Hawaii almost had 2 in race

Thursday night over dinner, my wife, Sandy, told that she thought that Gov. Linda Lingle, R-Hawaii, would be a perfect VP for John McCain. She is wise. She has run the government well, she is well spoken and she has brought about reforms to Hawaii. We went on to finish our dinner and went to bed, only to wake up the next morning and find that McCain did pick a woman for the VP job - Gov. Sarah Palin, R-Alaska.

Oh well, Hawaii can dream on, as we could have had a presidential candidate in Obama and a vice-presidential candidate in Lingle.

Small states do count. Too bad it was the 49th state, not the 50th, that supplied the candidate for vice president of America!

Some HOT lanes do reach $10 toll

Tom Berg's letter yesterday said that John Nakagawa's letter two days prior claimed that a one-way toll costs $10. Berg says that the highest fare at rush hour peak is actually $4.50, but that is for the toll roads (Highways 73, 241, 261 and 133) of Orange County, Calif. The $10 toll that I believe Nakagawa is referring to is on the 91 Freeway Express (HOT) lanes of Orange County, and those rates are found on a different Web page. The $10 tolls are on the eastbound lanes on Friday afternoons from 4 p.m. to 5 p.m.

(See 91expresslanes.com/tollschedules.asp)

McCain nailed it with his running mate

With all the money the Democrats spent this last week telling the world how great they are, and how they are going to get the fat out of government, they could have fed a lot of children around the world with all that money and B.S.

Now that Sen. John McCain has a running mate, who at least knows something about running a state government, and a National Guard, it would seem likely that McCain outsmarted all of those high-priced Democrats. He saved us a lot of money.

So let me see if I get this right. A woman on the Republican ticket, from Alaska, and a member of NRA, and a mom of five children, and one who want to drill for more oil in Alaska to lower our gas price, I bet she even cooks, bakes and serves apple pie and does the washes, and cleans the truck too.

Now that's a real change in politics, a VP pick with no B.S., just a simple plain American girl. I can vote for that.

Obama's knowledge of democracy lacking

Barack Obama's quote in the Sept. 1 edition of Time magazine, "We've got to be honest and mindful of the fact that different countries are at different phases, have different cultural histories. And if we think that we can just plunge in and, say, create a democracy from scratch in five years, then we're badly mistaken."

My question to Obama is: "Please demonstrate your understanding of how the United States came into existence, then explain how many years it took for the Constitution's framers to envision the country that eventually became the United States, and then for this nation to be formed in principle, to then result in this great nation that has lasted 232 years and has embodied the highest standards of liberty, freedom, progress and personal hope that ever existed."

Let's see if Obama can back up his arrogant assertion that we have failed to produce in Iraq a meaningful democratic framework that, whether it lasts 232 years, at least dethroned a landlord many times worse than Great Britain was with respect to colonies, and provided people with the opportunity to rise above the barbaric government that was previously in control, giving them the chance to better themselves and future generations.

Put your best thoughts on this on paper, Mr. Obama, as I doubt that you have actually thought this through, just as you have failed to adequately analyze the situation in most of our world in your rush to power.

Obama's leadership skills underestimated

In Wednesday's Star-Bulletin, letter writer Arsenio Ramirez Pelayo says that America is not ready for a black president and, maintains that Barack Obama will "never see the inside of the White House except as a visitor."

I have to disagree. I firmly believe that America is hungering for a competent, talented leader of any color. Mr. Pelayo, where have you been for the last eight years as our beloved country has suffered through the most incompetent administration in our history? You want four more years of this?

I can't think of a characteristic more important in a president than the ability to communicate and motivate. Obama is arguably the best communicator of our generation.

You might not agree with his policies, but even Republicans grudgingly admit that Obama has run the most competent presidential campaign ever. His campaign is a glaring, in-your-face testament to Obama's ability to lead and manage.

America will be blessed to have Michelle, Barack, Malia and Sasha in the White House.

Nuclear power could be Hawaii's salvation

I agree with Tom Macdonald (Gathering Place, Aug. 3) that we need nuclear power in Hawaii and if it is prohibited by our state Constitution, then we need a Constitutional Convention. We should consider putting a super nuclear plant on Kahoolawe to support the entire state. If fresh water is needed, desalinate ocean water.

Nuclear power could be the key to allow us to convert from gas-powered vehicles to electric-powered vehicles. If we don't think out of the box, we are doomed to be stuck in it.