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Honolulu Lite Charles Memminger |
Power to the people
is short circuiting"Those people are so pathetic," my friend Ima said. "They've lived with the heavy boot of oppression on their necks for so long that now that they have a chance at true Democracy they are afraid to take it. Instead of stepping up and supporting a new type of representative government, they cower in the corners, bullied by remnants of the old regime into remaining silent. How can you help people who won't help themselves?"
Ima, or Ms. Ginary as she is known to those who hardly ever see her, sometimes gets a tad excited.
Look, I said, you can't blame the Iraqi people for being a bit shy in embracing Democracy. They've been under the rule of one party for generations. Democracy is completely foreign to them.
"Who's talking about Iraqis?" she said. "I'm talking about Hawaii residents."
You lost me, I said.
"For 50 years, Hawaii's been under control of one political party. The party's told them what to think, what to do, who to vote for and woe be it to anyone who crossed it. If you wanted to do business with the state, you'd better cough up campaign donations. If you wanted a job in high office, like a judgeship, you'd better tow the party line. And what did it get the people? Highest prices in the country for everything. Crumbling schools. Crumbling roads. Crumbing sewers. If another country did to Hawaii what politicians have done in the past 30 years, we'd declare war on it."
WHOA, GIRL. Things aren't that bad. Those "pathetic" people you're talking about, elected a Republican governor.
"Yeah, and look what's happened. The Democrats in the legislature are staging a coup. They are trying to suck power from the governor's office so they can control the state."
The people won't stand for it, I said.
"Hah!" Ima scoffed. "They're not only standing for it, they're standing at attention. Heil Legislature!"
You're being overly dramatic.
"Yeah? Look what's happening. Voters clearly want major changes to improve public schools. But Democratic legislators won't even let them vote to SAY they want to say something about. It's like, 'when we want your opinion, we'll give it to you.'
"One thing residents did make clear is that they don't want those damn traffic cameras. But legislators are trying to bring them back. The fact that people don't like being under surveillance doesn't matter. And now, Democratic legislators want to keep secret the names of organizations using the Convention Center, which, last time I checked, the people paid for. One senator went so far as to say that legislators will let the people know who is using the Convention Center when they feel like it. And the sheep are going along with it, afraid to speak up."
You make it all sound kind of scary.
"It's more than scary," Ima Ginary said. "It's pathetic. Hard to believe Iraq may get a true representative government before Hawaii does."
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Charles Memminger, winner of National Society of Newspaper Columnists awards, appears Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays. E-mail cmemminger@starbulletin.com