Grandstanding poli-tricks!

It was very clear to me that Pedro Paduna R. DL Guerrero was outright “grandstanding and poli-tricking for Arnold and Dave with his public outburst to complain about the Democrat Party chair and vice chair. This is the same Paduna who told me to shut up in our strategy meeting when I was pushing for the former independents to join the Democrat Party and it should be noted that Uncle Herman R. DL Guerrero even apologized to me for his brother’s ugly and unacceptable behavior. Paduna has a history of being disrespectful but he was treated with the utmost respect as he was the leader in our strategy sessions but it seems he doesn’t respect leadership unless he is at the helm.

First, he is not a Central Executive Committee member and when a person is given “proxy” powers, it is a formal matter that is supported with formal notification, which did not happen. Paduna just showed up being disruptive in what was clearly a closed-door meeting for CEC members only, thinking he could run the show, which was disrespectful and totally unacceptable.

Secondly, Paduna needs to be made aware of the fact that Nola and Danny are not running for office, so his complaints about them is really moot. Furthermore, Paduna has not been active with the Party since the addition of the former independents and for him to show up grandstanding and complaining seems more like it was planned than happenstance, especially when he ended up supporting Arnold and Dave invoking the lie of them “restoring trust” when they are part of the reason there is no trust. I personally think he was a Republican spy all along and I guess he thinks voters are stupid too, just like the governor who thinks he can tell us anything and we will accept it at face value.

Third, it was also Arnold and Dave who called for the meeting and they were entertained merely out of genuine respect, but now it is clear even that was a set up for Paduna to try and sling mud on the Party. Arnold and Dave are diehard Republicans who would never run as Democrats. Now we can see why Arnold and Dave called for the meeting—just to grandstand and do some poli-tricking to try and improve their chances, which are dismal. As most of us with common sense know, they can’t restore a trust when they did nothing but just sit back and watch the governor destroy people’s trust.

Paduna wants voters to think he is a Democrat who is dissatisfied with the leadership when he hasn’t been a full-blooded Democrat since 1981. He has been aligned with Republicans and has worked for and with the Republicans until recently when the FBI conducted their raids and it was obvious Gove. Torres’ political career is on borrowed time. Now that Arnold and Dave have surfaced, he wants to change banners again because the Democrat Party wouldn’t let him take over, which tells me his poli-tricking show was more about spite, vengeance, and poli-tricking as he isn’t fooling anyone.

Paduna, along with Arnold and Dave, know that the Democrat chair and vice chair are nice people who don’t want to deal with the ugly poli-tricks that are being played but there are others in the Party who don’t mind doing the heavy lifting and getting dirty to clean up things. So Paduna, Arnold, and Dave and any other Republicans had better learn how to play fair and above board.

FYI, Paduna, you are the only one leaving the Party for politics and Rep. Sablan and her running mate will represent a brighter future, not restoring the same old GOP BS as the days of the “good ol’ boy Republicans” are over.

Ambrose M. Bennett
Kagman, Saipan