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Changing Hawaii
IT'S Admission Day, when all but the most fervent supporters of sovereignty celebrate Hawaii's anointment as the 50th state. Time to brush off the hibachi, gather 'round the grill and grumble about stuff in the news. Importance of voting
comes back to hauntNo shortage of controversies this month:
Former attorney Tom Foley is pardoned after serving only three years of a four-year minimum sentence for negligent homicide. In 1995, while driving legally drunk, he rear-ended a car at a Moiliili intersection and killed a man.
Civil-rights attorney Dan Foley (no relation to Tom) is confirmed to the Intermediate Court of Appeals despite protests by foes of same-sex marriage.
The clamor continues over the name shift of the beloved University of Hawaii football team from the UH Rainbows to the "H is for Hawaii" Warriors.
Ahem. Before hard-core haranguers launch into their tirades, they might want to check their hypocrite meters.
People have the fundamental right to rant, thanks to freedom of speech. But unless they voted for governor in 1998, how dare they squawk about issues that might have been affected by their participation?
Every gubernatorial election (as well as presidential race) has massive implications for the residents of Hawaii. Yet two years ago, only 400,000 islanders or less than 70 percent of registered voters actually went to the polls.
As a result, Republican gubernatorial candidate Linda Lingle -- endorsed by both Honolulu dailies -- lost a close one to the Democratic incumbent.
So what's happened since then? Among a myriad of momentous events:
Now, before the guv's new press secretary calls to point out that AD Hugh Yoshida was not hired during her boss' six years in office, may I point out that Cayetano isn't shy about voicing his opinion.Tom Foley was pardoned by the governor.
Does anyone doubt that, if the changes at UH had annoyed him, Cayetano wouldn't have sent word down to Manoa that nobody should be messing with a decades-only tradition like the name of the Rainbows?
PERSONALLY, I have no problem with the mandates on Tom Foley, Dan Foley or the new UH moniker. But folks who do, yet didn't vote in the '98 governor's race, should zip the lip.
A few thousand more bodies in those voting booths might have affected the way this state is being run, and the key decisions now being made.
Ah, well. It's all moot and we're at the mercy of a lame-duck governor for two more years (heaven help us), so let's look forward. How about promising to vote this fall -- and not only for Al, G.W. or someone else for president?
It's common knowledge that Jeremy Harris, if re-elected as Honolulu mayor, is the favorite for the state's highest post in 2002. If he'd make a good future governor, support him. If not, back another mayoral candidate.
On this Admission Day, make the admission that every vote affects what we could be complaining about later this decade. Or whether we should have the privilege of griping at all.
Diane Yukihiro Chang's column runs Monday and Friday.
She can be reached by phone at 525-8607, via e-mail at
dchang@starbulletin.com, or by fax at 523-7863.