Letters to the Editor
Anniversary coverage by paper spectacular
I just want to compliment The Advertiser for the most spectacular, outstanding two consecutive days of a newspaper. The Sept. 11 and 12 issues are the best illustrations of a newspaper that encompasses both the local and national coverage of the tragic time of remembrance I have ever seen.
Whoever designed and featured all the patriotic and current stories and pictures has imagination and genuine local interest in presenting these. Of course, featuring the Hawai'i influence of Hawaiian lei and aloha worldwide was truly the aloha spirit of our Islands.
Congratulations and keep up the good work.
Clement H. Boring
Dobelle speech on Hawaiians impressive
Out of the high plains of Manoa came a converted East Coast kupuna who spoke like a breath of fresh air that settled in and permeated the ranks of the Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement Conference, at the Sheraton Waikiki Hotel.
Listen up: "The time has long since passed for the university to walk beside you as a partner in achieving Hawaiian parity." So said this most impressive human being, Evan Dobelle, president of the University of Hawai'i.
He closed his speech with this: "It seems to me that those of you who are battling to define your people according to self-defined terms have a dual citizenship — of this state and of a state yet to come into existence."
He also said, "Hawai'i, home of your ancestors, exists now as a state of mind, and with the University of Hawai'i as your partner, the Hawaiian community will turn that into a state of being ... "
I am struck by this man's candor, compassion and overwhelming daring that speaks to a "yes we can" attitude. The Native Hawaiian community should run, not walk, to take him up on his offer of a partnership.
You get the feeling that this man could genuinely help pave the way to the promised land.
Hank McKeague
Case endorsement doesn't make sense
We were dismayed at the Sept. 15 Sunday articles criticizing Democratic economic plans (while not touching Linda Lingle's) and endorsing Ed Case for the primary. Both pieces rested on very thin reeds.
The economic analysis you cited relied on only two degreed economists. Indeed, Dr. Lawrence Boyd said the Democrats have "grasped the connection between public education and economic development" and that is a "step forward." Hardly a criticism.
We believe Mazie Hirono's collaborative approach will put the ideas of these and other economists on the table for serious consideration.
Your Case endorsement is flimsy. You assert he has no vested interest in protecting the status quo because he has not been in the system very long. By that logic, who needs experienced leaders? Case compiled no significant record in his eight years in the House. A "change" mantra does not qualify a candidate for governor.
Compare this to Hirono. Unlike Case, her record is exceptional. In 14 years in the House, she passed 120 bills into law. She chaired two powerful committees (Housing and Commerce & Consumer Affairs), fighting big interests when necessary, protecting consumers, helping preserve the Land Reform Act for homeowners, and supporting workers.
As lieutenant governor, Mazie led in eliminating wasteful regulations, reforming workers' compensation, developing technology, lowering prescription drug costs, initiating Pre-Plus, standing up for teachers, civil rights, and more.
You would have done better to study her public service history and plan for Hawai'i before you endorsed.
William Puette
Al Lynde
Andy Anderson won gubernatorial debate
I feel compelled to write since there will be no more debates by our gubernatorial candidates. Many people saw the first debate on Channel 2, but many did not.
I thought Andy Anderson was the only one who talked common sense and had solutions to some of our problems.
Ed Case kept saying "we need change" in every other sentence, without giving us any real answers. Mazie Hirono kept using the words "systemic change." Both Case and Hirono are government bureaucrats. They are using a lot of words but not saying anything.
I wish Channel 2 would rebroadcast the debate as a public service so that the people of Hawai'i can see and compare the three candidates. They would realize that Andy Anderson is the only one with the knowledge and experience to get things done by using common sense.
W.T. Chang
Lingle doesn't have access to Bush's ear
If Native Hawaiians think Linda Lingle has access to President Bush's ear over the plight of the Hawaiian people, which she has claimed, don't believe it.
The president of the United States is working tirelessly to declare war on the sovereign people of another country, and I highly doubt he's thinking at all about the sovereign people of this state.
Lingle is using her supposed insider status where there is none, and she certainly doesn't have an exclusive coconut wireless connection to the White House. Do not for a moment think the president would listen to Lingle any more than he listens to anyone.
A fervid determination to avenge a father's failure of a decade ago is foremost in his mind, and Hawai'i is merely a vacation spot on the Pacific map in our president's mind. We are not that naive, and I urge Lingle not to insult us.
I am not a Native Hawaiian, but her claim insulted all residents who are interested and involved in politics. It did confirm memories of Linda Lingle, the former mayor of Maui County, as seeking more importance than she had, or is worthy of.
Dina Wilson
Pukalani, Maui
Endorsement strategy?
Is it possible that your endorsement of Ed Case is due to the fact that Lt. Gov. Mazie Hirono is the one who can stop your "Battleship Lingle"?
