EDITORIAL
Cayetano's final state words worth heeding

•	Excerpts from the governor's State of the State address
•	Full text of the State of the State address
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Ben Cayetano's final State of the State speech was almost certainly his best.

In turn combative, proud, humble, emotional and optimistic, Cayetano gave lawmakers and his constituents a look back at where the state has been for seven years under his leadership and a forceful nudge toward where it should go from here.

There is always a tinge of artificiality in these setpiece speeches. But yesterday's lengthy talk was almost all pure Ben Cayetano. The governor offered no apologies for what he has been able to accomplish and was — as usual — brutally frank about the difficulties ahead.

The most touching moment in the speech came when Cayetano emotionally recounted his first (and by his account only) one-on-one meeting with the late Gov. John A. Burns, who had plucked Cayetano from obscurity to serve on a state commission.

Why me? Cayetano asked the governor.

"Well, Ben, there are not too many young Filipinos from Kalihi who become lawyers," the governor answered.

"I understood what he meant and what he stood for," Cayetano said yesterday.

Cayetano is clearly proud of his odyssey from Kalihi troublemaker, the son of an immigrant, to governor. Those roots were clearly on his mind yesterday as he warned legislators not to consider balancing the state budget on the backs of the poor and the helpless.

Cayetano correctly emphasized education as the top priority for this year's session. He urged lawmakers to commit huge sums of money to build new University of Hawai'i facilities and to upgrade the crumbling infrastructure of our public schools. They should listen. Hawai'i's long-term future absolutely depends on a quality education system.

Perhaps the strongest language of the day, however, came not on specific program ideas but on the approach the governor would like the Legislature to take in this difficult post Sept. 11 session. He called on lawmakers to put aside political ambitions and partisan ideas to work instead for the greater good.

Yes, one could say it's easy for a lame-duck governor who intends to retire from elective politics to give such advice. But Cayetano's record suggests he has taken this approach all along, not just in his final year.

Cayetano challenged lawmakers to risk their political lives by making bold, nonpartisan decisions. "So for once," he said, "put politics aside. Let's discuss the issues frankly and truthfully so the people know what's at stake. We owe them the truth."

Good advice, indeed. One wishes, however, that Cayetano had put more boot behind that advice by vowing to stay in the face of any legislator who doesn't get with the program from here to election day.

There is no magic in the specific ideas and programs Cayetano outlined yesterday. There may be better ideas in the Legislature. If so, let's hear them.

In this vital 2002 session, take Cayetano's advice: Show courage and offer us hope.