Vox Populi Vox Dei

Our fingers did not get stained, which delighted the finicky types amongst us and worried others. Was the election process compromised because of the prospect that some might actually get to vote more than once? A young man came to my precinct without an identification card. He was summarily sent out to go get one before presenting himself again to the Commission on Election officials. There were other safeguards in place that were evidently applied.

The dye was not cast but the die was. The voice of the people has been made clear. At least, of those so far counted. (Fifteen hundred absentee ballots remain to be counted but the trend across the board has been consistent. HD will have to do at least 600, or BB, 700, while the rest gets equally divided, for either to take the lead.) My winning team trails Ben&Tim in the head count. End of story. I am now focused on the fact that the unofficial victors presented themselves as a ‘Can-do’ and ‘Will-do’ duo, so those of us who bothered to take note of their platform, it is time to decide where one may lend a hand. If psychologically predisposed not to, or unable to, then the gracious thing to do is get out of the way.

As in any human endeavor where competition is involved, there will be those eager to claim bragging and gloating rights for what they accomplished. In fact, boasting began even before the first ballot was cast. There’s another shade of gloating that intends to diminish the stature of one party under that of another. It is called kantiao in Pilipino which the English words “mock,” “ridicule” and “taunt” do not fully convey. It is taunting someone over their poor performance, particularly in light of how well one did.

This type of mockery sows seeds of vendetta, which flowers in the springtime of the first opportune chance. It is nurtured by increments of minor slights and seemingly insignificant assaults. One bides one’s time until the ripeness and fullness thereof finally comes. Dormant energy long contained explodes and a vicious cycle of vengeance gets birthed. Sicily has yet to shake off the insidious effect of this practice and tradition.

We wish for all those who vied for elected positions that they be gracious and magnanimous in victory and in defeat. Besides, Thanksgiving is coming up next—an excellent time to get divided kin barbecuing together again. Universal goodwill at Yuletide follows not too far behind. It is time to move on toward a new dispensation. New Year 2006 is only a toot away!

The CNMI Constitution, which is our fundamental plan of government, is due for review and possible change in the next Convention. The U.S. Constitution, ordained and promulgated some 200 years ago, is often compared to that of South Africa’s 1996 minted plan of government. The U.S. Constitution, in reaction to its abortive separation from imperial Britain, is understood best for its protectionist intent. The external threat of the British Navy and the famed Red Coats, felt again in continental America in 1812, constituted a real threat to the continued existence of the former 13 colonies and their Union. Red Coats were poised north of the St. Lawrence River and Lake Erie. We have the ancestors of the Quebecois to thank for keeping the Brits at bay.

In reaction to their former sovereign, the colonies had a healthy skepticism, if not disdain, over the role of powerful central offices. There were those who feared a strong government. There was a bitter aftertaste in being a subject to a sovereign lord. Thus, the American constitution limits the powers of government. It also ensures that power is not concentrated in the hands of a few, creating a structure that separated, balanced, and checked the branches of government’s exercise of power.

In contrast, South Africa’s Constitution begins with its Citizens’ Bill of Rights, a feature the framers of the CNMI Constitution put up front in the Commonwealth’s basic plan of government. The U.S. Constitution is big on rights’ protection particularly from the government; new constitutions aim to have government be rights’ promoting. President Eisenhower went further and identified the military-industrial complex, the collusion between government and big business, as the one to fear. With Enron and Halliburton, not to mention President Bush’s new justification for the Iraq incursion as a defense of the supply of oil, President Ike proved to be prescient.

The U.S. president’s oath of office, which is also used by other installed officials, vows to “preserve, protect and defend the Constitution.” We might start thinking more proactively and say, “promote citizens rights as prescribed by the Constitution.” For a country that prides itself in its ability to effect action, and its resolve to meet a need with a deed, perhaps, the mindset of protecting, preserving and defending something can be shelved for a while.

Ben&Tim promised a can-do and will-do attitude. We do live in a time when the creative challenge is not so much molding new thoughts, or new expressions of feelings, but of making things happen. We have a new reality in our hands, quite different from the conditions of the preceding three decades. Our demographics have changed. The best and the well off among our local Carolinian and Chamorro families have sought refuge elsewhere. Aspiring talents and gifted human resource from elsewhere are here on temporary duty until the next best offer in the new global economy is raised. We pay a hefty price for not being able to keep the best and the brightest of our own to come home, nor crafty enough to keep the qualified and eager alien to stay longer. The time to end protecting, preserving and defending anything is well-nigh. We need to blaze new trails, sail in new currents, surf on risk-enticing winds, and parachute from heights we’ve never soared up to before. If Ben&Tim’s fresh green campaign color points in this direction, more power to them; and may there be strength on our shoulders who need to lean forward to lend a push.

It is easy to say, let’s look for the investment that stays, not just the ones that fly away in a fortnight when the going gets rough and the tough make themselves scarce. Setting the climate to make this happen takes a bit more doing. Then there is relevant education, everyone’s campaign baby. We will have to wait for another column on that one.

For now, let the other gubernatorial tandems and their followers find comfort in the fact that we generally had a civil and lively campaign. Deviance was more in the nature of juvenile pranks than dirty tricks, nuisance rather than serious crime. Pour the bubbly and let’s take the occasion, seek each other out, to press flesh on flesh. We are islanders. Continual discord is a luxury we cannot afford. Goodwill is but a matter of choice.

Today, my Social Studies class begins an intense and concentrated look at “We the People,” a study on citizenship and the Constitution. We’re right on the money!