there is more than one Donald Trump here. And I, like many other Americans, thought that New Yorkers were the most obnoxious around. Save for immigrants, of course.
On the other side of the unsettled and unsolved US political formula, Joe Biden and the Democratic Party can’t decide what they stand for, outside of abortion rights and political correctness. Progressives are regressive, and radicals are just plain paper mercenaries. Meanwhile, those who call themselves Liberals are under siege, and trying to find their feet. In a good ole Yankee expression, it is a regular cluster (attach four letter word-suffix). To be explicit would be too graphic; I leave the pornographic to locals. But Trump is back with a bang, and there is no keeping him back.
Meanwhile, in this storied local realm, note is taken of the well-titled SN’s editorial of March 9th “The Trump factor.” My choices would have been The Trump tyranny, or The Trump terror. It is incredible that thinking of 2024 America can inspire reminiscences of 1933 Germany and the Russia of the same era. SN did table the intriguing idea of a “beautiful bargain” compliments of the more gorgeous Trump with the still more precious Maduro. There is room in my thinking for it. This can be said because if Donald Trump is anything at all, he lives for the art of the deal most of all. The art of the deal is more than crass and cheap (but enriching) commerce for Trump. It is in his DNA, his psychic substance. A president who dares to trade with the enemy (Vladimir) and is capable of bouncing around and with the Chinese Dragon. Why not Nikky next door? With all that banking business, petro business, and refurbishing business begging for an owner, Venezuela is ripe for a beautiful American presidential smile, indeed. For the curious of mind, just check what Donald Trump did with Wall Street, the German Deutsche Bank, and where it all led.
As always, my interest, concern is closer to home, about dear old Guyana. President Ali and President Jagdeo have been consigned to kowtowing before a gentle soul like Anthony Blinken. Imagine what it is to deal with a real firebrand of an American secretary of state. Think of one of those far-right types, a la the January 6th insurrection. What would become of Guyana? It’s a fascinating vision, which is already well in place, and only calls for official admission and announcement. Why, Guyanese could be graced with a royal visit from the Duke of the District of Columbia. I have frequently said that Guyana is going places. It is just that Guyanese from the president to the padrone do not know where. With Trump on top, Guyana could go over the top. On a better day, I would start a different movement. It would go other way: dump Trump. And while at it, do the same to Jagdeo and Norton. Like the don, it all comes down to fitness for office. Any kind, any level, any country. It is the end times.
Sincerely,
GHK Lall
