If she wanted to throw off the questions of "what is she going to do next?" she did a great job by leaving everyone wondering, "what the heck is she doing now?"

In her State of the State address this week, Gov. Linda Lingle kicked off her speech by saying she wasn't going to spend the rest of her time in office campaigning for another office. So don't worry.

The only thing worse than a lame-duck politician preoccupied with running for higher office is looking for "legacy" projects. So worry.

But it's not even clear that's what the Turtle Bay business is about. Legacy project, a way to make Democratic lawmakers look anti-preservationist, a tool to stick it to Clayton Hee, a veiled way to bail out the would-be developer who is in a financial bind? There must be something else going on here because the idea is so out of nowhere.

Crystal meth epidemic? Homelessness? Public school repairs? The carpet in June Jones' old office? The 'ohana has to step in to take care of that, Lingle implied. And we're the 'ohana.

It would be great if the Turtle Bay acreage were saved from further development in perpetuity. But to put that land in the care of state government? The same operation that keeps our public schools in such top shape, our prisons world class, our community hospitals well-appointed and our airports spic and span? Yikes. As Mufi Hannemann likes to ask: Do we need it? Can we afford it? Can we maintain it?

(And the answers are yes, no, you gotta be kidding.)

By all means, save Turtle Bay. Keep the Country Country. But what about Keep Kaua'i Kaua'i? Can we buy Kukuiula before it turns into Princeville South? Keep Makena Makena? Can we buy the ranch land and lava fields before they turn into Kapalua South? Moloka'i has land to save. Let's buy La'au Point, too. If you're going to dream, dream big.

Lingle also tossed out an idea of holding a worldwide online fundraising campaign to "Save O'ahu's North Shore." Yeah, like the e-mail we get from guys in Nigeria. "Greetings from Hawai'i! My name is Lenny and I have a favor to ask of you ... "

It's hard to believe that Lingle would throw in such a huge, flapping red herring in a time when there are so many other pressing issues to be dealt with. It hardly seems a capricious move. She has no history of being a capricious leader. Quite the contrary. She's very plotting. Like a chessmaster, she plays the whole match in her head before the first move. She must be up to something.

Lee Cataluna's column runs Tuesdays, Fridays and Sundays. Reach her at 535-8172 or lcataluna@honoluluadvertiser.com.