The last stretch...
I read the Oct. 19 letter by Gordon Ignacio that urges voters to "support our local boy governor." Without mentioning Linda Lingle by name, the writer refers to her as the "newcomer's choice" and cautions that if the local boy (Cayetano) doesn't win, it could mean a "loss of our local way of life." The letter goes on with such hysterical nonsense as to compare this possibility with the overthrow of the Hawaiian monarchy over 100 years ago. Voters should remember
we were all newcomers onceI'm a registered Democrat who has already voted (by mail-in ballot) for Cayetano. However, I resent such prejudice against newcomers. Everyone in Hawaii, including Hawaiians, is a newcomer or the descendant of somebody who was a newcomer once. Being a newcomer does not diminish the value of a person's point of view.
And it does not mean that a person does not have good values. Any local person who says that has a narrow mind and should examine his own, obviously prejudiced "values."
Joseph O'Brien
Stop dwelling on negative this campaign season
Tough economic times often breed cynicism, anger, frustration. Human nature tends to dwell on the negatives too much and that can paralyze us.That brings me to a story that Governor Cayetano told during one of the televised gubernatorial debates. He talked about a young man, Edgar Silva, who left Hawaii to start a career in the aviation industry because there weren't jobs in his field here. Now Silva has returned to our islands because the governor convinced Continental Airlines to build a special airline hangar that requires the specialized skills of people like Silva.
We don't hear enough of these successes. But I'm heartened by the fact that people's dreams of returning home to Hawaii are coming true in a big way. Maybe we need to stop snarling and complaining about what we cannot do.
Instead, we should start taking note of Hawaii's success stories, which tell us more about what we can achieve as individuals and as a people.
Amalia Bueno
Waipahu
Governor won't face reality about dismal economy
There's an old adage that goes, "The first step in solving a problem is to recognize that there is one." The governor seems to have his head buried in the sand most of the time. When he does come up to breathe, he puts on his rose-colored glasses.We can't solve Hawaii's financial problems with Cayetano in office. He doesn't think we have any.
Donald Allen
Only Cayetano can bring true change to Hawaii
I am frustrated too with the economy. I want to see changes. Some people are saying they are voting for Lingle because they think she will be able to make the changes to improve the economy.But how will she do this? No plan has been presented. Because she's a Republican and the majority of legislators are Democrats, and the state workers will have a difficult time working with her team, how can anything happen?
The economy is finally improving, unemployment has decreased about 1 percent over the last year, tax revenues have improved recently and home sales have seen a big increase. Our state's best bet for continuing the trend is Cayetano.
Florencio Barroga
HSTA did poor job polling public school teachers
In response to your Oct. 28 article, "Five economists suggest Cayetano has rose-colored glasses on," I just wanted your readers to know:
Budget director Earl Anzai better go back to college. Our economy has not improved while his boss has been in office. I would rather believe an economist than someone who has a biased opinion and who also may be at fault for our troubled economy.
I was one of many teachers who did not receive any survey in the mail. Also, our union sent out this survey in the summer, when the majority of teachers go on vacation. Real smart, HSTA.
I am a concerned citizen and teacher, and another teacher for Lingle.
S. Shadron
Kapaa, Kauai
Bankruptcies show economy hasn't improved
Governor Cayetano's statement that he has taken Hawaii from a nearly $800 million deficit to a projected $300 million surplus is simply preposterous. With Hawaii being one of the leaders in the nation for the number of bankruptcies, is there any thoughtful citizen who truly believes our state is in the midst of a $1.1 billion transformation?The governor's assertions illustrate once again a fundamental truth: Money is the means most used by politicians to manipulate and deceive the people. And wasn't it under the tutelage of then Governor Waihee and Lt. Governor Cayetano that our state's assets were squandered, resulting in the $800 million deficit?
We are moving toward a new virgin future in which the old consciousness of domination, manipulation and instillment of fear that now permeates Hawaii's political arena will not be able to solve our myriad of problems. May the young signorina from Maui be victorious!
Carlino Giampolo
Cayetano is proud of lack of scandals
It's hard to make news of things that don't happen, so I'd like to point out the lack of scandals associated with the Cayetano administration. In contrast to our prior governors, Cayetano picked his cabinet members on merit, not loyalty to him or the desire to give them paybacks at public expense.This is the hallmark of a man who has integrity, intelligence, a commitment to fair and effective government, and someone who is not afraid of a diversity of views. This is why I will be supporting him on Tuesday.
