Honolulu Lite
Charles Memminger
I first met Mark Bennett while covering federal courts many years ago for this paper when he was an assistant U.S. attorney putting bad guys in prison. But I really got to know him playing golf, although "playing" doesn't really capture the essence of those weekly outings. (And to be honest, it's probably unfair to refer to our pathetic flailing away at the dimpled sphere as "golf.") New attorney general
swings a big clubMark didn't "play" golf. He waged war against the other members of the foursome. He did it in an affable way. And with his thick glasses, goofy baggy shorts and a golf swing seemingly designed by a Disney cartoonist, he didn't look the part of a ruthless competitor. But with a handicapping system he designed that would have baffled a mathematics professor and savant-like knowledge of the sport's most arcane rules, Mark routinely came out the winner at the end of the day. And this was despite the fact that he had just taken up the game and was lucky if he could get the damn ball in the air half the time.
A "real" golfer, after watching our zany group finish up a round, asked Mark why he didn't take some lessons and actually learn to play golf. Mark said something to the effect of, "I don't play golf, I play them," pointing to us. And by "playing" us, he meant that he went out to beat us -- every day -- and in any legal way he could.
Mark walked away from a lucrative private law practice to join Gov. Linda Lingle's administration as attorney general. Why? He was as good at "playing" law as he was playing golf. And when you win in law, you don't get a couple of free beers at the 19th Hole, you rake in heaps of money.
I'D LIKE TO think that Mark took the job as attorney general because he wanted to perform a public service, even though it would mean losing probably millions of dollars in income over the next several years. But I suspect it was the thrill of victory that called to him those days when organized crime figures underestimated the dorky-looking prosecutor in the oversized suit.
So it didn't surprise me that the attorney general just filed a $49 million lawsuit against one of Hawaii's most visible retailers, Duty Free Shops. Sure, there's a war on, the local economy sucks and Duty Free has been able to duck and dodge its way out of paying the state back rent for years. That doesn't matter. Contracts are contracts, rules are rules and Mark Bennett has stepped up to the tee. The game is on.
I won't be surprised when Mark files suit against gas giant ChevronTexaco for allegedly bilking Hawaii out of nearly $600 million in taxes. And I won't be surprised if some criminal charges also are thrown in.
Because, despite his goofy, boyish looks and affable manner, this is the way Mark Bennett "plays." God help those on the other side.
Charles Memminger, winner of National Society of Newspaper Columnists awards, appears Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays. E-mail cmemminger@starbulletin.com