Beginning with my June 2008 post "It's Been Five Years," the following is the continuing story of my travels from the United States into Micronesia ~ Pohnpei, Guam and Saipan ~ and my life since June 2003.
Thursday, September 4, 2003 ~ Pohnpei
The AG didn't get confirmed. A seven-seven split, he needed ten of the 14 to be confirmed. And then, sometime later, a senator made a motion to reconsider, which they'll do tomorrow. Some think it was done to send a message. We'll see .... Six of the votes against him were from Chuuk, unknown about the 7th, as it was secret ballot, which I observed. There was no discussion or debate. I'm positive it's because of the three cases I've inherited from the lawyer here who thinks he's John Wayne.
The vote was by secret ballot. But we know the six delegates from Chuuk, plus someone probably from Pohnpei, were the seven against him. There are various theories about why he was defeated ~ including that he has questionable morals, is gay, or a pedophile (none of which I believe) ~ but mine is that the Chuuk cases I've inherited that I've told you about, and the indictment of another Congressman, and knowledge that we're looking at indicting one or two others, is ultimately the reason.
They're cutting off their nose to spite their face and are too short-sighted to see what they're doing. Chuuk is a black eye on this nation, tourism/diving issues aside. I'll probably never dive there. It's the most populated, so has the most delegates to Congress, and is flexing its muscle in very dangerous ways for the future stability of this country, and international (U.S.) respect. It's lawless out there. The U.S. is putting a lot of pressure on FSM about it. The national government is trying to respond, but more importantly, is trying to bring them into line. For a nation less than half that size of the "city" I left, the diversity and racism and factionalism here makes me amazed that it's actually considered a "sovereign" nation. It's not. They know it. Everyone does. There's nothing "sovereign" about them; and sovereignty is actually something I do know about.
Chuuk is the proverbial child that kills his parents, then begs the court's mercy because he's an orphan. There's much my office did wrong in the way it handled various criminal prosecutions involving one defendant, a mayor on Chuuk, all three off which are mine now, but that's form over substance. The locals all believe Chuuk election corruption needs to be brought to justice, but that the way it's been done by mehn why was not Micronesian enough. I agree. When in Rome... These people may be FSM versions of John Gotti and Mayor Richard A. Dailey (sp?) from Chicago, but you don't come in like John Wayne at Iwo Jima. There's a respectful Micronesian way to say ... "I'm sorry, but I have to prosecute you." And that's been a significant bone of contention here. Failure to respect traditional ways, customs, hierarchies. Since inheriting these cases, I'm doing things differently. Too early to see if there'll be any benefit.
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