Primo Racuya
Kailua
Public workers should back Lingle for governor
As a dues-paying member of the Hawaii Government Employees Association since 1975, I felt outrage and embarrassment on hearing that some union officials were telling government workers that they will lose their jobs if they vote for Linda Lingle for governor. Not one public employee has lost a job or experienced a paycheck lag on Maui while Lingle was mayor.The biggest threat to public employment job security in Hawaii is a weak economy. In his book, "With Obligation To All," former Governor Ariyoshi, a Democrat, said it all by reminding us that government never created a single self-sustaining job. The private sector has that responsibility which, in turn, is the source of tax revenues needed to pay for government services and public employee payrolls.
Public employees will be doing what's best for their own job security and all working people in Hawaii by voting for Lingle for governor.
Kenneth A. Kanter
Kailua
Construction is improving thanks to the incumbent
Construction jobs increased in August. That's because Governor Cayetano had a plan for increased construction funding, got it through the Legislature and is releasing the money.Governor Cayetano will continue to improve our economy. That is why I'm supporting him!
Peggy Uehara
Despite the best efforts of a magnificent media machine, the voters of Hawaii will not be deceived. The issue in the traditional marriage issue is exactly that: the definition of traditional marriage. We will vote "yes" to preserve it. Same-sex Marriage Amendment
Vote ‘yes’
Society certainly has
right to 'discriminate'The fine folks over at Starr Seigle, a great advertising agency, were smart enough to recognize that they could never sell the voting public on the idea that gay marriage was a good idea. So Starr Seigle took the only approach it could -- trying to reframe the debate in terms of "rights" and "discrimination." No sale.
To discriminate -- "to distinguish by discerning or exposing differences" -- is not only a right but the duty of society. It is done all the time.
As a society, we have decided that a man and a 12-year-old girl may not get married, because we discriminate against minors and pedophilia. A man and his daughter may not get married (even though both might be consenting adults), because we discriminate against incest. A man may not marry more than one wife because we discriminate against polygamy.
Society discriminates against many things for the common good. The current issue is no different. The majority of our society has decided that marriage must not be allowed between two partners of the same sex, and we prefer that our elected representatives set these rules rather than politically appointed judges.
Gary Langley
Kaneohe
(Via the Internet)
Remember that blank ballots support same-sex marriage
The issue is do we want same-sex marriage in Hawaii. A "yes" vote will support marriage between one man and one woman. A "no," blank or spoiled ballot allows the Supreme Court to legalize same-sex marriages. The explanation of ballot questions shows only the meaning of "yes" and "no" votes. It does not show that blank and spoiled ballots count as "no" votes.Joseph G. Williams
Justices are hell bent on warping Constitution
The framers of our state Constitution rightly wished to protect our citizens from discrimination based on gender. But the present Supreme Court has unjustly and arbitrarily decided that the original intent must have been to protect homosexual relationships.Utter absurdity, yes, but characteristic of a court bent upon furthering a particular social agenda.
Terrence Fujita
Press is trying to influence voters with propaganda
Why do the liberal media lump civil rights with gay issues? Being gay is a choice, not a right. Often the media exploit violence against gays to magnify their leftist views, as if there isn't any violence or crime being committed against straight people. I see no connection, only that the far left has purposely taken tragic incidents and spun them for its own political agenda.James Hardy
(Via the Internet)
Hawaii is target of a gay agenda because of liberal courts
Hurrah for A.A. Smyser's thoughtful Oct. 13 column on the same-sex marriage issue. He correctly points out the deceptive scare tactics being used by gay/lesbian national activists to push marriage on the people of Hawaii.First, they targeted Hawaii rather than the other states because they figure our courts are liberal and our population accepting and easily deceived.
Second, they correctly researched what the people of Hawaii cherish and beclouded their marriage thrust. They threaten to impact abortion, put us all back into internment camps, roll back "civil rights" to Martin Luther King days, etc., unless we give them what they demand.
None of these hot-button scare issues has any bearing whatsoever on this issue. But it is confusing, isn't it?
Guess what, Hawaii, that's what they are counting on. If you're confused enough, you'll vote their way or not at all, and then they win.
Jane Wylie
Bible clearly explains what marriage should be
I take exception to the comment made by Lutheran Pastor Don Johnson, who said, "Jesus Christ would vote no, because he was concerned about justice for everyone."According to Holy Scriptures, here is what Jesus said about traditional marriage: "But from the beginning of the creation, God made them male and female. For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh, so then they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate."
On Nov. 3, vote "yes" for traditional marriage.
Melvin Partido
Pearl City
(Via the Internet)
Gay marriage is not a civil rights issue
This vote is not about protecting our state Constitution. It has been modified an average of nearly twice a year.This vote is not about civil rights, since neither the federal Supreme Court or any of the other 49 state supreme courts have concluded that homosexual marriage is a civil right.
