Letters to the Editor

Friday, April 12, 1996

There are no heroes, so let's retire the word

I agree with Cynthia Tucker's March 16 column, Refusing to stand for the national anthem. A convicted rapist or someone who is disloyal to his country does not deserve to be called a hero. The title hero should be abolished. It implies a super human and there are none.

Irma D. Person-Thomas


H-3 future didn't ride on single vote 10 years ago

A charge unanswered may be believed, so I will again answer the Richard Zieglers who continue to peddle the "fact" that a vote I made in 1986 somehow caused H-3 to be built. That it isn't true won't satisfy the conspiracy theorists, but others may be interested in the facts.

The vote in question was on the entire budget for the federal government. H-3 was one of thousands of items in that budget. A tie or loss would have returned the bill to a conference committee for reworking. That would have delayed a final resolution for a few days, but it would not have killed H-3.

The project had already been approved by wide margins in both the House and Senate. Conference committees may consider only items in dispute, so H-3 would have emerged intact.

I preferred the $800 million-plus to be spent on rapid transit in urban Honolulu. That position did not prevail. This is called democracy. Legislators abide by it and hope to fight and win another day. What they shouldn't do is invent history if they don't like a particular outcome. The public record will make short work of that foolishness, as it does in this instance.

Neil Abercrombie
Member of Congress

We need amendment, but not on same-sex marriage

The argument that a constitutional amendment banning same-gender marriages is morally toxic ignores the fact that the appeals court elevated marriage to a constitutional sacrament.

Ordinarily, it is the law of contracts which guarantees the great majority of legal rights and protections. Mutual powers of attorney would obviate the need for domestic partnerships for the purpose of care-giving and next-of-kin rights in medical decisions. There is no more reason to allow same-gender marriage than to allow polygamy.

There are substantive arguments for changing the Hawaii Constitution, however. The spectre of our governor kicking people off relief, eliminating low-income tax credits and blocking a raise in the minimum wage suggest the need for recall. I'll vote to convene a constitutional convention, vote for initiative and recall, and against same-gender marriage, if it comes to that.

Richard Thompson


Protecting minority isn't historically popular

In a democratic society, it is sometimes difficult to accede to the wishes of the majority while at the same time preventing that majority from becoming a tyranny against a minority group or unpopular idea. Such a situation has arisen several times in the history of the United States, most notably with the issue of slavery in the mid-19th century, the anti-communist hysteria of the early 1950s, and currently the anti-immigrant movement rampant in much of our country. In Hawaii, we find ourselves in a similar situation with regard to the issue of same-sex marriage.

At such times it is imperative that sympathetic citizens outside of the affected group let their voices be heard loud and clear by those attempting to force their narrow or political or religious views on the entire population and to let them know that we will not stand for it. Sen. Rey Graulty, the American Friends Service Committee (the Quakers), and the Central Conference of Reform Rabbis must all be commended for their courageous stands against the self-righteous bigots and hate mongers who are attempting to prevent committed same-sex couples from having legally sanctioned unions.

If citizens had not taken a stand against injustice, slavery and racial segregation would still be a fact of life in the United States. This letter is to add my voice to those in support of same-sex marriages and to encourage others to speak up for equal rights, regardless of sexual orientation.

Ronald P. Schaeffer
Kailua



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