I will be the first to say Kilili did an OK job because he had the help of Democrats, ARRA and the Stimulus but this is really not about Kilili, it is about the people and how we are suffering.
Now he says it is going to be tough and not like the last term. I TOLD YOU SO and there is the proof! But what does he do? Resubmit the Submerged Land Bill that he didn’t get through in the first two years with Democrats and the Inos Fellowship. While I’m not against either of these bills I’m sure the voters and I would much rather see legislation to help our economy and something to stabilize our workforce with a real transitional plan.
Our delegate posing with the President is something to be proud of BUT it is not going to put food on our tables, lower our power bills, create jobs and put money in our accounts. Our delegate posing for pictures with education officials won’t do it either. Our delegate making compassionate statements about how much he cares but delivering nothing is not what we voted for.
He is being shut out of committees, which means the people of the CNMI voted to get shut out of committee because voters had to KNOW the GOP was taking over in Congress — this is what I meant about voters playing the political game in Washington because we can’t even get in the arena now and that’s just for starters voters. So voters can continue to conduct popularity contest or they can start practicing the hard and impersonal game of politics to put the best player in the arena for the CNMI.
Politics is not a personal sport — it’s a team sport and it’s not so much about individuals as it is what they stand for, the team they are on and their ability to get it done (make plays) for the people. I knew Kilili would NEVER be in a position (in the game) to even make a play for the CNMI with a GOP Congress. I also want to make it clear that I have NEVER said Kilili was doing a bad job, in fact I think he is doing a fair job for his educational and congressional limitations. My concern has always been that we (the CNMI) can do BETTER and get MORE done in Washington by sending a person who was a member of the RULING Party which is pure political science. The CNMI cried and complained for years about not having a vote or any power in Congress and the very FIRST TIME we get the chance to have real power with hundreds of votes in BOTH HOUSES of Congress to support CNMI Legislation we thumb our noses at Mr. Steele.
But I have more political proof on my predictions because the Governor has now officially joined the GOP which fully supports my argument that we should have sent a GOP member — duh! The Governor has sacrificed his own party, which I predicted will die anyway, for the sake of his administration and the people. He finally put us in the equation even though it is a bit late when he has created so many enemies in BOTH Parties of Congress. But he knows that if has any chance to get anything significant accomplished in Washington that he MUST be a GOP member — a pure political scientific FACT, voters! Another political blunder was the Governor’s failure to do this BEFORE the Delegate Race, which would have all but guaranteed the CNMI a GOP Delegate who could have helped to pave the way for a GOP Governor and the CNMI would be much better off in Washington now. But again, the individual politics of the Governor to get HIS man in Congress rather than the RIGHT man in Congress and the proof is in the details. I’m beginning to think I just might be a better political strategist than most of these guys because they are starting to make me look like a genius when I’m only applying basic political science —HELLER!
It is the personal politics of individuals who are able to influence family politics which is killing the recruitment for the best political team for the CNMI government — these socially powerful individuals do this for personal goals and gains of their family members, not the CNMI. BEWARE and use CAUTION in the future when family leaders are trying to force their influence on your family for votes — for TRUE! I used the delegate race because it was the simplest political example to prove my points about our poor politics which got us into this mess and now the results of my experiment are starting to come in. I even wrote about the family voting phenomenon within our politics in 2001 when I was sent to Mexico by the U. S. Department of Education to compare the similarities and differences between the CNMI and Mexico. We are suffering from the same family voting phenomenon that Mexico is suffering from just on a smaller scale — so it is easy to see why Mexico is so full of social, economic and political turmoil, which is the same course we are now charting politically, we are just lucky the Feds are keeping us honest. These are the pure scientific facts that I gather, like it or not — it is what it is for TRUE! One people one direction for playing a better political game in the future!
AMBROSE M. BENNETT
Kagman III, Saipan
