Curse makes Cheney unsuitable for office

Saying the f-word to Sen. Patrick Leahy automatically should have disqualified Vice President Dick Cheney as President Bush's running mate for a second term in the White House. American voters, regardless of party affiliation, cannot accept a man as their leader if he lacks control of his emotions and mouth.

Cheney should have quickly told the president that he is no longer qualified to be his running mate. That would have allowed Sen. John McCain to be a potential vice presidential candidate. A Bush-McCain ticket would have guaranteed a second term for Bush. Gov. Linda Lingle should call the president quickly and tell him to distance himself from Cheney because he is no longer respected as a leader; or trusted to be a heartbeat away from the presidency.

Bernardo P. Benigno
Mililani

Rumsfeld isn't only one who should resign

Stuart N. Taba's July 19 letter to the editor regarding Defense Secretary Rumsfeld's resigning due to "honor," Japanese style, did not go far enough.

The whole Bush administration should resign and hide themselves in shame for what they have conspired and thrust upon the American people and the world with this war in Iraq.

My only question is, how does Bush & Co. maintain a 45 percent approval rating? If General Motors or Ford built cars like President Bush runs the country, the litigation from lawsuits would put both companies out of business within a year!

Paul D'Argent
Kihei, Maui

Passengers feel TheBus improvements

On behalf of riders of TheBus Route No. 5 from downtown to Nuuanu, mahalo to Cheryl Soon, director of the Department of Transportation Services; Clyde A. Earl, chief of the Public Transportation Division; the folks at Oahu Transit Services; and Mayor Harris.

Those of us who ride this bus in the afternoon have been plagued by poor service: Buses are supposed to come every 20 minutes or so, but waits of 45 to 50 minutes have been common.

Bus drivers, trying hard but clearly frustrated, told us construction on Kuhio Avenue in Waikiki and congestion near the University of Hawaii caused delays on the long route. At the end of a work day, waiting for the bus on a narrow sidewalk and breathing the fumes of SUVs with solo passengers, that was not much consolation.

In response to our pleas, when school resumes in August another bus will be added in the afternoon, starting from UH and running up to Nuuanu. Thanks to TheBus authorities for listening.

Peter Rosegg
Nuuanu

Debates are best way to examine candidates

The mayoral campaign is picking up. Signs are marring our beautiful aina, and in some areas, fences carry both candidates' signs. It seems that the candidates are trying to outdo the other, all on one fence. Advertisements are hitting the media with accusations hurling to and fro. But what is the truth?

Kudos to the Waikiki Neighborhood Board for sponsoring the mayoral forum. That is the way we can find out where our candidates stand. However, I have heard that while the Hannemann camp has agreed to open debates, the Bainum camp has refused further debate formats and will only accept non-rebuttal forums. What good is that? If our future mayor is not able to think on his feet and discuss intelligently, what kind of image would he project before world leaders?

Let's let the people hear the issues from both sides. If Duke Bainum pushed for Bill 10 affecting farmers, as Mufi Hannemann says, let's have a discussion from both sides. If Hannemann is a longtime politician, like Bainum says, let's see how long Bainum has been in politics by bringing this up at a debate. If both candidates' attendance at City Council meetings was questionable, let's hear about it.

I encourage community organizations to push for more mayoral debates with rebuttals, and get to the truth. If one camp should refuse, the reason should be brought to the attention of the news media.

Kenneth Mau
Kaneohe

Council courageous in overriding vetoes

I can't find the words to express how proud I am of the Honolulu City Council members who voted to override Mayor Harris' vetoes of budget items ("Council restores budget vetoes," Star-Bulletin, July 15). At last, we have a Council with the courage to stand up to the mayor and provide the checks and balances between the executive and legislative branches that are so important to our city government.

John Pritchett
Honolulu

Democrats need bigger constituency

Thank you, Richard Borreca and the Honolulu Star-Bulletin, for the insightful two-part series about the Republican renaissance, with the second installment in the July 19 paper.

The Democrats might want to realize that "we are the party of the working man" is just not going to cut it. The Republicans in Hawaii seem to be hard-working people. They have learned to adapt, work hard and survive. Can't we all do this?

Sen. Colleen Hanabusa has heart. She cares. But what could she possibly mean by saying that "Democrats stand for a leveling of the playing field?" I assume she doesn't mean "tearing down" the field. So, does she stand for handicapping the Republicans as if they were hot-shot amateurs in a golf game? Hanabusa has as much chance of leveling the playing field as she does in controlling the future. You can prepare; you cannot control. Instead of leveling a field, why doesn't she teach her constituents how to play on it?

Looks like our governor is going to house some homeless. She is planning to build shelter for people who are living in parks, on the streets and in the gutters. She is just helping people survive, helping them get to where she can then put into place a way for them to help themselves.

The winner of this game, the group that will run Hawaii for the next 50 years will be the group that understands all the people -- the growing rich, the growing poor and the narrowing group in between. All for one and one for all. Ain't it sweet?

Jim Cone
Honolulu