This vote is about who will define marriage: our elected representatives or a group of radical liberal judges, who were elected by no one. This is a vote about democracy.
D.R. Neill
(Via the Internet)
Same-sex marriage:
Past articles
Many people who are against same-sex marriage and are voting "yes" next Tuesday hold strong views about what they understand to be the "sin" of homosexuality. But I also know that a large number of people voting "yes" do not base their objection to same-sex marriage on fundamentalist religious beliefs or any other black-and-white condemnation of homosexuals. Same-sex Marriage Amendment
Vote ‘no’
Kind-hearted 'yes' voters should
search hearts againThese people, my own parents among them, are compassionate, tolerant, good people who just so happen to treasure their own sexuality and deeply honor marriage as traditionally defined. They are decidedly not homophobic zealots!
As the father of a 30-year-old gay man, I have come to accept my son's homosexuality. And my love for him never wavered from the moment I heard the news 12 years ago.
Nevertheless, the thought or sight of sexual affection between men is still unsettling to me, as it is to virtually every heterosexual male I know, however tolerant toward gays he may be. And why not? Homosexual love goes against our intrinsic sexual nature.
But you know what? I learned that most gay men have the exact same visceral discomfort with the thought or sight of sexual affection between men and women, strange as that may seem in our predominantly heterosexual world. And for the very same reason no doubt: It goes against their intrinsic sexual nature.
The opposition to same-sex marriage by caring, tolerant people stems from the internal discomfort they feel when compelled to think about something that is by nature distasteful to them. My parents have nothing against gay people. They love my gay son just as much as their other 14 grandchildren.
But because, like the rest of us, they dislike being forced outside their comfort zone, they simply choose, perhaps unconsciously, not to think about the deeper issues of fairness and human rights at the heart of this highly emotional issue.
If they did, many of these people would realize that, as valid as their own discomfort is, denying homosexuals the right to consecrate their committed love in marital union is inherently unfair. And it is deeply hurtful to our friends and loved ones who happen to be gay.
Yes, a marriage between two men or two women may be a shocking notion. But remember, the idea of extending rights to women and blacks was similarly outrageous to many good people not so long ago. We cannot grow unless we stretch our boundaries from time to time.
Martin Luther King once said, "The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice." On Tuesday, we can help that arc bend once again, setting an example of moral courage and human compassion for all the world to see.
To the open-minded and loving people who are preparing to vote "yes," may I respectfully ask you this: Are you really sure you want to open the door to amending our constitution to restrict rather than expand individual rights -- for the first time in Hawaii and U.S. history -- because of your personal discomfort with homosexuality, understandable and genuine as that discomfort may be?
By the way, Mom recently changed her mind and will vote "no." Dad's mulling it over.
Ron Jones
Kihei, Maui
'Common sense' argument hasn't always served us well
Some ads are talking about "common sense" regarding the marriage vote. Common sense is a good thing. But it has also pointed us in the wrong direction.Common sense once told us the Earth was flat, the sun revolved around the Earth (Galileo spent the last years of his life under house arrest for that one), no one could break the four-minute mile and that if we traveled faster than the speed of sound, we'd disintegrate.
Common sense tells us that things are solid, but physics tells us that solids are mostly space. According to common sense, the white race was entitled to black slaves, and the Japanese would never bomb Pearl Harbor. This list could go on and on, but you get the picture.
When it comes to the rights and responsibilities of marriage, I'd rather our state be governed according to the Constitution than by "common sense," which isn't common at all. Besides, a "yes" vote will just send this issue back to the Legislature, the folks who never solved our car insurance and economic problems. Vote "no" to nonsense.
Tracy Bennett
(Via the Internet)
Don't begrudge rights to gays, whether adults or children
A reader wrote recently and said that she's afraid her children would suffer if we allow same-sex marriage in our community. But what if one of them grows up to be gay? How might he or she suffer then?John Sender
(Via the Internet)
Hawaii has a history of supporting equality
As the Save Traditional Marriage ad agency looked though its playbook, do you think it consciously decided to lie in its ad? I'm talking about the one that discusses the origin of the court case.The STM ad agency is playing on our fear and pride: Island people don't like being told what to do by outsiders. When outsiders tell us, "Do this, do that," we get defensive. The fact is it's a totally local issue. Bill Woods, a local civil rights advocate, found the local couples who wanted to marry and the local attorney.
Part of the ad is inadvertently true: Hawaii is fertile soil for equality. Everybody's a minority. Because civil rights are deeply rooted here, we were the first to legalize a woman's right to choose and the Equal Rights Amendment. A "no" vote sustains that tradition of civil rights for all citizens.
Jan-Michelle Sawyer
(Via the Internet)
Same-sex marriage:
Past articles
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