OPINION: It’s all on the House now

Last Updated on Wednesday, 6 November 2024, 21:45 by Writer

By GHK Lall

Donald Trump has won the US presidency. Though still officially unconcluded and unannounced at this point, the writing on the wall is clear and not to be challenged: Donald Trump, Address White House. American voters have spoken, the man has won, and that should be it. It is for me, no matter how difficult to live with, the broad and deep implications of a Trump presidency. The ominous hangs overhead like a thick, sinister shadow. Regardless, it is on to Washington, with nothing, but less than a handful (three), between him and his prize. Kamala Harris made colored people proud, just by being in such a race, and keeping it close all the way to the wire. It is what makes America great. There is hope for America.

As the soon-to-be former VP Harris gets ready to leave DC, the US Senate has already arrived, been settled beyond challenge. The White House and the Senate Chamber are already in the bag, with both swinging from Democrat to Republican. President-elect Trump must be drooling at the prospects of a clean sweep. Only the seesaw races still to be decided stand in his way for complete control of the political process and legislative agenda of the United States. I shall be frank: my hope is that the US House of Representatives stays in Democratic hands. It could be the last bastion of sanity and sanctity that stands as a bulwark to a Trump intoxicated by his electoral triumph. Who knows what he will do and how far he is prepared to go in making good on some of his campaign promises. And his threats. All eyes are on the battles for control of the House of Representatives. It’s all on the House.

A House of Representatives controlled by the Democrats could be that restraining, civilizing force from a Donald Trump running amok. He has manifested most unequivocally that when he runs with a mind, then he is capable of running over all that stands in his way. By way of a reminder that is not too ancient, I urge my fellow Guyanese to recall how Republican Speaker of the House, Newt Gingrich, held a blowtorch to then President Bill Clinton’s head and the damage that he inflicted. The lesson from that was in his haste to thwart and derail at any cost; he ended up blowing up himself. There are limits to hostility and aggression. Newt Gingrich had none of either. My regret is that Donald Trump has proven to be cut from the same cloth, only one that is more destructive, one that unleashes all manner of sickening, crippling allergies.

If Trump were a different man, a man with a different record, the preference would be that he also takes the House. But because he is who he is, and rather proud of it, the probability of irreparable harm is high, very clear and present. The power of the US Congressional House skillfully wielded can halt any president in his tracks, with progress on his worst excesses held up. At least, that power could be slowed down to a crawl. The great issues of the day then become subject to a series of quid pro quos. But only if there’s the willingness by both sides, now locked in the equivalent of a death struggle, to yield for a stronger country, a better citizenry. Like I said, it now all hinges on the final outcome of the races that hang in the balance. That is, which side of the political aisle emerges with the edge.

Perhaps, all of this may be moot. An introspective President Trump could be the instrument of calm and confidence that Americans need so badly, now need even more. A President Trump that is ready to look ahead, to knit and to heal a fractured and fractious nation, could be that catalyst for a superpower that limps in steps. If he looks back and decides that it is his turn to settle scores, then the existing wounds, the conspicuously polarized state of America, would only widen, with the worst to come. At the conclusion of bruising elections, the winner usually takes the lead in speaking in a soothing voice. He (it has always been that gender in America) highlights how much of a priority it is in putting yesterday behind and moving together towards tomorrow. Though I long to see some of this in President-elect Donald Trump, it is doubtful that he could genuinely bring himself to that place of graciousness. Perhaps, he will surprise us all, especially citizens of my cast. The loser also has a role to play. There was none who did that better than VP Al Gore in 2000, which was so close as to be inseparable. There is no such gap seen today. No such difference, or challenge, seeping into the reactions. In other words, defeat has to be swallowed, as bitter as it is.

The Trump tidal wave has smashed the Democrats into pieces. The one remaining hope rests in the final outcome of the composition of the US House of Representatives. It is a House, the architecture of which has held much in the past, and also held the bridge. There is a most urgent, almost desperate need, for that one check, that one balance, that one restraining hand. May it turn out to be so.

Donald J. Trump could be a better president for it. America will be better for it.