The US Senate fiasco

I am told that the US Senate passed the CNMI federal takeover bill by unanimous consent. This means that our leaders have totally mishandled the local autonomy issue. They completely dropped the ball on the U.S. federal takeover issue. What we have here is nothing less than a dismal record of failure on the most important issue facing our beloved Commonwealth: the preservation of our local self-government.

Consider the statements of CNMI public relations consultant Lynn Knight on KMCV news the other night. “We need to have a calendar of events in our own minds what we’re going to do when and some specific activities that we’re going to engage in this year to get our word across,” said Knight. “I think what has happened in the past is we were largely reactionary. You know, when there’s a hearing come up, we all flurry around and start writing our papers and then we march off the Washington and we’ve done–I think we’ve done– pretty well in those hearings, but it’s not enough.”

In other words, the CNMI government has not done nearly enough. The CNMI government has not been proactive. The CNMI government has not developed a master plan of action to aggressively advance our cause and interests in Washington, D.C. Our leaders have no marketing, lobbying, or public relations plan–no logical plan whatsoever. So that on the most crucial issue of averting a catastrophic federal takeover, we essentially have a lazy, complacent, do-nothing government merely content to passively react to anti-CNMI events.

For the past two years, ever since Governor Froilan C. Tenorio left public office, we have taken a laid-back, nice-guy-finishes last approach to the federal takeover problem. As Lynn Knight points out in her recent MCV interview, the CNMI should continue with its “position papers, possibly putting out some press releases proactively rather than waiting for media companies to call us.

Generally when the media calls from the United States, they’re calling because they’re doing a negative story, not a positive one.”

In other words, the CNMI is not doing what it is supposed to be doing. Our government is not organized. Lynn Knight says: “We can ask the officials that are going to add on some time in their trips to visit with, you know, legislators; and I think another thing we could do is create a list of legislators we know that are possibly on the fence, haven’t made up their minds strongly for or against yet, and maybe we ought to be talking to those people.”

“And maybe we ought to be talking to those people”? Gee, do you really think so? At this late stage in the game, such suggestions seem grossly pathetic and inadequate. For goodness sake, why haven’t our leaders been doing this for the past two years?

When Governor Froilan Tenorio was in office, we WERE talking to those people. Those people (and their people), including House Rep. Tom Delay, were flying out here to see us. Former PIO Mark Broadhurst did contact American newspapers. The CNMI did enjoy some positive press in both The Washington Times and The Wall Street Journal.

What the Hell happened?