Ambrose M. Bennett
THE Truth is this is my 123rd message of Truth, not to mention the other hundreds of Op eds & Letters to the editor, yet it still hasn’t sunk-in that “WE the People must CHANGE if the CNMI is to become a BETTER place to live & work” as the migration to the REAL America continues! I would like to think that everyone who took U.S. Government in Highschool knows that “WE the People are Owners & Bosses of the Government & the success of government DEPENDS on citizenry.” I’m also sure most adults know that “if the Boss doesn’t say or do anything that the business (of government) can & will go awry, which is what WE have been witnessing. And guess what, the CNMI may NEVER be like the mainland when it comes to “being the land of opportunity & prosperity” which was the whole purpose of joining the American Family. However, the “citizenry REQUIRED in our Federal System” that WE see on the mainland DOES NOT exist in the CNMI, as WE have pretty much just “let them do what they want to do WITHOUT any protest when things go awry.” WE need to start taking real notes from OUR counterparts on the mainland who have over 200 years of experience in being “informed & active citizens which are “the two-keys By Design, to having a successful government in our Federal System. But WE have allowed this fatal flaw in governing to exist for entirely too long which is why our leaders “Have-No-Fear of their Bosses”!
I can’t overstate the IMMENSE Importance of Citizenry in having Local Activists Leading THEIR People in protests “For or Against” an issue, as “outsiders” like myself can’t do it for you nor can Fabian do it alone. In fact, those who proudly boast “this is MY Island” need to “walk-their-talk” and act like it’s your island, WE need YOU! I’m sure it is clear that most of our leaders have failed us in entirely too many aspects of our economy and quality of life. At best, they have only “managed the CNMI” when WE need “liberal foresight & fortitude committed to reform & progress for the CNMI to be Better! It’s really funny & sad Ambrose speaks more about “change, being better, reforms & prosperity” than any of our elected leaders who should be using these terms. FYI just ask yourself, what has the person you voted for did or said to give you hope of Better to come. Yet Ambrose is supposed to be the villain if “you believe the BIGOT Saipan Man, the Dems, Republicans & your lying eyes” – LOL to keep from crying it’s so sad! But Citizenry requires “people to put the welfare of us ALL before their desires, party & family,” as it’s not an “election popularity contest” with virtually No One being elected on their MERITS. WE are also experiencing “issues being SAVED for election season” like they have been doing ever since on Legalization. FYI, the last Cannabis Chair who got the most votes in his precinct for creating “band aide legislation only for Government employees” but he didn’t fix the real problem of dissolving the Cannabis Commission. Heck, they couldn’t get legalization right from trying to delete some of the first draft authored by Ambrose – see the problem with BIGOTRY!
It should be duly noted that the Feds only spent around 286,000 dollars to “educate the People on being an American” and needless to say it was not enough! The FACT that “Public Participation is Vital to an Accountable Government TOO the People” has yet to prevail in the CNMI causing All of us to succumb to Poli-tricking Leaders instead of having Local Activists to “support and/or protest” the actions or lack of actions BY the People’s Representatives & Senators. WE need real Local Activists beyond our elected leaders, like our counterparts’ examples on the mainland. FYI, President Obama was an “Activist & Organizer” before his other achievements. Being a Community Activist is a perfect example of citizenry and even the perfect platform for one’s political beginnings. Being an activist is something that can help to change the CNMI for the Better and even immortalize you in the annals of CNMI History. For TRUE, you can BET more People know about Ambrose trying to make a difference than a lot of leaders, which speaks volumes to Ambrose being Real & FOR the People!
Remember when Arnold chose to save his relative Joe Palacios’ job over the NEEDS of ALL the People to dissolve the Cannabis Commission it was a pure act of nepotism but not so much as a whisper from his Bosses – the People, yet they complain in secret among themselves. Arnold would have been Politically Massacred BY the People Protesting on the mainland, but you can’t tell he did anything wrong in the CNMI – see the problem with the lack of active-citizenry, especially when the Dems are silent and the Legislature “Fails-to-Do checks & balances and Oversights.” Heck, Ralph gave-away BOOST and WE still haven’t gotten all OUR money back & Arnold gives away OUR Taxes for TAYA guaranteed, yet No Oversight! If WE the People are to ever see real change with “Branded Businesses returning and tourists in meaningful numbers,” then WE the People must CHANGE as the Real Bosses. First and foremost, STOP this “Party Bandwagon Politics” and DEMAND “platforms that you can hold them accountable for implementing.” WE the People must bring our A-Game and do OUR Homework to get informed by “demanding & reading their platforms” as their platforms are KEY to how you should vote and how you can tell if they are even “worth-Ur-vote.” The sooner WE start voting to teach “political lessons to Republicans, Democrats & Independents that WE have had ENOUGH of their “poli-tricking games” the sooner the CNMI will start moving towards progress. It’s YOUR (every citizen’s) responsibility to “Demand Better & to FIRE those who fail to Do as their Bosses expected,” prosperity is WAITING on YOU!
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 & Religious Scholar who resides in Kagman III in the U.S. Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.
