Senator's defeat shows power of people
State Sen. Cal Kawamoto played fast and loose with campaign contributions and it cost him his job. Good. I can't think of a better way for voters to get the attention of elected officials.It's hard to believe, but some politicians just don't get it. We're tired of having them thumb their noses at ethical behavior. We're tired of having them say they didn't know they were breaking the law. We're tired of all the favors to special interests.
The people have an awesome tool that can help them regain control of their government. Vote.
Mililani
Pocket bike riders need a park, too
I recently purchased pocket bikes for my son and myself. And I'm rather upset to find that the city is so quick to ban a rapidly growing sport ("Police to cite pocket bike riders," Star-Bulletin, Aug. 28).It seems like the solution for the city is to just do away with things. I agree that the bikes should not be used on public sidewalks or streets, but I feel that the city should be more than just "willing to look" into building a bike park, as one city councilman put it.
City officials need to create one. Whatever reason they have for not acting quickly on building a park is beyond me, but I think it's a much better idea to support our kids rather than leave them on the street with nothing to do but get into trouble.
When I was growing up you were not allowed to skate anywhere. Now they have created skate parks for these kids to perfect their talents. The point is they didn't do away with it; they supported it. But now pocket bikes are being banned for the same reasons go-peds were banned.
Wahiawa
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Bush's foes are angry for good reasons
Why is President Bush's opposition so angry?Much of the anger comes from feelings of betrayal. When you trust your government to take the high moral road in international affairs and your leader dishonors that trust by flaunting world opinion and invading another country unilaterally it dishonors us all. Yes, we are angry.
I am well aware of all the arguments used to justify this action, which so many of us find without justification. With the inspection teams doing their jobs in Iraq, Saddam was effectively contained and posed no immediate threat to anyone. Time was on our side, and we could have spent that time exhausting all avenues of diplomacy, eventually forming a coalition of major allies. With the international community behind us and after giving a final timetable for Saddam's compliance and with an exit strategy clearly in mind, then and only then should we have invaded. Yes, we are angry!
With our enormous military capability and our formidable economic strength, we are the unchallenged leader in the world of nations. How tragic that we have lost our moral leadership and the trust of other nations. Yes, we are angry!
Honolulu
We can blame Clinton for Middle East chaos
"If we fail to respond today, Saddam and all those who would follow in his footsteps will be emboldened tomorrow by the knowledge that they can act with impunity -- even in the face of a clear message from the United Nations Security Council and clear evidence of a weapons of mass destruction program."Words spoken by President Bush? No, Bill Clinton spoke these words in 1998. The faulty intelligence, the undiscovered WMDs (actually we found one: Saddam Hussein), the lack of an international coalition (although 40-plus countries is a pretty significant coalition to me), and the uproar over the chaos created in the Middle East are all issues that the Democrats are using to deflect criticism from where the blame really belongs. And that is squarely in the lap of President Clinton and his party.
The Democrats are upset with Bush because he had the backbone to take action against our enemies and to protect our country, whereas Clinton only talked about it. If there is blame to be placed for 9/11 -- and I am not certain there should be any -- it should be directed toward those who had perceived and recognized the threat and refused to do anything about it. Evil will thrive unless it is recognized, confronted and defeated.
The liberals and leftists are convinced that American power is being used arrogantly and violently, whereas President Bush sees U.S. power as a tool for peace and security.
Unfortunately and frighteningly, the election of John Kerry as president will return the United States to the policy of appeasement and indecisiveness that he has thus far demonstrated.
Mililani
Iraq is not ready for democracy
How the head of a Sunni cleric organization, Imam Mahdi al-Sumaydai, can condemn the United States, and ask "How can anyone deny our right to jihad" is incomprehensible (Star-Bulletin, Insight section, Sept. 26).While we went there to help the enslaved Shiite majority, we are now trying to protect the Sunni and Kurd minorities' right to vote.
It is obvious that Iraq is not ready for democracy. We must withdraw as quickly as possible and permit the United Nations to do the job, as we should have done in the first place.
Honolulu
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