Editorials
Friday, November 12, 1999Trask’s diatribe
could backfireIt is hard to imagine what Mililani Trask thinks she is accomplishing by making a tasteless personal attack on Daniel Inouye, Hawaii's senior U.S. senator and perhaps the most popular politician in the state's history. She has demonstrated her paranoia at the cost of causing resentment among Inouye's many admirers.The issue: OHA Trustee Mililani Trask has accused Senator Inouye of trying to derail the Hawaiian sovereignty movement by interfering with federal hearings.
The Office of Hawaiian Affairs trustee called Inouye a "one-armed bandit" in implausibly claiming that he interfered with federal hearings on reconciliation with native Hawaiians in an attempt to derail the sovereignty movement.
Trask also said she preferred to work with the "Hawaiian senator," meaning Daniel Akaka, rather than the "Japanese senator," who she said did not support the 1993 bill, of which Akaka was the chief sponsor, apologizing for the U.S. role in the overthrow of the Hawaiian monarchy. Inouye responded that he supported the apology bill and spoke in favor of it on the Senate floor.
Despite Trask's diatribe, Inouye cannot by any stretch of the imagination be classified as an enemy of the Hawaiian people. He has secured millions of dollars in federal grants for Hawaiians.
In their efforts to secure redress, Hawaiians need many allies among Hawaii's other ethnic and racial groups. Intemperate attacks such as Trask's on one of Hawaii's most distinguished persons, one who has worked diligently and effectively to assist Hawaiians, are liable to backfire by alienating members of those groups.
Gambling in cyberspace
GAMBLING is a thriving business on the Internet, undeterred by national borders and abetted by a gambling culture that has been nurtured by most states. Trying to combat computer betting through federal legislation is not only difficult, it is futile. Lawmakers should close casinos on the ground before tackling gambling in cyberspace.
Authorities are trying -- against all odds -- to chase after operators of some of the 400 gambling web sites that have sprouted up in the past few years.
Many of the American-operated web sites have been set up in the Caribbean, beyond the reach of the federal government unless an operator is arrested on U.S. soil.
That seems to be the Justice Department's strategy. In March of last year, it brought charges in New York against 22 owners, managers or employees of 11 Internet sports betting firms headquartered in the Caribbean. Nine pleaded guilty, four cases are pending, two were dismissed and seven remain fugitives.
The Senate last year approved a bill that would ban all forms of Internet gambling but Congress adjourned before the House could act. It is just as well. Laws against interstate gambling by telephone or wire already exist -- witness the prosecutions in New York -- but are difficult to enforce. More laws are not likely to help.
Hawaii and Utah are the only states that prohibit commercial games of chance. As long as other states permit gambling, some even encouraging it through state-run lotteries, attempts to effectively ban the activity interstate -- much less across national borders -- are hypocritical and unrealistic.
Malaysian elections
ORDINARILY, the calling of parliamentary elections in Malaysia might be of scant interest except for people in Malaysia itself and in neighboring countries. But these are no ordinary times. Malaysia's autocratic prime minister, Mahathir Mohamad, who has been in office 18 years, has become an international figure of controversy.
Mahathir's calling of elections sooner than required by law provides an opportunity to test his popularity after the scandalous treatment he has given his former protege, Anwar Ibrahim.
Observers attribute the prime minister's decision to hold early elections to a desire to prevent nearly 700,000 young people from participating. Most of these young voters are expected to support candidates from opposition parties, but election regulations prevent them from voting until next year.
Anwar, who was formerly Mahathir's deputy, in line to succeed him, was fired last year and then prosecuted on charges of sexual immorality and corruption after disagreeing with the prime minister on economic policy issues. The charges appear to have been trumped up in order to punish Anwar for breaking with Mahathir. The case has provoked criticism abroad and tarnished Malaysia's reputation as a country where the rule of law prevails.
However, the nation's strong rebound from the economic collapse of 1997 makes it unlikely that Mahathir's National Front can be defeated outright.
The opposition alliance warned that the elections could be the dirtiest in Malaysian history. If they are, it will be another black mark against Mahathir and the government he heads.
Published by Liberty Newspapers Limited PartnershipRupert E. Phillips, CEO
John M. Flanagan, Editor & Publisher
David Shapiro, Managing Editor
Diane Yukihiro Chang, Senior Editor & Editorial Page Editor
Frank Bridgewater & Michael Rovner, Assistant Managing Editors
A.A. Smyser, Contributing Editor
