Ambrose M. Bennett
THE Truth is the CNMI is caught in dichotomies (contrasting issues) that WE can’t resolve due to Our-Fathers-in-Washington and too much backroom-bigotry among many of our leaders, not the People, that rules over common sense & ethical governing that too many leaders fail to see or don’t want to see. The most pressing dichotomy is this quest for China while the Feds, especially the military, is against Chinese coming into the CNMI, which is surely why Arnold issued the statement of “pivoting away from China.” Prior to our Delegate’s recent letter to the Dept. of Transportation, there were no genuine efforts, not even in the 902 Talks to my knowledge, to get the Feds to change their stance on China. Then there is also the fact that NO One has bothered to try and talk with the Chinese Government about allowing their citizens to travel to the CNMI, especially when they issued a statement saying, “the Chinese Government will NOT allow their citizens to travel to the CNMI to gamble.” To compound the dichotomy, WE, or at least Arnold is still holding on to a discredited & dysfunctional Casino Commission trying to create a casino(s) on Saipan — a clear dichotomy with the Chinese Government. WE as a People are being FORCED to be BLISS (delighted) with the Republican created dichotomies given there is NO Democrat nor Independents’ opposition to anything FOR the People! “If our Dems are not going to fight FOR the People, then WHO, and if not now, then WHEN,” which is virtually the same challenge Dr. King made to the SNCC members in Memphis about the Civil Rights Movement! WE need a real “Political Movement for CHANGE” or the Same-O -for TRUE!
WE have a lot hanging on the Delegate’s letter to help with the China quest but there are other variables that WE can’t control which contribute to the dichotomy of getting Chinese tourists that no one is mentioning, like “WHAT will the Chinese Government do and WHAT does Trump want to do about our China quest.” It should also be noted that WE not only need to expand our WWII tourism base, but WE must also expand our entire economic base to reduce the dependency on WWII & gambling tourism with different revenue-generating industries and even new attractions and new business operations, but WE are stuck in REVERSE — for TRUE! Much of our challenges are basic High School Economics but WE never had an Economist like I’ve warned about during the past decade — duh! The sole dependency on tourism, “a one-crop economy” that WE teach in Social Studies to avoid, was never a perfect solution to having a perpetual thriving economy, as the tourism industry is heavily dependent upon the economies in other countries that WE have no control over. But WE aren’t even doing basic things to help ourselves like mastering our Agriculture Industry for growing a lot of things that are unnecessarily imported (no chickens & eggs farms). WE were poli-tricked with building our Beef Industry & Slaughterhouse, WE failed to create a real Cannabis Tourism Industry, the government failed to offer a simple small plot for a “new tourists’ attraction” in the Earhart Monument and the list goes on of other failed opportunities to expand our Economic base. But MOST importantly is the fact that our workforce demand is dwindling making it harder to fight for CWs when there is No Work for CWs —“the cart before (in-front of) the horse,” duh! WE are flittering with another Federal Takeover in 2029 with “no Systemic Government Workforce Transition Plan playing delay-games with the Feds,” the same lessons with immigration & minimum wage takeover — HELLER! “Failing to learn our lessons taught by history DOOMS us to continue making the same mistake,” the History Channel.
However, “OUR future” is at stake, as our tourist arrivals continue to plummet and even “the revenues for the first quarter of fiscal year 2025 fell short by $2.7 million” with three more quarters to go and nothing planned to improve on the projections. It also seems Ambrose is doing MORE fighting FOR the People than the Dems to check the Governor, except for Senator Babauta who is clearly fighting, as what can Dems even campaign on given their silence and failing to place a check on the Governor & our flawed budgets? There is also the lingering question of WHAT are the Dems going to do about the Governor’s race given Arnold is literally giving Dems “one bullet after another of subterfuge, LIES and failures” that kills his chances and increases the likelihood of a Democrat or Independent to become our next governor, especially if they have legitimate credentials like a Senator or Judge with real integrity for Governor. In fact, if the Dems choose to keep following whoever is keeping them quiet, an Independent will have a much better chance of becoming governor, as no voter wants to waste their vote on arrogant people who publicly ignore their OWN people & activist calling themselves the “People’s Party” — pathetic politics! But you can bet Republicans would NEVER let a conflict, like I have with Dems, happen with one of their supporters, which is their biggest asset — UNITY even on corruption! But my Dems are “fickle & blowing it with ridiculous silence” from following the wrong person with a flawed strategy for the Party and especially for the Governor’s race too many times and the consecutive results of GOP election wins for Governor are PROOF! There needs to be real CHANGE in the Dem’s strategies & methodologies if Dems are to ever gain control of our government, as the Same-O Same-O is not working Dems — for TRUE! One People One Direction
Ambrose M. Bennett is an Economist who minored in Sociology, a Political Scientist, a retired teacher & former CNMI Board of Education Member, a James Madison Fellow (U.S. Constitutional Scholar), a Fulbright-Hays & lifetime Humanities Scholar who resides in Kagman III in the U.S. Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.
