It’s time to shape up

Virtually every governor and Legislature has failed to provide sound leadership for the Commonwealth. And none of the candidates for governor or the Legislature is capable of successfully leading the Commonwealth for as long as we continue to elect individuals with greedy ambitions and destructive agendas. All that exists today—all the infrastructural inadequacies, the ever-increasing drug and crime stats, the dismal success rates of our educational system, the exodus of quality investors, the struggling tourism industry, etc.—are the distasteful fruits we’ve cultivated for over 20 years since we elected our first governor. Fruits our children and their children will be harvesting.

We have been shamefully poor stewards of the many blessings we’ve had—either God-given or generously funded by the labor and toil of stateside American taxpayers. We’ve yet to appreciate and respect the beauty of our islands and have allowed both our streets and natural allure to go down the wayside. We have not exercised wise and sound fiscal management of these blessings since we became a commonwealth of the United States. We, through the leaders we elected, squandered nearly every cent, every inch of land, turned a blind eye to environmental destruction for personal greed. Corruption reigns on these islands and those who are the least righteous among us are asking for our votes! The problems are front and center, and the cause is not right under our noses, but even closer right AT our noses. Yes, WE, the voters.

Come Election Day, are we really concerned about our islands, about our future as a whole, about the real issues? I don’t believe so. It’s all about voting in relatives, all about me, me, me; what can I get from this joker: a cushy government position, my very own transformer, paving of my road, etc. etc. It’s never the thought of voting for the common good so it goes both ways. We can’t fault our elected officials 100 percent, we’re equally to blame. Greed keeps the wheel of our politics spinning. For nearly three generations we have been voting for inept and corrupt relatives that have been bought and paid for by special interest groups. With that mindset, we’ll forever be damned to a Third World existence.

And understand this, it’s not the brains of our leadership that steer our islands; it’s the consultants and lawyers of special interest groups who bed our elected loved ones. And in recent years, they have been the sleazy variety due in large part because of our island charm of frustrating quality investors who later bail out on us or just thumb their noses at us, knowing there are other more attractive islands and governments that will welcome them with a cooperative spirit of equitable reciprocity rather than greed, antagonism, and undertones of self-gain on the part of our politicians. And because their lives have been made comfortable by the more unscrupulous of investors, our leaders forget our woes while they continue to customize legislation in favor of their puppeteers, many times jeopardizing our existence by threatening to cut ties with the United States in the guise of wanting complete sovereignty for the sole purpose of continuing to pander to these groups without the watchful eye of the federal government.

Frankly, the choice of prospective leaders we have on the ballot leaves A LOT to be desired. We must look at the issues at hand, look at each candidate and their running mate as that is just as important because the running mate can wreak as much havoc as No. 1 in further plundering our precious few resources. Disregard the candidates’ innuendos about their opponents’ extra-marital improprieties and other distracting personal issues—that does not address the fix we’re in.

No matter who is sworn in next year, either a new governor and lieutenant governor or the incumbent duo, we MUST keep an active role in holding our leaders and their appointees accountable for their actions or inactions. If our constitution allows it, let’s impeach them after two years, recall them, prosecute them, let’s just let them know we’re not going to sit complacently and wait for their term to run out. We’re not voting for a potential life-long mate by looking for Mr. Right, yet settling for Mr. Will-do. We demand true leadership; too much time and resources have been wasted. We’re looking for a true leader, a Mr. Can-do. And a message to the incumbents: should you get reelected, pray for a more cooperative Legislature, overhaul your Cabinet, and be sure that the both of you appreciate the confidence of the people to reelect you and return us the favor by restoring the pride, the dignity, and the luster of the Commonwealth. Screen your calls carefully and work for the islands as a whole, not your relatives, not your cronies, not your godparents, etc. If you have our backs, we have yours.

J.L. Camacho
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