Our delicate democracy under siege

To be sure the founders of America knew they were creating a “delicate democracy” that could be torn down by any number of opposing forces, including forces from within. There is no doubt our democracy is being challenged more than ever since the Civil War by forces from within to the point that the most sacred right of women over their body, the right to fair voting, and even the right to marry whom you love are being challenged and even taken away. Americans are falling prey to those who want to overturn voting in favor of the conservative minority. It has been mostly white Americans, especially the conservative Republicans who are hell-bent on dictating the overturning of rights and taking America backwards. Losing these rights is the result of a dying breed of conservatives who want to see America remaining the same as it was some 50 years ago and the same is true in the CNMI. I keep reminding readers that the Republican Party in the mainland and in the CNMI by the very definition of conservative do not want to see change! There can be no real growth and change under Republicans and the state of America and the CNMI is proof that conservatism is truly bad for our nation and our Commonwealth.

In fact, there are actually locals who still believe Ambrose Bennett can’t say “this is his Commonwealth too” because I’m Black and from the mainland, even though I’m as much American as they are. When Trump won the election, I actually predicted in my book the rise in white supremacy and domestic terrorism. But the saddest part about this rise in white supremacy is that there are actually Blacks and Hispanics who actually think they matter to the conservative-right. There is even a Black Supreme Court justice who thinks he is one of them, which has made me ashamed that he is a Black man who thinks rights need to be taken away from women, voters, and even gay people to marry.

But the great thing about our democracy is that our nation was founded on real principles and values that have stood the test of time, which is why all the ugly things being done by the conservative-right will eventually be overturned for a second time, as the mass protests in the mainland are just the tip of-the-spear fighting to stop and reverse all the wrongdoings by Republicans. The principles of democracy, freedom, equality along with the morals of America have indeed created a more perfect union that is still evolving, yet the conservative-right Republicans want to play god in a futile attempt to try to keep things the way they were under the full control of whites in the mainland and locals in the CNMI.

Our delicate democracy is being challenged in the mainland and in the CNMI by the conservative-right Republicans with the Jan. 6 insurrection and now by the conservative justices who overturned Roe v Wade. Heck, the CNMI has a governor who has literally turned our delicate democracy upside-down for his personal intentions. The governor has challenged our House’s constitutional authority, manipulated the Senate and now he’s challenging our Constitution and laws in state court trying to upset our democracy even more.

Ambrose M. Bennett
Kagman III, Saipan