TO be sure the founders of America KNEW they were creating a “Delicate Democracy” that could be torn down by any number of opposing forces, including forces from within. There is no doubt our Democracy is being challenged more than ever since the Civil War to no-end by forces from within to the point that the most sacred RIGHT of “women over their body, the RIGHT to FAIR voting and even the RIGHT to Marry whom you love is being challenged and even taken away. Americans is falling prey to those who want to “overturn voting in favor of the conservative MINORITY.” It has been mostly White Americans, especially the conservative Republicans who are hell-bent on “dictating the overturning of RIGHTS taking America BACKWARDS. Loosing these rights I mention are a result of a “dying breed of conservatives” who want to see America remaining the same as it was some 50 years ago and the same is true in the CNMI. I keep reminding readers that the Republican Party on the mainland and in the CNMI by the very definition of conservative do NOT want to see CHANGE! There can be no real growth and change under Republicans and the state of America and the CNMI is PROOF that conservatism is truly BAD for our nation and our Commonwealth.
In fact, there are actually Locals who still believe Ambrose Bennett can’t say “this is his Commonwealth too” because I’m Black and from the mainland even though I’m as much American as they are. I actually predicted when Trump won the election in my book “The Audacity to Change” the rise in White Supremacy & Domestic Terrorism and you can get a copy on Amazon Books. But the saddest part about this rise in White Supremacy is that there are actually “Blacks & Hispanics” who actually think they matter to the Conservative-right. There is even a Black Supreme Court Justice who thinks he is one of them who has made me “ashamed that he is a Black man” who thinks RIGHTS need to be taken away from women, voters and even Gay people to marry.
But the great thing about our Democracy is that our nation was “founded on real principles and values that have stood the test of time” which is why all the ugly things being done by the Conservative-right will eventually be overturned for a SECOND time, as the mass protests on the mainland are just the tip-of-the-spear fighting to stop and reverse all the wrong-doings by Republicans. The principles of Democracy, Freedom, Equality along with the “Morals of America” have indeed created a more perfect union that is still evolving but the Conservative-right Republicans wants to play god in a futile attempt to try to “keep-things-the-way-they-were under the full control of Whites on the mainland and Locals in the CNMI.” But like I used to teach students that “racism is a LEARNED behavior that needs to be UNLEARNED.” I’m sure Christ wasn’t only trying to save Whites & Locals as he didn’t see any difference in ALL of us which is why those who are genuinely TRUE to the teachings in the Bible still today say we are ALL brothers & sisters with Christ.” But we still have those who don’t want to be brothers and sisters under the laws of our nation which is the true travesty in America’s evolution on the mainland and in the CNMI, as I’m sure there are people in Mass who still don’t want me to be “equal with Locals in the CNMI” — prayers for all of America.
I can remember reading about how some people wanted Christ to say something in their favor so they wouldn’t have to pay taxes but Christ resolved the question for all men and all time by saying “render unto God that which is God and unto Caesar (the Government) that which is Caesar.” But our delicate Democracy is being challenged on the mainland and in the CNMI by the Conservative-right Republicans with the Jan. 6 Insurrection and now by the Conservative Justices who overturned Roe v Wade. Heck, the CNMI has a Governor who has literally turned our delicate Democracy up-side-down for HIS personal intentions. The Governor has challenged our House’s Constitutional authority, manipulated the Senate and now he’s challenging our Constitution and Laws in State Court trying to up-set our Democracy even more, as he has clearly demonstrated that his intentions and his family are more important than the People and our Economy.
Just because the CNMI seems to be so distant from the mainland, some don’t think our lives are not influenced by what takes place on the mainland but they couldn’t be further from the truth if they lived in the Andromeda Galaxy, as Torres IS a “Die-heart Conservative Trumpian”! The CNMI may not be under-siege by White Supremist and protesting like we see on the mainland, but the CNMI has been under-the-siege of Local Supremist led by Caesar (Government Leaders, especially Republicans) for DECADES! I think the Governor has just PROVED how delicate our Democracy is in the CNMI given “what he has done misusing OUR money for his personal intentions, what he is STILL doing by saying our JGO and our Constitution & Laws are WRONG because they don’t favor his actions and what he has failed to do in making the CNMI a BETTER place to live,” which I don’t have to rehash, as it’s all public knowledge now.
There is a history of people on Tinian and Luta who are actually AFRAID to vote any way but Republican which is PROOF and a TRUE TRAVESTY of how our Delicate Democracy can be up-ended by Republicans. We have people who are afraid to even speak-out against the Governor for fear of not being able to get a job and for others the fear of losing their job, as we just witnessed the “Pink-slip phenomenon” AGAIN by the Governor that was met with virtually NO opposition. I was even told that “the people on Tinian don’t eat unless they vote Republican” which is why we hear about the “voting horror stories on Tinian and even Luta” — for REAL! But it does explain why the Senators from Tinian were so bold with their Kangaroo Trial setting the worse example of Governing I have ever seen since the Segregation Era — they don’t care and are not afraid of their BOSS, the People of Tinian — prayers for the People of Tinian, Luta and OUR Commonwealth.
But all hope is never lost for our delicate Democracy because every two & four-years, WE the People get a chance to heal and fix our Democracy. Trump even admitted publicly that the reversal of Roe v Wade is going to hurt Republicans, which is why we can expect many of the Republicans on the mainland will be voted OUT and the same should happen in the CNMI. Heck, the Governor is the BIGGEST RACIST in the CNMI telling the People they shouldn’t FIX Article XII, which “promotes DISCRIMINATION against fellow Americans who have sent close to a TRILLION Dollars to HELP the CNMI since it’s conception — SHAME on YOU Governor! Article XII has also all but KILLED our “Housing & Construction Industry” and some people are wondering WHY the CNMI has it so hard — well, WE ASKED for It with the Conservative Vote. We voted ourselves into this mess with these Conservative Republicans and we can vote ourselves out with the Liberal Democrats if we unite as a majority, so please take your vote very serious because your quality of life and the very future of our Delicate Democracy in the CNMI depends on YOU!
To be continued: One People One Direction.
The writer is an Economist, 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
