Palin underscores Obama's inexperience

GOP vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin's speech Wednesday night was extremely impressive in making the point of Barack Obama's inexperience as a rookie senator and community worker, as compared to her work experience as a mayor and governor of Alaska. The Democrats now have a real problem on their hands with this new star of the GOP. The Democrats will continue to preach that Palin is no Hillary Clinton, but in my opinion, Palin is much better than Clinton, Joe Biden and Obama combined.

Snide remarks obscure America's progress

Regarding "Obama seems to be ashamed of Hawaii" (Letters, Sept. 2): Barack Obama is not responsible for promoting Hawaii. He used some of his private family time to meet with his supporters here.

No other presidential candidate since JFK has spent one minute here. Most of us understand that a candidate's time and money are limited and their efforts must be concentrated in areas where voters are in question, not where they are assured. He came here despite snide comments from TV commentators who emphasized Hawaii/Obama as exotic, strange and therefore threatening. The man is not a traditional candidate - he's not just black, he's mixed race. His father was African, his stepfather Indonesian and his middle name is Hussein. He has never hidden that, but the Democratic convention was the time to emphasize his mainstream American appeal.

Unfortunately, there are many otherwise decent people who might respond to his platform but feel threatened by all that, and they vote. Remember why Hawaii is the 50th state - the establishment had trouble accepting as fully American a state where there is no Caucasian majority. Obama is living proof of progress and provides hope that the divisions in this country can be bridged.

SAT scores reflect a devolved citizenry

The "silence was deafening" regarding the recent report that SAT scores are unimpressive both in Hawaii and nationally.

My initial reactions were disappointment and then anger, but my anger is not directed at the "system." Rather it is directed at the "general citizenry," who have "devolved" to the status of "too dumb to be governed." Combining that status with a government that is "too dumb to govern," makes for a scary situation.

Perhaps this is part of the devolution of a society that is fundamentally "self-centered" accepts mediocrity as "normal"?

To me, the "energy" devoted to our transportation infrastructure these days is "obscene" when compared with the "energy" spent on our educational infrastructure, which is fundamental to the development and survival of our society.

Will someone explain to me what there is such indifference and misplaced emphasis?

Car expenses much higher than rail costs

In response to Janet Jensen's letter (August 23), it's cars that don't work out, not rail. Two of my coworkers said they spent $100 a week on gas and $60 a month on parking. If we estimate that they spend $1,200 a year for insurance, $200 a month on car payments, and say $120 a year for car registration and safety checks, that means they spend about $10,000 a year on their cars! Multiply that by about 500,000 drivers on Oahu and you get $5 billion a year spent on cars! That's far more then the cost of rail. Downtown the median price of parking is more than $300 a month! Compare the cost of your car, even just for the commute to work, to the amount of rail and you will probably find that the cost of rail is far cheaper. At the median income of $12 per hour, even if you spend 100 percent of your gross income on rail it only comes to $10 a month. That's less then the cost of gas increase in the last four years.

Airport security keeps tourists from coming

It has been reported that tourism numbers plunged 14 percent for the month of July.

The biggest impediment to tourism, possibly overshadowing the economy itself, is the treatment our tourists receive going through the airports.

Osama bin Laden has been in a grave for almost seven years, according to the foreign uncontrolled press. Even were he alive, Osama could not dream of wrecking Hawaii's economy more completely than the TSA has.

"Al-Qaida" means "The Base," but in Arabic slang it means a toilet. "Ana raicha al-Qaida" is colloquial Arabic for "I'm going to the toilet." While one might question whether a genuine terrorist group would call itself "the toilet," there is no question that Hawaii's economy is in "the toilet" because of the abuses of airport security.