It all means nothing if we don’t vote

We have seen and heard the two presidential candidates' views on their leadership methods. Now all the believing and talking in the world about Barack Obama and John McCain will not mean a thing unless each of us goes to the polls and actually casts a vote for our favorite side. We can certainly turn around the low voting turnout rate to our advantage.

Kindness counts in the voting booth

I have voted in every election since 1966. The older I got, the more I made my choices based on issues. The politicians I agreed with, I voted for. The politicians I disagreed with, I did not vote for (or voted against). I believed that I was being a good citizen by being diligent about how I voted. I believed that this was the best way to be a good citizen. I ranted and raved, pushed and insisted, worried and raged. Like so many of us, I was stressed! To da max!!

I finally realized that what was most important about a political candidate came down to three simple concepts.

From now on, I will always vote for the candidate whose life is most based on kindness, compassion and humility. I will never vote for the candidate whose life is based on ambition, no matter how competent he/she is.

I come to this because I finally understand that the more kindness, compassion and humility, the more open one's heart. And the more open one's heart, the more correct their actions. Those who live with kindness and humility will never stop listening. Too much ambition brings only deafness; the more ambition, the more closed their heart, and therefore, the more incorrect their actions will be.

Ambition is helpful only to a point. Kindness, compassion and humility are infinitely helpful; and probably the only way to save our collective okoles.

It’s best to develop voting habit early

Everybody could make a difference with their vote. The person they select could make a difference from the very first day that he or she starts the job. This person could make a difference in Hawaii's economy and fix things that the candidate believes needs to be fixed. This person could change the lives of people in Hawaii for the better.

There are a lot of people all over America who are eligible to vote, but they don't. They do not vote because they think it is a waste of time. The reasons they give are that they do not know the candidates and would not know who to vote for or they do not believe their votes will make a difference.

I think that the government should do more to encourage people to exercise their right to vote. The voting age is 18. If people started going at this young age, they might learn more about the candidates and understand more about politics. This will make them more confident in voting for a candidate, whether it is for mayor, governor, representative, senator or president.

People, not courts, retain ultimate power

In our constitutional democracy all powers reside in the people. A constitution is the written voice of the people. Constitutions are the people's grant of powers to government. What powers the people do not grant, the people retain. The plain and generally accepted meaning of the language in constitutions is, therefore, the only restraint on government's abuse of power.

Some federal and state courts have embraced the notion that constitutions are “;living documents.”; These courts reason that the constitution must change with the times, with or without amendment by the people. These courts believe that they have the power to construe constitutions to fit the times. This notion imbues the courts with the power to go beyond the plain and generally accepted meaning of the written language. It gives an unelected and unaccountable few in black robes the license to alter constitutions at their whim. The power to put words in the mouth of the people is the power to destroy the people.

Couple this judicial usurpation of power with the corruption, unresponsiveness, incompetence and stodginess of our legislative branches, and “;government by the people, for the people and of the people”; becomes a lie.

Pile on the power and money of special interest groups to stymie constitutional change solely because of their own narrow self-interests, and there will soon be no “;the people.”;

Put discipline back into school system

The Star-Bulletin's Oct. 20 article “;Children of promise”; states that teenagers at risk can be helped. This is true and the Department of Education should embark on this type of program in its own educational system.

The total number of disruptive students, truants and dropouts have blown up to a proportion that the DOE is reluctant to reveal. Start funding at this lower end and improve the environment for the rest of the school population. No need for fancy programs—good old discipline and administrative support will be just fine.

This area has been neglected for too long and we are now paying the price, meaning that our schools have almost no standards of behavior and maybe no scholastic standards either.