Honolulu Lite
Honolulu Lite
Capitol focus should
be on isles, not IraqOur state legislators are confused. At least the Democrats are. They apparently think they were voted into office by the residents of Iraq instead of the residents of Hawaii.
Why else would they be wasting time worrying more about the imminent threat of harm to innocent civilians of Baghdad than to harm facing the innocent homeless civilians of Ala Moana Park?
It might make Democratic members of the state House and Senate feel warm and fuzzy to pass resolutions against the possible U.S. war with Iraq, but that's not what they get paid for. The Hawaii state Legislature is not a national policy-making body. Members should be working on improving the quality of life for Hawaii residents, not squandering time debating international hypotheticals. Every citizen has a right to contribute the discussion on whether the United States should liberate Iraq's suffering inmates, but I doubt any boss is going to let employees conduct such moot court exercise on the company's time. When state legislators meet, they are meeting on OUR dime and our time. And they should be should be conducting OUR business.
FOR INSTANCE, there are innocent civilians right here at home who could use help. Hundreds of homeless are being chased out of Ala Moana Park with no consideration as to where they will end up. Some will go to shelters, others will find new hidey-holes in hedges and some will be arrested. Are our state representatives and our state agencies doing anything to help these desperate individuals?
No. Well, one state agency has been intimately involved in finding housing for one resident of Hawaii. It has spent hours negotiating with property owners to make sure that this one resident has a comfy, safe place to live. The agency so concerned about a single Hawaii resident is the State Department of Agriculture, and the resident in question is Rusti, a 270-pound orangutan.
The Department of Agriculture struck a deal with the foundation that owns Rusti and the managers of Kualoa Ranch to make sure that Rusti has a dry and secure home.
If Rusti's lucky, he'll eventually have several acres to himself, like Koko, the talking gorilla who's getting a huge spread on Maui. The state of Hawaii treats its apes better than its humans.
There are entire organizations out there fighting for Rusti's rights. One, Citizens for Humane Animal Practices, isn't thrilled that Rusti's going to Kualoa Ranch. They would rather he go, I suppose, to the Kahala Mandarin Oriental.
Why isn't there a group called Citizens for Humane Human Practices to represent those homeless people being cleared out of Ala Moana Park?
Maybe when our state legislators are done blowing wind about Iraq, they could see if their Department of Agriculture can come up with a place for our homeless humans to stay.
Charles Memminger, winner of National Society of Newspaper Columnists awards, appears Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays. E-mail cmemminger@starbulletin.com