IT is no secret that “LOYALTY” is the glue binding the Republicans together, not Truth & Justice FOR the People. Their loyalty has even gotten to the point of them figuratively leaping-off a political cliff with no parachute given their deviation from what is “Right & Just” FOR the People being second to working FOR the Governor. But there is a saying among GREAT Leaders who demand loyalty which says “loyalty above all else except HONOR.” I’m sure readers already know the Governor and HIS Crew in the House have already lost what little honor they had left with the Governor ignoring our Constitution and Laws and his Crew in the House claiming IGNORANCE as their rational for voting against the impeachment. Senator Hofschneider already invoked “vengeance against the House with the rules” and now Senator Cruz seems ready to declare “war against the minority” like this is Russia and acting like Russians!
It’s really no surprise to see these Republican Senators about to take the leap with the Governor putting their LOYALTY above and before the HONOR that WE the People endowed upon them. I guess these Republican Senators didn’t hear or don’t believe me when I said “WE the People are Not Stupid” — they are literally DARING Voters to fire-them as if “WE the Voters don’t matter.” I guess WE must teach them that “OUR Laws and WE the People Matter”! For Senator Cruz to claim “they (Senators) saw some things in the JGO Hearings that they thought was not fair” yet they didn’t say a word like we see our Representatives in the House speaking-out FOR the People. The Senate’s silence, like the Republicans in the House were silent, was not about respecting the Process & the JGO but about giving them an EXCUSE to do their LOYALTY Dirty-work. Why didn’t the Senators say something on behalf OF the People just like those Republicans in the House who claimed ignorance when they had every opportunity to get the Information & PROOF that they didn’t want to see anyway — not fooling anyone with an objective and Open-eyes.
I’m sure most people with common sense will agree that there is a “line” that one must not cross when it comes to being loyal to someone or thing and that line is “honor.” Violating our Constitution and Laws are dishonorable acts that one would think our Senators know but they are playing ignorant like their counterparts in the House. Honor and Respect are usually gained one teaspoon (person) at a time but they can be lost by the gallons (hundreds and even thousands of People) at a time. I’m sure the Senators are NOT gaining voters with their disrespect FOR the JGO, our Constitution and even a fellow Senator.
Running away from the Republicans is becoming a National Phenomenon that is happening all over the mainland and it even happened here with Republicans dropping loyalty in favor of HONOR, including the Governor’s own god-son, who voted to impeach the Governor.
I just wonder if there is even “ONE Republican Senator” that will drop the Loyalty and be Honorable FOR the People and our Laws. Judges & Jurors are supposed to be “unattached to defendants & honorable obeying the laws” but the Senate is redefining themselves even partying with the Governor clothed in Loyalty with Honor nowhere to be found within nor among them.
The Republican Senators from Tinian and Luta who continue down the path of Loyalty are surely going to find JUSTICE at the end of that road come Decision Day 2022! Senator Cruz seems to think he and the others are standing on firm ground with their skullduggery that isn’t fooling anyone who is loyal to our Constitution & Laws, just “deflecting the issue” and giving their LOYAL voters some ridiculous rationalization to continue following Republicans. But I beg to ask the voters on Tinian and Luta to ask themselves “what have these Senators done for OUR Island lately” like Janet Jackson says in her song. Just look at your islands and the awful quality of life that continues to force residents to leave YOUR islands. If voters on these two islands can’t “see and feel the need for change” then prayer and divine intervention may be the only hope for Tinian and Luta to improve their economies and life for the Better!
After seeing what they are doing in the Senate when they haven’t done ANYTHING of substance to “help Tinian & Luta, using the bonus for the retirees to give the Governor POWER he never needed before to pay the bonus nor does he deserve, the government’s massive financial obligations and how to pay for them once the ARPA funds are gone.” We the People must think about fixing the ENTIRE CNMI, not just Saipan and to do that Tinian & Luta need NEW and BETTER Representation or ALL of us could continue to be at the mercy of Loyalty to the Governor over our NEEDS & WANTS — it’s really that simple. Senator Cruz is not fooling anyone by getting on the case of Senator Manglona who is CLEARLY fighting FOR the Laws and the People. In fact, Senator Cruz is helping to prove that ALL the People of the CNMI need NEW and BETTER Senators from Tinian & Luta, as they are the real PROBLEM for acting like WE the Voters don’t Matter — for TRUE!
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
