THERE is a saying that “great people and especially leaders are able to “walk their talk” but that is a very RARE thing we see in many politicians, which is why they are so often accused of “lying, misleading, not doing what they said or promised” and the list goes on with the plethora of disconnects between what they say and what they actually do. It is very clear to me when writing my previous Op ed that Lt. Governor Palacios has learned and is very well versed in “talking the talk” but it is even more emphatic that “he does NOT walk his talk,” which is why I had to write this follow-up opinion.
WHY wasn’t Arnold “walking his talk” that he displayed with the JGO when he was watching and even signing for the Governor and his wife to travel ILLEGALLY — Oh, WE are stupid and can’t see he’s just “talking the talk.” I don’t know about some voters but I’m sure He IS NOT fooling me nor the majority of voters. I thought about how Arnold acted soooo darn surprised in front of the JGO and how he “played-off liability and accountability” by putting it on the Secretaries and claiming to “use their judgement over his OWN self-awareness that Governor Torres was BREAKING the Travel Policy and even the Law.” For me and others he gave a figuratively an “award winning performance for Best Supporting Actor in a Mob Movie.” He played so DUMB and Surprised about stuff he already KNEW about but chose to turn a “blind-eye” to all of that behavior until the Governor got CAUGHT! He knows how to “talk the talk” after nearly FOURTY YEARS in Politics but he has yet to learn how to “Walk his Talk” because he didn’t say a mumbling word until it was too late and WE all knew — so he plays the ignorance-card.
Well, we just saw a repeat performance with the retaliation against Mr. Mafnas. Arnold wanted to claim “the abrupt removal of Director Mafnas from his position, despite Arnold’s glowing praises for the Secretary of Finance, is nothing short of a failed attempt to cover up a political retaliation against the director.” He also said “This is very petty. I find it appalling that, as a Commonwealth, we have stooped this low. We are better than this. We need to rise above the fray and give our people the freedom to choose their leaders without fear of retaliation.” WOW and LOL at praising Mr. Atalig whom Arnold obviously plans to use if elected, as I can only laugh to keep from crying for those people who were fired on his watch as the Lt. Governor and he didn’t say nor do anything to help them. Heck, Corina Magofna was a victim and Arnold didn’t speak-up and help her which is WHY I still don’t understand why she chose to even join the AD Team. But its election season and Arnold is whispering in ears wanting to sit-down as Governor so he will say (talk the talk) in whatever way it will help him get votes. But in the end his record speaks for itself — he has NEVER, to my memory, “walked his talk” and spoke-up to STOP corruption and this Republican-retaliation practice — TRUE!
I know Arnold will TURN on you just like the Governor TURNS on people because they BOTH did it to me. The Governor trashed me with Legalization and I’m so against Arnold being Governor because my wife and I worked hard for Heinz & Arnold in the Governor’s race. But once Arnold sat-down as a Senator he quickly forgot my LOYALTY to him and he even had the nerve to figuratively try and use me for a whipping-post on the Senate Floor. He was just showing-off because I complained about how the Senate was poli-tricking with the Marijuana Bill to get elected. Arnold will TURN on you just like the Governor turns on people, especially if you are not serving HIS purpose, which is why I keep telling voters “AD are Republicans and that’s what you are going to get Republicans who practice retaliation” I don’t care what “talk they talk,” it’s his “walk” WE should all be concerned about.
While Mayor Apatang has pretty much stayed away from a lot of the Republican mess-ups, he is still a Republican and don’t expect him to control Arnold as that has NEVER happened between any Governor & Lt. Governor. In fact, the Lt. Governor almost becomes a virtual “Captain Dum-less” while the Governor gets ALL the credit, that’s public knowledge as one only needs to really look at the Pho Ops of the Governor ONLY getting credit. I also want to remind tax-payers that the Mayor FORCED this Address-System on us without any Public Meetings or explanation to the tune of nearly half-a-million dollars or more when we could have gotten it for FREE. The problem was, the last thing these Republicans want is for Ambrose Bennett to get the credit, as I was proposing using our existing Lot Numbers & System that already works perfectly with GPS. The Lot# System is also used by every Store with a Delivery Service on Saipan and there is even a map. But no, Mayor Apatang wanted to “re-invent the wheel” while making tax-payers pay so HE can lay claim FOR the Address system. It will never end as long as this group of Republicans are around and if ever there was a time and need for real change it is NOW!
RICO is now looming bigger than ever, as from what I see, the new Governor’s Chief of Staff William Castro has already made himself the latest addition to the RICO Charges that are hanging over the Governor’s head. I’m so glad Mr. Mafnas is taking his case to the Federal Court where the alleged “extortion & blackmail of Mr. Mafnas with the illegal steering of a federal contract to sell equipment through the Governor’s Brother to Customs” definitely falls under the RICO Statute and Mr. Mafnas is the Feds STAR witness. Mr. Castro bragged about beating every Civil Service Case against him, which actually says something not so good about him. But he won’t beat what seems to be a clear violation of the RICO Statue. This is what happens to people who join what the Feds have already deemed to be a “Criminal Organization led by Governor Torres” — poor Vinnie. I hope the Torres Voters are reading this and will SAVE themselves from the embarrassment when the Feds show-up and even persuade them to vote Democrat BEFORE it’s too late! WE (the CNMI) will be what we vote ourselves to be as we voted ourselves into this mess and we can vote ourselves out. I will continue to write about the TRUTH and the CONSEQUENCES of voting because if WE the People continue to vote for the SAME-OLD Republicans, especially AD who have been around for nearly 40 years, WE are going to get the SAME-OLD Republican BS be it Ralph or Arnold — for TRUE! One People One Direction for NEW & BETTER Leaders — Democrats T&L!
The writer is an Economist who minored in Sociology, Political Scientist, retired teacher, former CNMI Board of Education Member, James Madison Fellow (U.S. Constitutional Scholar), a Fulbright-Hays & Humanities Scholar who resides in Kagman III.
Ambrose M. Bennett
