GETTIN' 'FACED: Admittedly we've
been neglectful of our poor "blog"- a term we've finally
stopped cringing at just in time for us to take this little
pre-burnout semi-hiatus.
So where have we been? For those who
haven't noticed, believe it or not we've been on Facebook.
No, not the "she burned my eggs
again at breakfast, how's your mother's gout, what kind of wrinkle
cream is Mich Jagger using," social network but the incredibly
effective, grassroots political organizing tool Facebook.
As more and more sign up, Facebook has
gathered together many of
the
"usual suspects"- political activists and organizers
around the state that have seemingly in many ways been key to efforts
to expose and publicize some of the more horrendous abuses by PLDC
stalwarts State Senators Malama Solomon and Donovan Dela Cruz.
Solomon especially, has tried every
dirty trick in the book and some we've never before seen attempted in
almost 40 years of legislature observation (with attempted neighbor
island participation)... from blocking hearings through verbal and
even physical intimidation, to bursting into hearing rooms and going
on screaming jags, to political intimidation as committee chair
(threatening members with denial of hearings for "their"
bills and essentially killing them) if members made any noise about
her shenanigans. Said shenanigans include a
"gut
and replace" of a PLDC repeal bill introduced by Sen. Laura
Thielen-
who
has
been
exposing
Solomon's sh*t on her blog, for example, making signatures on the testimony of
many who noted a specific repeal bill now appear to favor a bill that
would keep the PLDC in place.
It was through Facebook that a petition
with hundreds of signatures was organized to remove Solomon from her position as
Chair. Some think that this petition helped convince
Solomon that she was not going to keep her devious efforts
surreptitious and away from the public eye.
There is even an effort well under way
to, if not remove her from office, at least to organize for her defeat
in the next election. No politician- even one as bold, brash and
boisterous as Solomon- needs this, especially winning her first
election (after having been appointed to the senate from her former
house seat) in a squeaker to a popular former mayor of Hawai`i
Island.
The Facebook petition- originated and
organized by a Democratic Party leader on Maui and publicized by a
blog post at
Civil Beat- was
thought by many observers to have, if nothing else, helped focus the
attention of both members of the public and other legislators on
Solomon's actions. Some long time legislative observers say that no
one trusts Solomon at all at this point, and likewise no one wants to
be seen to be "on her side."
All eyes, public and legislative,
are on every single word of any PLDC related bills in and coming out
of her committee.
"Staffers have their uku combs
out" when it comes to Malama's PLDC bills said one.
The focus and petition have even
spawned some real "out there" conspiracy theorists trying
to find a "there there" when there actually wasn't any at all,
showing the level of grassroots attention that is now being paid to
making sure that a clean repeal bill comes out of the senate-
preferably one identical to the one passed by the whole house last
Monday (2/11) so it can go directly to the governor’s desk without
passing "Go" and having to be "reconciled" in a
conference committee--which would give Solomon and Dela Cruz one last
bite at the abuse-of-process apple and delay passage possibly until
May- something house members greatly fear.
"We (legislators) just want this
to be over early in the session so we can move on to important things
like the budget," said Kaua`i Rep Derek Kawakami (D 14th- North
Shore) who, though he originally supported the PLDC said during a chance early January post office
interview, that he was now resigned to repeal.
If you'd like to testify at this point, ask for a bill containing a "clean, full repeal of the PLDC,
preferably one identical to one the house passed" without
referring to a bill number- and email it to sens@capitol.hawaii.gov .
Of course that's not the only thing
being organized through Facebook these days. Many activists are
working against
GMOs and for labeling as well as dozens of other efforts, sharing
bill numbers, gathering testimony, getting the word out when hearings
are set and performing many other essential tasks that, until now,
were performed through email. But unlike email, Facebook allows
anyone to peruse and latch on to, duck in and out of, and instantly
participate in the effort(s) of their choice- or not- whether it's
local, state or national, whether it's legislative or purely through
outside the system efforts- or somewhere in between.
The best feature is that it's
instantaneous and allows conversations between dozens or even
hundreds of individuals, allowing hundreds if not thousands of
interested parties to look over the shoulders of those discussing the
best way to, say write testimony and/or lobby and/or organize events,
rallies and/or meetings.
Many even feel satisfaction that
they've been able to turn one of the most time-wasting symbols of
American vacuousness into a heretofore unparalleled tool of truly
grassroots activism.
Regarding Facebook itself, of course it's a clunky horrendous
system controlled by a bunch of greedy little twerps, bent on control
and profit using people's personal information so as to sell them
more crap which they don't want or need, reaching new heights of
consumerism.
The "staff" are apparently
unable to stop tripping over their own feet every time they try to
"monetize" the monstrosity they've created and the tradeoff
is that everything you say is there forever in the public domain.
And the majority of the people there
are still there to tell their "friends" what Hollywood
movie didn't totally suck and post pictures of their assorted and
sundry genitalia.
And, there are also pitfalls, not just
for activists but for politicians- especially the phonies and
jerk-wads- who dare to step into the fray.
Case in point, one of the most
despicable human beings- not just politicians but people in general-
it has ever been our displeasure to have met personally:
Representative James "Can't Keep His Pants On" Tokioka (D-
15th District- Kapa`a; Lihu`e).
(The kinder gentler Rabid Reporter
we've referred to of late is finding out that the trick is to be
benevolent to and considerate of the feelings of friends and lovers,
but not necessarily so much for total sc*mbags like Tokioka who
consciously and consistently prey on the public trust for fun and
profit without one iota of true public service behind their efforts.)
