Tina, Ben and the good ol’ boys

It intrigued me to note the recent New York Times article on “arrests on corruption per one million people” with Guam-CNMI being in third position. Though these Mariana Islands have an approximate 250,000 population, graft and corruption is everywhere: department heads, supervisory-level appointees, line crews, name it. Especially those masquerading as elected officials. Just prior to that article was the coverage about the recent death of “Deep Throat” Mark Felt, once the second man in the CIA hierarchy who brought down the Nixon administration nearly four decades ago and inspired the hit movie, All The Presidents Men. To paraphrase what special ops troops say: “Jail them all, let God sort the rest out.”

And then I thought of Tina.

Newly elected Rep. Tina Sablan, only a year ago the tear-swollen Joan of Arc among the thousands of guest workers holding candles, singing and kissing and locking arms—legal or illegal, praying for a miracle to get a free ride to the United States of America deserving or undeserving, never mind—has wisely abandoned this delusion in the aftermath of the U.S. P.L. 110-229, which takes effect June 1, 2009. And now she’s on another crusade, this time against Governor Fitial.

Commendable? I think not. Could Tina strongly desire to be, similar to Deep Throat, the one to bring down the Fitial Administration? Wrong play. Does Representative Sablan strongly believe that Governor Fitial is another Nixon and because of it she’s compelled to become a tick in local history for doing just that? Worse yet. To Tina, the governor’s rights granted him by the CNMI Constitution and local laws to perform his sworn duties for the betterment of the community play no part in her personal motivation. So be it.

But there’s more.

I’ve tracked the “meteoric political career” of Representative Sablan. Unfortunately for all of us, I’ve now determined she has abandoned her original and once admirable premise of why she should be elected: bring good to the community’s well-being by cleaning up the bad mess on the hill. If her heart truly beats to right wrongs, and if her courage can withstand subversion and derision, then she’d be attacking the core of the rot, the malfeasance, and the incompetence: the graybeards and the deadwoods. Surrounding her, sitting next her, interacting with her on a daily basis from both houses are those who have committed crimes, are in the process of committing crimes and without doubt shall commit even more crimes in the future. And that’s besides passing irrelevant and insufferable bills only to be repealed weeks later. In the past, about a dozen elected officials have gone to jail. By reference, there are two guys right now running around up there who should’ve been thrown in jail after they were caught red-handed for hiring and paying “phantom employees” but skirted justice by the hair of their chinny-chin-chin. Those monies paid out amounted to hundreds of thousands of taxpayers’ dollars. And they’re running for re-election. And there’s another guy—who’s battling several other graybeards for the silver chalice of holding the most positions in the Legislature—recently bilked the federal government out of $150,000 free money for a local fish market which bellied-up within a month. He’s running for governor while seeking yet another free federal grant for yet another fish market. That single “crime” is unconscionable on its face. Collectively? If added up, the past and present damage committed by both houses of horror could come out to a grand five-fold-killing to the CNMI, far greater than the $400,000 the governor requires in pursuit of the lawsuit against the U.S., that which Tina has sworn to sue the CNMI government to reveal the source of that money—without a fickle finger of regret.

If Tina’s fervor is such she can articulate an attack on the governor, then why not articulate that same desire to expose the crimes those “colleagues” (to use this term loosely) on the hill are doing? Misappropriation of public funds ? Tip of the iceberg. Like that NY Times article and the Saipan Tribune’s “Flashback” section, these criminals have been well-documented and many, again, being these self-indulging elected officials. Astute readers of “Flashback” can track precisely what crimes were being or about to be, committed by these crypt keepers—and those handful of graybeards who have been in office too long and know how to mask their activities too well. Other than the current federal indictments of Lt. Gov. Timothy Villagomez, former Commerce director James Santos and his wife (Timothy’s sister), and former CUC head Guerrero—the group that allegedly misappropriated more than $500,000 of public funds—are there others yet to be brought to justice? We’d be at fault if they weren’t.

Tina, sadly, is fearful of attacking that core of rot. Tina has discovered she is fighting the losing battle going up against the good-ol’-boys network of the graybeards and the deadwoods. Tina has finally awakened to the stark reality that those creeps on the hill don’t want her to break ranks, or “get on the train…” as they put it, to deprive them of their right to shuck-n-jive, prance and preen and squander over $200,000—each—annually, and run for office ad infinitum.

Thus? Rep. Tina Sablan has cast all her energies to go after the lesser of the two evils and the one easier to attack: Governor Fitial. I once believed Rep. Sablan was on the right course when she was elected to office. It saddens many, and myself, who have followed her efforts and gave her our support. Tina has learned a stinging lesson up there: lofty ideals have no place in smash-mouth island politics. Tina has been chastised.

Tina has given up.