Thanks Taotao Tano, Public Auditor and Feds

I just want to express my appreciation for Taotao Tano’s efforts in pursuing an investigation of CUC. Although Greg has not always supported me, he and Taotao Tano are still due this appreciation. In my culture and language of Ebonics you must give a person their “props” (due appreciation and respect), especially when they prove themselves right. I must also thank the Public Auditor for doing an excellent job in providing the badly needed check on our government. Needless to say, I was shocked to find out it was true but not surprised after the Washington incident and, although we know people are innocent until proven guilty, it is very unlikely the Feds are wrong in this case. The Feds don’t make many mistakes, especially with such a high profile individual. I have compassion for the accused and their families and I will pray for them.

But more important is that maybe the mass suffering of the people arising from CUC problems will now take a turn for the better. There is no telling what will be discovered nor will we ever know how much the alleged criminal behavior has affected the degradation of the situation at our power plants. I feel sorry for the accused but I am very happy for the people. I am just thankful the Feds are on their job and the arrest also re-affirmed my strong belief that it will take the Feds to save the people of the CNMI from their own leaders. All of those who boasted “we can do it ourselves” can now shut up because the proof is in the details—you can’t!

Further proof is in the details of the Feds’ own admission about the detrimental impact of federalization, which is something every citizen with common sense knew but our leaders were so busy playing politics and couldn’t wait for the process to correct itself before we started fighting. The administration should have been fixing the power problem from Day 1 and now we see the bigger picture of the problem. We are also right back where we started with the feds and in all the fuss and fighting we destroyed considerable political real estate in Washington by approaching the challenge of federalization in a fighting mode.”

The power situation is now at an all-time low and the administration is still waiting to see what the Feds are going to do about federalization. All I can say is thanks to Taotao Tano, the Public Auditor and the Feds for the vigilant persistence in your efforts to protect and serve the people of the CNMI—a job that is really designated for the Executive Office in our Constitution. I’m sure people with common sense, even those who were complaining about federalization, have found a new appreciation for the Feds because it’s clear the Feds are the only ones doing the protecting where we need protecting most. This whole thing with the power was really a wake-up call about our politics and I can only wonder how many citizens that weren’t already awake got it.