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A free country
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Posted on Jun 20 2005
This in reply to the governor’s statement that we should all be somber on the days that two individuals from Japan come to visit Saipan. Mr. Governor, I may or may not be somber on either day. I will be happy, sad, angry or whatever feeling I decide I will have on those days, like I do on any day. This is a free country. By you calling them Their Majesties you put yourself under them. They are the emperor and empress of Japan. No disrespect intended to them and their family or to the people of Japan.
Although they have a two-day agenda, they are more than welcome to visit my house and my family. I will not be somber then. We will gladly and happily welcome them and show them our hospitality, offer them something to eat and drink and maybe some interesting conversation, something that they may have never experienced in their lives. We will give them the respect we give to all our guests, nothing more, nothing less. They may be imperial in their country, but they are just like us when they are here. Since, Saipan is U.S soil, and because, the U.S. Constitution does not recognize royalty or station, we are all equal. They just have more people watching out for them.
It is good that they will be here to visit our past because it is also their past, with differing points of view. My only hope is that they realize that the honor given them here is given freely by free people and with no reciprocity expected. I encourage everybody on Saipan and in the CNMI to be happy everyday, regardless of our financial state of affairs.
Duane R.T. Sablan
I Denni, Saipan
