Dems should team up to defeat Bush

If Democrats are really interested in defeating George W. Bush, I have a suggestion.

The 10 candidates for the Democratic Party's nomination should sit down together, and select from among their group a president, vice president and others to fill key positions ranging from the secretary of state to attorney general and so on.

They could run as a team and their collective supporters not only would outnumber Bush's, but also could match the $100 million Bush is getting from oil companies and the contractors who are receiving Iraq reconstruction contracts to rebuild what Bush has destroyed.

Bush has brought our country to a new low, deep in red ink, with record unemployment and hated by the world. He has admitted that his administration lied to us for two years, leading us to believe Saddam Hussein had something to do with 9/11. We also have learned that officials were crying wolf when they said Saddam had smallpox ready to use as a weapon.

Now that Bush has admitted that his key players can't be trusted, it is time to give them all the boot. The Democratic team could do it.

Keith Haugen
Honolulu

Women didn't cause 9/11; U.S. policies did

Am I the only one who was stunned to read that Thomes E. Stuart (Letters, Sept. 23) blames American women for 9/11? Does he actually think that if women gave up their jobs, put on more clothes and retreated into their homes that the rest of the world would stop hating us?

I don't think most people in the Middle East give a hoot about how our women conduct themselves here (though some of their women may be envious). I do think they care about how our giant companies -- run mostly by men -- push our values upon them. I think they care how we have made their kings and dictators rich in return for oil, while the rest of the country is impoverished. I think they care how we send bombs and troops there whenever we feel threatened. And I know they care that we have supported Israel, which practices its own form of terrorism on the Palestinians. All these things have been wrecked upon the Islamic world mostly by white men. That's why the terrorists hate us so.

Bryan K. Mick
Kailua

Judge Sakamoto is a man of integrity

Tuesday night's headline "Hawaii circuit judge kept quiet his ties to mayor" was unfair to a well-respected judge, the neighborhood board system and Hawaii's married couples.

As a long-time neighborhood board chairman, I know how difficult it is to recruit qualified neighborhood commission members. Kalene Shim Sakamoto is neither paid for her work nor does she garner influence with politicians or business people. It is unlikely that this community service is even a major discussion item between husband and wife. It is unfair to chastise a judge for not disclosing that his wife did volunteer public service.

Certainly the headline was misleading because it was clearly not Judge Karl Sakamoto who had a potential "tie" to the mayor, but his wife. This distinction indeed makes a difference. In most Hawaii marriages both spouses work at different jobs and perform different community service. Not even a Hawaii judge should be held accountable for all the intimate details of a spouse's volunteer service to the community.

Judge Sakamoto does his job with integrity. Criticism of him is unfounded and way too manini!

Richard Turbin
Honolulu

France is no enemy of the United States

Amid rumors that the Bush administration lied to the world in order to wage war, pundits such as Thomas L. Friedman insist on calling the French the "enemies" of America (Star-Bulletin, Sept. 18), thus fueling xenophobic frenzy among the mobocracy.

The United States has spent three decades vetoing any U.N. resolution vaguely critical of Israel, with little regard for repercussions. For 30 years, those repercussions have meant attacks on Europeans in acts of terrorism claimed by pro-Palestinian groups too cowardly or unskilled to strike on U.S. soil.

That changed on 9/11. French president Jacques Chirac was the first head of state to visit Ground Zero, while the newspaper Le Monde announced, "We Are All Americans."

While we pour Chardonnay down the sewers in a pathetic gesture of contempt, one more American dies in Iraq. Had the French and our other "enemies" -- Canada, Russia, Germany, Brazil, Mexico -- had their way, that American would be looking forward to the holidays instead of ending up as a casualty of war. As we choose our friends carefully, we must mind whom we call our enemies.

J.P. Muntal
Kaneohe

Roughwater swim had many helping hands

The 34th Waikiki Roughwater Swim on Labor Day was a challenging event for swimmers and support teams. We are grateful to the members of the event's dedicated safety group who assisted more than 260 swimmers in the Labor Day race. We also want to recognize the City and County of Honolulu's ocean safety and Fire Department, the United States Coast Guard and the Outrigger Canoe Club for their help and support.

Our 350 volunteers want to thank all those who swam and those who assisted us in our event. We recognize the cooperation and support given to us by the community, government agencies, the Waikiki Hotel Association and numerous individuals involved in ocean swimming. Their help has proven invaluable to us.

Open-ocean swimming is a challenging sport with unanticipated outcomes. This year's swim certainly underscores that point.

Ted Sheppard
President
Waikiki Roughwater Swim Committee, Inc.
Wailea, Hawaii

Private prisons aren't better for inmates

Why is the state of Hawaii continuing to house prisoners in privately run prisons owned by Corrections Corporations of America? A privately run prison is not necessarily a less expensive or safer institution than a state facility.

Hawaii is spending nearly $26 million a year to house more than 1,200 inmates in CCA prisons. A December 2002 Department of Public Safety report says that as of June 30, 2002, the number of inmates out of state was 1,232.

This report states that if more than 1,100 inmates are housed in a CCA prison, the cost drops from $50 per inmate per day to $46.90. At a total of 1,232 inmates, taxpayers fork out $21.1 million a year. I am guessing that the extra $4.68 million is in costs not covered by the legislation (for example, medical expenses).

I believe that if all in Hawaii knew of the abuses of our inmates rights', as well as the understanding of what a "for profit" prison is, we all would be more willing to bring our inmates home. House them at home, with state and federal laws that give them rights instead of at a "cut corners," for-profit outfit that has no care for any inmates, as they are considered commodities, not human beings.

Gene Phillips
Aiea