Moped victim could have had a Hummer

What in God's name is a multi-millionaire doing riding a moped in the dark early morning hours in Kaimuki (”;Crash ends a life reclaimed,”; Star-Bulletin, Oct. 8)? He could have hired a taxi or chauffeur. He could have owned a Hummer. I will never understand some rich people's logic.

Columnist unfairly attacked Palin

Cynthia Oi's Oct. 8 column on Gov. Sarah Palin is a classic distortion, a biased and unfounded political hit. Words are so cheap in politics and deeds say so much more. Palin is a woman of great character and courage from a modest background who has a history of good deeds and accomplishments.

In contrast, Barack Obama is indeed a well-educated lawyer who talks a great story whose deeds oftentimes contradict his rhetoric. Obama and his running mate, Sen. Joe Biden, combined have less executive experience than Palin. Obama is the anointed wonder child of the radical left, and Biden is a career politician in the legislative branch of government.

On the other hand, Palin has been a chief executive of a small town and a state with a multibillion-dollar budget. In addition, she is a woman of great courage and principles. Obama has in the past, been an associate of and worked extensively with men of questionable character. The “;God Damn America”; Rev. Jeremiah Wright, the radical left terrorist-endorsing William Ayers and greedy leaders of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are all supporters and relevant to who Obama is and what he represents.

Palin's son is in harm's way fighting to protect the very freedom Oi has exercised in the Star-Bulletin. I do hope readers make their decisions based on facts and deeds rather than rhetoric and ossification. If they do so, I think they will see that Palin is a breath of fresh air to the political process.

Palin's harsh rhetoric incites bad behavior

Gov. Sarah Palin's campaign rhetoric has plummeted below even the abysmal standards of Karl Rove. She has descended to something close to incitement to murder. Her standard stump speech attacking Sen. Barack Obama now includes racially coded statements like, “;He's different,”; or “;He doesn't think like us.”; It also includes the accusation that Obama “;pals around with terrorists.”;

In the video clip that I watched, this latter remark was followed by cries of “;Traitor”; and “;Kill him”; by members of the crowd. These cries for mob violence not only did not give Palin pause, they seemed to encourage her to escalate the abusiveness of her rhetoric. I was struck by the similarity between this Republican rally and a lynch mob. Do Sen. John McCain and Gov. Palin really want the presidency so much that they would resort to inciting assassination to get it?

Dangerous dogs are criminal matters

I was outraged by the death of an infant in Waianae by the family's pitbull mix reported a few days ago (Star-Bulletin, Oct. 6). The risk that some neglected caged dogs pose to our society became more apparent Thursday when my father and his two dogs were attacked in Ewa. All three attacking dogs were not leashed and might have escaped from their cage. Their home is not fenced in.

My father called the police and was referred to the Hawaiian Humane Society. He is in his 70s, and fortunately, he is in good health and was not bitten.

Instead, one of his dogs was bitten in the stomach and had to be taken to the veterinarian to the tune of a $1,200 bill. My father suffered scrapes to his knees as he hit the ground defending his dogs (a Dachshund and Chihuahua). I imagine both dogs now face the mental trauma of taking a walk in the neighborhood. 

You would think that after the attack in Waianae , more people would be more conscious of their pets. I do not understand why this type of negligence is not considered criminal behavior on the part of the owner.

Rescue plan bails out the wrong people

The bailout bill passed by Congress is a testament to the fact that the government does not listen to the people it purports to represent. How does AIG qualify for $80 billion and then go back a week later for another $30 billion-plus? It is because the fat cats there said, “;More is better and there is free money we never have to pay back.”;

Why can't the government that represents us listen to us? They could enter into contracts with us as individual homeowners with a substantial payout that we will then pay directly on our mortgages. We are then guaranteed to realize a benefit from our tax dollars that we will give right back to the companies that the government is planning to bail out. Then we would have an affordable mortgage and the mortgage companies would have the money to use under sound business practices to stay alive.

I do not know anyone who would then not infuse more money into the economy. We would go out more, see more movies, eat out and the economic benefit would get to even more people through spending in neighborhood stores.

As it is, the plan only bails out businesses that have proven they are irresponsible, and we hope for the trickle-down benefit that never arrives.