VOTE REFLECTS TRUE MEANING OF ALOHA

Hawaii just witnessed a very historic, and what should be a proud occasion, in the passage of civil unions. This is what Hawai'i looks like to the rest of the world. A place of acceptance. Diversity. Culture. Aloha. This reflects the very principle, fundamental and foundational meaning, of Aloha.

The meaning of ALOHA:

A — Akahai, meaning kindness to be expressed with tenderness;

L — Lōkahi, meaning unity, to be expressed with harmony;

O — Oluolu, meaning agreeable, to be expressed with pleasantness;

H — Haahaa, meaning humility, to be expressed with modesty;

A — Ahonui, meaning patience, to be expressed with perseverance.

The Legislature made a decision that is inclusive, not exclusive. Now Gov. Linda Lingle will show us what she is truly made of, and if she truly embraces Hawaii, or aloha, from the heart as she claims she does.

CIVIL UNIONS VOTE A CONNIVING DISGRACE

The conniving passage of HB 444 makes me so angry. These people are supposed to be our representatives, expressing our will in their legislation! How does impulsively bringing this bill from what seemed to be a postponement grave and passing it on the last day of the legislative session with no warning or fair pre-disclosure represent a people who have time and again expressed opposition to this kind of legislation?

It is a disgrace. We are not a kingdom or a "progressive" dictatorship, no matter how much these little tyrants want us to be one.

Let's all take names and vote these we-know-what's-best-for-you and you'll-thank-us-later types out. And please petition Gov. Lingle to veto this bill that is a blatant misrepresentation of the people of Hawaii.

HEALTH CARE

CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHT TO CARE IS SOCIALISM

Mike Iven's letter (April 20) proposes health care be added as a right to the Constitution. Few would disagree with Iven that access to health care should not be denied to anyone. However, making health care a right presumes that someone other than the recipient of the care is paying and there are unlimited funds to support whatever the recipient thinks is needed.

What has not been wholeheartedly accepted in the new health care law is:

• Requiring everyone to contribute to a pool that pays all health care expenses and disregarding economic, actuarial or effectiveness considerations.

• Limiting health care costs by ignoring individual needs, overriding doctors' and patients' participation in care decisions, removing economic incentives from the patients, and playing politics by ignoring costs driven by politically connected groups, such as excessive malpractice lawsuits and blaming costs on convenient scapegoats like insurance providers who only contribute 5 percent to the costs.

Today, no one is denied access to health care; some may be denied the health care they want because they cannot afford it. That is not a constitutional issue; it's an economic one. To make it a right is socialism and I, for one, do not want socialism built into the Constitution.

BOE

SCHOOL RESPONSIBILITYSHOULD BE GOVERNOR'S

The proposals of the state Legislature will result in little improvement when they still have "advice and consent" on the school superintendent and members of the BOE, and say on the spending of the $2 billion-plus for the DOE.

It is my opinion that the position of the state school superintendent and the Board of Education should be abolished. Full responsibility for the improvements of our schools should be the sole responsibility of the governor. The governor should select a voluntary advisory council who would look for and submit recommendations for new district superintendents, who in turn would obtain the approval of the governor for school principals in their district.

The principals should have greater authority to choose their team of teachers to set goals and actions necessary to reach the educational goals of both the federal and state governments.

The public should have the option to choose this proposal and the legislators via the necessary changes in the state Constitution.

Also, the public should have an option to change the state Constitution requiring two-year term limits for all legislators, same as the governor, the City Council, and the city prosecutor.

POWER OF LANGUAGE

WORDS DO NOT CAUSE ACTIONS OF OTHERS

What was former President Clinton really saying when he warned that "the words we use really do matter," as he connected anti-government sentiment with Timothy McVeigh's Oklahoma City bombing?

He believes the words one uses can physically cause others who may be "unhinged" to do illegal things, or basically, that each of us is responsible for the behavior of everyone we interact with.

Women may find this argument familiar. It is the same one used by those who rape because "she was asking for it." I reject that argument, just as I reject forcing women to wear burqas for their own good.

President Clinton argues that the citizens of this country aren't capable of making appropriate decisions, so those with "more power" and "more influence" have the responsibility to manage how the rest of the country thinks.

It's a small step from President Clinton's speech to the type of government we used to laugh at, where those who criticize the government are shut down, jailed or worse in the name of protecting the "people."

Regardless of who is in power, we are each responsible for our own actions, and nobody gets to simply blame someone else for his violent behavior.

HANSON

COLUMNIST OMITS KEY FACTS ON ISRAEL

Earlier this month, syndicated columnist Victor Davis Hanson praised the success of President Bush, the Iraq war and the surge ("What happened to Iraqi war opposition?" April 15), but only mentions in one line that no weapons of mass destruction were found. Shameful is his total omission of the cost of the war: $718 billion as of today and easily more than $1 trillion when you include the interest from this borrowed money: long-term military health care costs ranging from $300 billion to $700 billion; and most painful of all, 4,390 U.S. deaths and 31,762 wounded.

In his recent article, "Obama may need a history lesson on Israel" (April 22), he wants more support for Israel while not using diplomacy with Arab neighbors. This time he refers to the Palestinians in only one line. He concludes that the "administration should take a deep breath and review history."

The history he writes about lacks key facts and resembles the history that Virginia used in its recent Confederate History Month by not including slavery as a reason for the Civil War.

He is described as a classicist and historian at The Hoover Institute. Cherry-picking historical facts to support one side of a conflict should be called something else.