Nancy Bey Little
Hawaiian government was never exclusive
Congratulations! Your Sept. 12 editorial "Hawaiian government easier said than done" pinpoints precisely the reason the Akaka Bill and any other "recognition" bill will not and cannot succeed. You said, "Hawaiians are not organized as a tribe, nor is there a tribal council or other governing entity that represents a Native Hawaiian 'nation.' "
Congress can only recognize Indian tribes that exist now and have existed continuously from historic times to the present. It cannot create tribes out of thin air.
Long before annexation, the people of Hawai'i adopted a Western form of government that was of the people, by the people and for the people without regard to ancestry. Since 1810, when Kamehameha the Great unified the Islands and established the Kingdom of Hawai'i, there has never been a government exclusively of, by and for Hawaiians. The "nation" the Akaka Bill proposes to "recognize" has never existed.
I'm ashamed of our politicians who pander to Hawaiian separatists. Dividing our state into racial enclaves wouldn't help me or my Hawaiian cousins or my Chinese cousins or my Filipino cousins or my Irish-English husband. A state divided against itself cannot stand.
The best hope for all of us is to thank our lucky stars we live in Hawai'i with the freedom, security, equal opportunity and aloha for all that comes with being citizens of the United States. E pluribus unum. In one there are many.
Sandra Puanani Burgess
Commentary gutsy for its message
I wish to thank Brad Lendon for his perspective on 9/11. It took guts to step out of the mainstream and remind us that it was a sad day but that most of the world suffers daily.
The patriotic perspective seems to imply that an American life has more value. "Every man's death diminishes me because I am involved in mankind. Therefore, ask not for whom the bell tolls, it tolls for thee." And that includes Iraq.
I believe that George Bush used 9/11 to further his game plan of aggression in Iraq, quieting of financial misdeeds and Republican victory in November.
Dolores Duchene-Kim
Commentary marked by double standards
Brad Lendon's commentary in Sunday's Focus section is just another example of a knee-jerk anti-American rant filled with double standards.
For example, he praised the Tanzanians for not paying much attention to the 9/11 attacks, yet he denounces Americans who don't pay attention to foreign events. If that's not a double standard, I don't know what is.
But that's not all. At the end of Lendon's commentary, he criticized Americans for their focus on the Super Bowl on Feb. 3, 2002, while not paying attention to the 20 dead in Philippine guerrilla warfare, 17 dead in Nigerian rioting and 4,000 Africans dead from AIDS that day. While, there's nothing wrong with focusing on those events, why is it that Lendon only criticized Americans for not focusing on those events? Does he really think people in Ecuador, China, Vanuatu or Finland paid any major attention to those events?
Would Lendon denounce Brazilians for ignoring any foreign tragedies the day their team won the World Cup? If not, then he should stop promoting his double standards.
Pablo Wegesend
U.S. media must present all views
After reading the Sept. 15 commentary by Brad Lendon, I believe there could be hope for the people of America to see beyond their self-centered attitudes, if only his article would be read by the masses.
Maybe then citizens of the self-proclaimed greatest nation in the world could look beyond their own shores and see that they are just a rich minority on this planet. Understanding plights of others could put into perspective recent plights felt on home shores.
The U.S. media needs to make a stand and give the people news, all aspects and views, not the rhetoric they spews to their audiences. Give all the facts (unbiased) and let people make up their own minds, or at least enough to be able to discuss matters among themselves.
An open-minded and educated American public would then possibly stake claim to being the greatest nation on Earth.
Glen Parsons
United Kingdom
Living well doesn't make one arrogant
I would like to remind Brad Lendon how "self-centered" taxpaying Americans are. The countries listed in his Sunday commentary received the following amount of U.S. aid in 2001:
- Tanzania: $30 million.
- Kenya: $83 million.
- Rwanda: $26 million.
- Burundi: $8.8 million.
- Congo: $35 million.
And if Mr. Lendon feels that the U.S.'s pledge of $640 million for HIV/AIDS in Africa is "stingy," he is free to donate more from his own paycheck. Living well does not make one self-centered or arrogant, but not being able to appreciate the generosity of others does.
The U.S. has become the strongest, most advanced and, yes, the most generous country in the world through capitalism and a republican form of government. Perhaps these countries would do better to emulate this formula than to ask for more money.
I do not expect other countries to "feel our agony," but as Americans, we have an obligation to. We did not deserve, nor are we somehow responsible for, Sept. 11. Mr. Lendon's goal of making us feel guilty for being the best is a sure way of removing us from that status.
Feel proud, fellow Americans, not guilty.
Tom Schaub
Waikiki
Commentary should be required reading
Congratulations to Brad Lendon for his clear-eyed presentation of how America is perceived by many abroad. It should be required reading for all Americans, particularly those who, after Sept. 11, queried, "Why do they hate us?"
Betsey Essoyan
Hale'iwa
