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POSTED: Tuesday, June 01, 2010

No such thing as minor candidate

The question of which of the Democratic challengers for governor spoke first at the Democratic convention can be answered by all the delegates present.

Miles Shiratori spoke Saturday of the first priority of education, the importance of raising food to sustain ourselves and, among other issues, the care for the elderly. Many of the issues raised by gubernatorial candidate Shiratori were agreed upon in speeches that followed by Neil Abercrombie and Mayor Hannemann. The Democratic Party is inclusive as shown by the warm welcome given to Shiratori, and the party is less divisive than reported, as proved by the agreement of all three candidates on these values.

The public needs to know the role of the two-party system in picking presidential candidates and the importance of joining a party to have a say in local and national leadership. No candidate is minor; each of these fine people is making a great personal commitment to the public good.

 

               

     

 

 

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Case's loss was Inouye's victory

Andy Woerner was off base in every respect in his letter (”;Djou win was loss for Sen. Inouye,”; Star-Bulletin, May 26). The special election went exactly according to the senator's plan.

Dan Inouye's overarching goal is to keep Ed Case from ever again holding Hawaii-related public office in retaliation for Case's temerity—his effrontery (gasp!)—to challenge Sen. Dan Akaka in 2006 rather than waiting his turn in the Hawaii Democratic machine's glacial ladder of advancement. It didn't matter to Inouye whether Charles Djou or Colleen Hanabusa won the special election, as long as it wasn't Case.

Charles Djou is just keeping the congressional seat warm for a few months. The Hawaii Democratic machine consisting of Inouye-led long-time incumbents, the party apparatus, and the public worker unions will now concentrate on getting Hanabusa elected in the primary. The general election will then be a slam dunk, and Inouye's plans will have been fulfilled.

So much for “;the will of the electorate.”; It's the will of the Hawaii Democratic machine, which is looking out for itself.

 

Case let down his supporters

Ed Case has dropped out of the House race so that the Democratic Party is not divided for the upcoming elections. He has lost my respect and my perception of his credibility.

I thought we have primary elections to give us such choices. Now I have really no viable option but to vote for Charles Djou.

I will not vote for Dan Inouye's “;gal,”; Colleen Hanabusa!

 

Hannemann has sorry city record

In a recent campaign ad, Mufi Hannemann sings the praises of Harry Truman's oft-quoted motto, “;The buck stops here.”;

Hannemann was using it to obliquely criticize his opponent, but was also quite insistent that, as a chief executive, he is ultimately responsible for what happens on his watch.

So as we consider the condition of our city and county and the implications for what Hannemann would do as governor, we should hold him to his own platitudes. With garbage piling up, homelessness spreading, violent crime escalating, and his signature rail project oft-delayed, we all know where Mufi expects the buck to stop: squarely with him.

Perhaps the media will stop treating him like a messiah and actually hold him accountable not just for his deeds, but for his words as well.

 

Hannemann can bring us together

If ever there were a time when Hawaii needed a leader, it is now. Our economy is in the tank, our schools system has been reduced to one of the worst in the nation and our young people are leaving the islands at an alarming rate in search of a better life.

Mayor Mufi Hannemann is, without doubt, the leader we need. His style of leadership has brought people together from across the social, economic and political spectrum.

Nowhere were the rewards of a public-private partnership more successfully demonstrated than in Honolulu's rail transit project. It could not have come as far as it has without his ability to bring together so many in our community.

If he could do this as mayor, imagine what he will do as governor.

 

Fatalities a better gauge for medals

Your editorial on the Medal of Honor and the relatively few awards in Iraq and Afghanistan points out that those wars have lasted nine and seven years, respectively (”;U.S. war veterans should never be taken for granted,”; May 31). But the length of conflict is not a useful measure when considering whether enough medals have been awarded.

American fatalities in Iraq and Afghanistan, heartbreaking though they may be, are minuscule compared with World War II, Korea and Vietnam—on the order of 1 percent of the WWII fatalities, 10 percent of Korea's and Vietnam's.

Certainly the number of fatalities, as a gauge of the scale of the war, is more relevant when comparing awards of medals than the length of the conflict.