This slimy little pr*ck has
consistently been "for" one thing- Jimmy Tokioka- for a
couple of decades, first as a Republican councilmember on Kaua`i who
managed to lie, cheat and finagle his way to reelection every two
years until he somehow cut a deal to "replace" our retiring
original-good-old-boy machine-made-man Ezra Kanoho by switching
parties and, somehow, managing to get elected- and reelected- without
ever facing any opposition.
Although it's been said about many ever
since- including about Tokioka himself- Kanoho was the first to have
it be said about him that he was "the man who never met a hotel
he didn't like."
Please- someone- run against this guy.
Unless you're on the sex offender list or fail to bathe regularly or
something, you're probably a shoo-in.
Until the last dog dies, Tokioka was a
stalwart supporter of the defeated House Speaker Calvin Say and
apparently remains bitter about the defeat and loss of his power that
was derived from his support of Say. He remains staunchly pro-GMO and
his list of contributors reflect a corporate debt.
As a long time
corporate-bought-and-paid-for shill, he was a main force behind the
PLDC on the house side and was on the house committee where various
PLDC related bills were heard.
His
list
of campaign contributors indicates a man with a corporate
indebtedness. His top ten PAC contributors include Monsanto, A&B
and American Resort Development Association Resort Owners Coalition
Pac (ARDA Roc-Pac) while his top ten individual contributors include
lobbyist supreme John Radcliffe and infamous Republican resort honcho
Lynn McCrory- a thick gruel of PLDC supporters indeed.
So this week when the repeal of the
PLDC was up for a vote in the full house, even though he had been
embarrassed into completing a unanimous vote for full repeal in
committee he was apparently still fuming and beholden to his
corporate backers.
Observers say Tokioka was apparently
trapped and couldn't get out from behind the table and out of the
room before the vote and would have made headlines had he tried- or,
as an alternative, vote against the repeal bill. The acquiescence of
those who had been blocking repeal in the house came literally as a
last-minute surprise when those opposed to repeal saw the handwriting
on the wall and, after verbally listing all the reasons they were
against repeal suddenly turned on a dime to allow the full repeal to
pass out of committee. Even the bill reads as if it were going to
keep the PLDC, only to repeal it in the last couple of sentences.
So it was no surprise that Tokioka was
notable for his absence from the "unanimous" vote of the
full house to pass a "clean, full repeal" of the PLDC.
Well, starting a day or so after the
vote the "Abolish the PLDC" Facebook group- which has
apparently become one "source" for a few reporters in the
state looking to "feel the pulse" of PLDC opponents- began
discussing Tokioka's absence from the full house vote and the subject
was seeming to threaten to make headlines in one publication or
another.
So all of a sudden, in the middle of
one the many conversation "threads" that were becoming more
and more critical of Tokioka's action- or lack of it- there was a
"comment" from none other than his vileness his own self.
After thanking one person for seemingly
trying to make plausible excuses for Jimmy he wrote:
To respond to Xxxxxx's question about why I was absent at the time
of the would like you to know it is my dad's 82nd birthday today. In
May of 2012 my dad had a massive stroke and has been bed ridden since
then. Who knows how many more times I'm gonna get to talk to him on
his birthday and between my mom and I we were coordinating the phone
call that could only be done at that time. If you look at the
committee vote, I voted Yes to repeal. I hope that better clarifies
my vote and my actions. (all sic)
Here
we go again. This is quintessential Jimmy Tokioka. Jimmy has made a
career out of grabbing at and yanking on some concocted heart-string
(or is it heart-chain) whenever he is cornered by some act of his
that there's no way to explain his way out of. It's a well worn tool
in his obfuscation and dodge-ball playing toolbox- a tried and true
(to turn the phrase around) "the best defense is a good offense"
ploy.
If you
don't read it carefully it might seems like he had been with his sick
dad- who could drop dead tomorrow- on his 82nd birthday. And even if
you do read it, you'd think there was some kind of reason why if he
had stayed for the vote he would probably never see his dad again.
The
gist seems to have been that only by skipping the vote would he be
permitted to speak to his beloved mother or see his on-his-deathbed
father again... or something like that.
But
the fact is, as alleged by a few of those who were there for the vote
and were discussing Tokioka's absence- and confirmed in a Civil Beat
article
by Chad Blair and Nathan Eagle:
Souki called the unanimous vote — featuring his supporters,
acolytes of Speaker Emeritus Calvin
Say and the Republicans — "very impressive." Only
Democrats Sharon Har and Jimmy Tokioka — both Say supporters —
did not vote, having been excused from the chamber, though
both were at the Capitol (emphasis added).
So that's where we've been- in addition
to organizing we've been posting a lot shorter pieces and sharing
articles that we might otherwise weave into a column... had we not
been so lazy of late.
So "friend" us under "Andy
Parx" if you’re interested in seeing what we've been writing
on Facebook. Or you can check in
here
now and again- usually daily or so- although we're not really sure if
you have to sign up to see it (another BS feature- don't get us
started...).
We're actually surprised that the
chattering classes- especially those who directly cover the "social
media" have not picked up on this "Facebook as a political
tool" phenomena yet. We just stumbled upon it after family
members and close friends (yes- we do still have some) got
spammed-out and gave up on email and forced us to toss our very soul
into Zuckerberg's zeitgeist
But although we might go back and forth
between feeding this space and the social network cum organizing
tool, Jimmy Tokioka will always be an unwavering slimeball.
