‘Be part of the solution’

I was very glad to hear the governor reiterate what I have been saying to my critics which was “stop throwing rocks from the boonies and the sidelines and become part of the solution.”

He even made an appeal for everyone with a good idea to present it to his office, which is a clear indicator of his intent to work with anyone regardless of their party affiliation in the best interest of the CNMI—a mark of a true leader. I can remember the best principal I ever worked under, Juan L. Babauta, when we opened Kagman High under his leadership. In our first meeting he said to us “you guys teach and I will principal and if you have any concerns please bring them to me but don’t come crying and complaining to me without a solution to your concerns.” I shared this because the governor was right about the rock throwing which I even used to be guilty of when I first started writing but I have learned it is far more productive to get on the team and be part of the solution even if you have to be a “free-agent walk-on” like I’m trying to be with legalization and some other issues. We also have an excellent “non-political” AG for legal and corruption concerns in government and “Flying Rock Letters” will never fix anything because I know from the experience of ugly disrespectful and frivolous flying rocks thrown at me and I’m still standing tall and strong so think about it the next time you want to throw a rock at the administration because rock throwing talk is cheap and it’s definitely not a solution.

The governor really covered a lot of ground in his speech that I can’t cover in this short opinion letter but one thing for true that ran like a thread throughout the entire address was the governor’s ability to “look beyond the horizon” on issues and see the direction that we should be headed on many issues. He is giving us a real chance to be one people headed in one direction to find real prosperity! His address was well thought out and extremely informative demonstrating genuine leadership on where the CNMI came from too where we are now and where he plans to take us. The governor is clearly taking us on a quest for prosperity in every way of life and business in the CNMI and we should all be thankful and supportive of his leadership. He also made it clear that “if you are manipulating our laws and conducting criminal activity” that we (the government and DPS) will get you right on!

I can honestly say, the future looks bright for the CNMI under Governor Torres’ leadership and the American Dream is alive and well in the CNMI. “We the People” can best serve our government and help ourselves by helping the governor instead of throwing rocks that don’t serve any purpose but to cause delays from frivolous distractions as a flying rock never stopped much of anything, just makes things slow down. While there is nothing wrong with genuine complaints about our government there are those who just throw rocks for the sake of throwing rocks from their displeasure of political losses to the incumbents—sore losers playing dirty politics after the election. But, I can’t finish this without recognizing Mrs. Torres for her great job in revitalizing the role of the first lady and the governor for doing a great job. I hope he will continue to keep-hope- alive for the American Dream to be a reality for everyone living in our Commonwealth so we can be great too!

Ambrose M. Bennett
Retired educator