For those who didn\u2019t see the forum held on the Marianas Agupa Show, it was truly informative and eye-opening as neither candidate could \u201chide or avoid being exposed for what they really are,\u201d which is why the governor was a no-show. It was awesome that Mr. Glen Manglona offered the forum for the people and he even hinted at another forum before the election. But before I get to Tina and Arnold, I must agree with Mr. Manglona about the governor not having a legitimate excuse for being a no-show as he could have participated from anywhere on the planet and he didn\u2019t even offer an apology or anything \u2013 the old silent-strategy he and Arnold have been using ever since hoping voters will just forget.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
But more importantly, I believe the governor is finally realizing that he is dun, as we say in my culture in our ebonics language- for my critics. The recent FBI visit to witnesses and the issuing of subpoenas has really signaled the final notes being played in the governor\u2019s swansong, as the governor now knows for-true that the feds are going to arrest him. I\u2019m sure he didn\u2019t want to answer questions about him facing RICO charges but, like my fellow activist Fabian said, \u201cRalph will show up on his radio show to try and change the narrative\u201d with his deflecting and gaslighting show.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
A brief synopsis of what transpired in the forum, as it\u2019s too much to write for this limited letter.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I want to be fair to Arnold but he made it really hard for me by doing more \u201cstory-telling than answering questions.\u201d While Tina pledged to \u201cend the corruption, the nepotism, favoritism, and retaliations firing.\u201d Arnold did not make that same pledge, just said how bad it was and agreed with Tina. Tina even pledged that she and Leila would drive their own cars, pay their own power bills, and a list of other reforms that will end the abuse and misuse of our money\u2014leading by example. While Arnold did a lot of agreeing with Tina, which was a signal that he really can\u2019t distinguish himself as being different or even better than Tina. The only difference Arnold tried to highlight was the \u201cA & D experience of 60 years\u201d while Tina and Leila actually have 40 years of experience. Tina even has a broader base of experience than Arnold having worked in our Congressional Office in Washington working with the federal agencies who continue to help the CNMI.\u00a0<\/p>\n
When it comes to leadership, Arnold was talking about \u201cpicking up the phone and calling the college, asking the departments to prioritize what needs to be done (deflecting), and even claiming ignorance about our money which Tina did concur to being true about how Ralph and his secretary of Finance keeping secrets but Tina had real plans. The only good thing Arnold said was his dissatisfaction with the many projects that he and the governor started but virtually none of them have been completed\u2014duh! I know the Sugar Dock people are still waiting. Arnold even said, \u201che would often just take-it-on-the-chin (give-up) and even be silent about incomplete projects\u201d which should have told listeners that Arnold is not a fighter for the people but will swallow his pride for politics and being able to stay in office. Arnold only promised to \u201cgive it their best\u201d which tells me he does not have a real plan and is definitely not the one we need.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But Tina was right on point with the questions and her answers as it was clear she had done her home-work and didn\u2019t need to read from a list of things like Arnold and she had a real answer for all the questions, not stories. I won\u2019t even try to tell readers all the good things that Tina said as people will think I\u2019m just biased and even lying. I\u2019m encouraging all voters to go online and listen for yourself as it was in English to accommodate every voter. Tina was more than convincing that she is the better candidate with an \u201carray of plans to improve our economy and our quality of life. See for yourself, as I don\u2019t want readers to even think I\u2019m trying to sway their vote, as I\u2019m confident the truth that Tina is the best candidate will speak for itself if readers will take the time to view and listen to the forum.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Ambrose M. Bennett<\/strong> For those who didn\u2019t see the forum held on the Marianas Agupa Show, it was…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":331239,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-374981","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-letters-to-the-editor"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/374981","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=374981"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/374981\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/331239"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=374981"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=374981"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=374981"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nKagman<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"