Don’t do this at home
THE scene in the Senate chamber on Monday afternoon could have been a sight to behold if only the protagonists were arguing over issues that truly mattered to many CNMI residents: the overdue bonus for the retirees; the government’s other massive financial obligations and how to pay for them once the ARPA funds are gone; the dismal state of the economy, etc.
But no. The shouting match involved a 1) drama-prone senator who clearly was out of order and did not want to abide by the presiding officer’s decision; and 2) another theatrically inclined senator resorting to unparliamentary language and conduct.
And these are the officials who will “solve” the islands’ more pressing problems?
They want to govern others, but they can’t govern their temper.
The real issue
THE governor was impeached because those opposed to him comprise a super majority in the House. If (when?) he’s acquitted in the Senate it will be because those who support him are in the majority, and not because of whatever rules the senators want to adopt.
That said, the rules proposed by the Senate leadership appear to be the political equivalent of trolling aimed at the House leadership. Don’t tell us how to conduct our investigation and hearings, House leaders told those who dared question them. Well, now it’s their Senate counterparts’ turn to lecture about their constitutional authority to conduct the impeachment trial.
You disagree with their rules? Take them to court. Of course, asking the judiciary to referee an election-year political dispute in a separate and co-equal branch of government may result in more legal fees and other costs that will be incurred by the government — over an issue that is supposedly about unnecessary if not wasteful and/or illegal expenditure of public funds.
Whatever. Politics is irony-proof anyway.
Plenty options
SOME of the impeachment proponents like to remind us about the political nature of the process. And yet they also complain about a political outcome not to their liking.
Besides impeaching the governor, they can also recall him. They can, moreover, file a taxpayer’s lawsuit. Or, if it’s an election year, and it is, they can elect a new governor or even senators and a new AG, if they believe the current AG’s “too slow” or, worse, “unwilling,” to prosecute a governor they insist, repeatedly, incessantly, to be guilty of whatever it is they’ve accused him of committing.
Despite the apocalyptic rhetoric of certain politicians, this political squabbling will be resolved eventually through the political process. But not to worry. There will be more political dramas in the future with a new or not-so new cast of heroes and villains.
