Trask has double standard about sovereignty issues
Mililani Trask makes my blood boil. It's OK for her and her Ka Lahui followers to hold constitutional conventions, but it's not OK for the rest of the Hawaiian people.It's OK for Ka Lahui's nonprofit arm, Pono Kaulike, to take government grants, but it's not OK for other organizations to do so.
The members of the Hawaiian Sovereignty Elections Council and Ha Hawaii have fought and won some of the biggest Hawaiian homelands and ceded lands legal battles against the state, but Trask calls them state-controlled and vilifies them in public.
At a recent Kualoa gathering, she showed her contempt for Ha Hawaii representatives by heckling them loudly and making obscene gestures as they spoke.
For years, she's pushed for Ka Lahui control of Kahoolawe, ceded lands and the alii trusts. From day one, she's made no bones about wanting to destroy the Office of Hawaiian Affairs.
I'm terrified of what she'll do if she's elected.
Kuuleimomi Amina
Bill Clinton is best political con artist
The American people are adamant that Bill Clinton is the greatest man ever to hold the office of president, bar none. His charismatic personality has made him the greatest political con artist ever.His brilliance is reflected in the 70 percent of intelligent American people (mostly women) defending his political performance, depraved character, immoral principles and lack of wisdom to further permit the destruction of this nation and the moral principles our founding fathers intended and documented in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution.
Clinton proved Lincoln wrong -- he can fool most of the people all the time.
Mat Arashiro
President should have cleaned up at home
That President Clinton is more sorry about being caught than he is about lying, and that he lacks the moral fiber to really be responsible for his behavior is further evidenced by the fact that he forced those who want the truth to follow him to a news conference in Russia.A truly honest and repentant president would have cleaned up his mess at home rather than spread it around the world.
Bill Thomas
Cayetano is right to protect Hanalei
I felt like cheering when I read Governor Cayetano's stand on Kauai's North Shore boating issue. He is 100 percent right in concluding that all tour boats should be removed from the Hanalei estuary.I'm impressed that, in addition to Cayetano's realization that we must preserve what we've got, he chose this time to say it. His stand has upset some of his major supporters.
Politicians just don't do that, especially not a month before the primary election. Wow, have we got a statesman in our midst?
Now it's time for the state to begin working in earnest with private industry, to find another staging area for tour boats that will be practical and will provide reasonable access to the Na Pali Coast.
Georgia Mossman
Kapaa, Kauai
Maui's retail community suffers more than Oahu's
I had been straddling the fence in the Lingle vs. Cayetano race until a visit two weeks ago to Oahu. As a resident of Maui for 13 years and a small-business owner for six years, I am compelled to share my observations.When I went to Oahu's major malls, I found virtually no unleased spaces at Kahala, Pearlridge or Aloha Tower Marketplace. I had expected to find drastic sale signs everywhere. Nothing of the kind, except an occasional sale rack in the corner of stores.
Now journey with me to Maui. Our biggest mall, Kaahumanu, had some vacancies before it doubled in size a few years ago. It still has major locations open and unoccupied.
Our other main mall, The Cannery in Lahaina, is a frightening sight. It has "temporary leases" to an art organization to keep it from looking empty. But, as a result, nearly half of the spaces in that mall are filled with this local art.
The lesser malls are no better. Lingle should be ashamed of the horrid conditions on Maui.
Mckenna Hallett
Puunene, Maui
Lingle's campaign is gaining momentum
I am heartened to read the latest reports on fund-raising by the gubernatorial candidates. It shows that, in spite of Governor Cayetano's best efforts with the "Stop Linda Lingle Bill" and the Campaign Spending Commission's reduction by half of her eligibility for public campaign matching funds, the people are voting with their wallets.Cayetano's support from architects, engineers, lawyers, corporations, unions and many others who receive contracts with the state won't be enough. Most of Lingle's contributions are coming from small businesses and individuals. They are willing to donate what they can to see that this election isn't about who has the biggest campaign bank account or who has the biggest corporate sponsors.
It's about who has the best ideas.
Latha Tornquist
Ewa Beach
Race isn't good reason to support candidates
Filipinos should not vote for Governor Cayetano or any other person of Filipino descent merely because of ethnicity. By the same token, no one should vote against someone due to ethnicity.Vote for candidates based on their individual merits. By voting with narrow mindedness we as Filipinos basically say it's OK to be biased or racist.
Let's be educated voters and demand politicians with substance.
Jerry Maltezo
Kapolei
(Via the Internet)
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