Musical chairs

You’ve played it yourself: heart pounding, circling chairs, itching to sit down before the other guys, music stops, all fall down? For the worse, it seems, for us because all of it was fixed: the chairs, the music, the guys and gals.

In reference to the government, someone wrote in a recent op-piece “everything is broken.” How more true could he have been and it marks the state of our government. How? Same old tired tune, same old tired promises, same old tired faces all going in circles to nowhere. What do I mean by this? There’s only two religions here: election time and voting-by-barbecue. This makes for a rotten-to-its-core culture of corruption, ennui and incompetence that’s impossible to break, particularly in the lawmaking body. It must be broken in order for this community to survive. Even the newly elected lawmakers are beginning to look old like the other prehistoric guys on the hill doing the same decrepit dance, following the same old tune. They can’t get a real job, so why not get elected? And, unfortunately, their type of nose-picking “leadership,” for lack of a more insidious word, corrupts our youths’ thinking, preparing them to do as their elders do.

And then there’s those appointed to positions of authority. If they’re not in one agency, they’re in another—and yet another—along with the continuing baggage of incompetent hires called family and friends working alongside them, chewing betel nut, shuffling papers and waiting for that fat paycheck at the end of the rainbow called the Retirement Fund. Those same old faces bouncing around different chairs. How can we break this cycle? Bring in new people with vibrant ideas—those not from here and outside this good ol’ boy network—who dare to challenge the corruption and incompetence and stop our government from being broke.

This community is fortunate Governor Fitial was elected. Certainly, we are going through “bitter times” but not of his doing. Aside from the Democrat Party-elected Governor Froilan Tenorio, who generated the most revenue during his tenure, Covenant Party-elect Governor Fitial shall go down in history as the only one who sincerely desired to correct the government-cancer created by all previous GOP governors and the GOP-controlled local congress before him. And we’re talking the 30 years of corruption since I’ve been here.

Can we bring in new people? Yes. Immediately to mind is appointee to the CPA board, former congressman Waki. This recommendation goes for John Oliver Gonzales who has thrown his hat in the ring for the Washington representative position. Let’s bring back former congressman Salas, he deserves another shot. And why not the guy in the jaunty Aussie hat, Jack Angello and “Bear” Guerrero, both educators who lost their bid in the last representative race? But more specifically, where our future leaders will come from: our local schools. Ambrose Bennett should be the next commissioner of BOE. All of us already understand his position of “common sense” and what he can do for our children. As for the other two candidates, I like their pretty smiles, but that doesn’t make it right.

Our community will reap the benefits from these new faces and the caliber of leadership they can bring to our community, instead of the never-ending retreads throughout all the agencies, the departments and the Legislature. As long as this rot at the core of our culture exists, this tradition of being paid to do nothing, our community cannot be saved. Then let the Feds take over everything.