FOURTH AND FORTY

FOURTH AND FORTY: The Office of Information Practices (OIP) has been taking it on the chin lately over what has been described ad nausium as their decision to "punt" to the courts on this issue of whether Governor Neil Abercrombie had to reveal the full list of his judicial nominees after he made the appointment.

For those who haven't been following the story Abercrombie's predecessors routinely released the list but he claims that doing so would result in attorneys' reluctance to apply, should their law firms or clients find out.

The story has been reported and analyzed in the mainstream and alternative press as well as blogs- both mainstream and alternative- culminating with a Honolulu Star Advertiser editorial today and all have one thing in common- they routinely miss the point in criticizing the OIP for not opining on the matter since, they say, the law appears to require them to do so.

Typical of the criticisms is today's post by S-A columnist/blogger Dave Shapiro who, in telling the saga thus far, writes:

The saga of Gov. Neil Abercrombie’s secrecy on the names of judicial candidates has taken a troubling new turn with his hand-picked director of the Office of Information Practices, Cheryl Kakazu Park, refusing to issue an opinion on whether state law allows the governor to keep secret the nominees given him by the Judicial Selection Commission.

Park said it’s a waste of time for OIP to become further involved because Abercrombie has said he’ll ignore any OIP opinion against him unless a court tells him he must abide.

Park’s “punt,” as one news story described it, isn’t surprising; her predecessor, Cathy Takase, was fired after ruling against Abercrombie with a letter reiterating a 2003 OIP ruling that the names must be released.

The troubling part is that the governor now has not only shut the public out of the process of selecting judges who wield great power over our lives, but has politicized the OIP in an unprecedented way that diminishes its credibility and relevance.

And the law seems to be clear as is set out in this passage from blogger Ian Lind's post on the subject:

In Section 92F-42, which sets out the powers and responsibilities of OIP, this is right there at the top of the list. Responsibility #1.

The director of the office of information practices: (1) Shall, upon request, review and rule on an agency denial of access to information or records, or an agency’s granting of access;

I added the bold type on the word “shall.” OIP shall rule on an agency’s denial of access. It doesn’t use the word “may,” which would have given OIP discretion on whether to issue a ruling. It doesn’t say that OIP shall rule except when it looks futile because an agency stubbornly insists that it has the right to do whatever it wants. It says, simply, OIP shall do this job. It’s #1 responsibility. Top of the list, top line priority.

Someone needs to go back to OIP and ask what legal authority they have to “punt” in this case, given what appears to be clear statutory language (emphasis Ian's).


The problem is that each and every one who has written on the subject has either failed to read or comprehend the operative sentence in the letter from Park:

Toward the end of her memo she simply writes that:

since the Hawaii Supreme Court's (ruling) in County of Kaua`i vs Office of Information Practices OIP has been issuing advisory opinions rather than determinations.

For those for whom the case doesn't ring a bell it revolves around the infamous Kaua`i County

Council executive session- ES 177- the tentacles of which not only chimed over and over in Kaua`i Police Deportment politics for years but was one of the major highlights of the tale told in the book KPD Blue (see right rail).

At the secret conclave, then and now-again Councilmember Mel Rapozo, who was present at the infamous lap dance party at KPD headquarters and lost his cop job because of it- went off on KPD personnel blasting Chief KC Lum and others in the department according to an OIP memo observed but not copied by PNN at the time.

After an "on camera" examination the OIP ordered the minutes of the meeting to be released but the county, in the person of County Clerk Peter Nakamura, acting on the orders of then Council Chair Kaipo Asing, refused and decided to sue in circuit court.

The problem, as far as the OIP was concerned, was that the OIP was set up, in part, just to avoid these kinds of inter-agency lawsuits and then Director Les Kondo fought the case tooth and nail to avoid having the OIP become a "toothless tiger".

He argued that the provision allowing parties aggrieved by the OIP to sue in circuit court was to provide due process to individuals who were denied access to records, not for agencies told to "give 'em up" to sue the OIP. And he presented not just the specific wording of the law but the legislative committee reports- which clearly stated stated as much- as evidence.

But, to perhaps over simplify, the Supreme Court (SC) didn't listen or didn't care what Kondo foresaw happening to the OIP.

They essentially ruled that the county was entitled to access to the courts if due process was to be served. They also ruled, somewhat bizarrely, that although the request was for the minutes of ES-177- a "record request" over which the law clearly gave OIP authority in HRS 92F- it was actually a suit regarding a meeting, which falls the Sunshine Law (HRS 92) where the OIP did not have the "final bite of the apple" authority.

That essentially meant ithat Kondo's argument was deemed irrelevant.

And now the chickens have come home to roost.

In dealing with the ruling the OIP has simply stopped handing down binding opinions as the law calls for and now simply issues "advisory opinions", all of which can be appealed to the circuit court by anyone, as the SC precedent said.

Kondo was almost apoplectic over what he saw as the end of the OIP and of course he was right. But the Hawai`i press still doesn’t get it.

The SC opinion is not entirely clear as to whether the case was decided on the minutes vs open meeting matter or the lack of due process, the latter seeming to be just to get around Kondo's argument and get to what they- and the C of K- saw as the meat of the issue at hand... the release of the ES-177 minutes.

The County may have won the case but people who value open government and records rue the day that the decision came down. And until our punditry class cuts through the clutter of the politics of the judicial appointment list case and recognize the roots of the OIP's action, we'll continue to be kept in the dark about the state of affairs in the OIP.

FIND THE RED QUEEN

FIND THE RED QUEEN: You can set your watch- well, maybe your calendar- by it.

As the two minute warning for the first half of the legislature approaches, with “first decking” coming up on Friday, some wiseacre will try to use the old fumbleroosky play- called in the trade “the gut and replace.”

It’s a self explanatory way to get around the constitutional requirement that bills be introduced very early in the session and it tends to come up this week every year- usually this very day, the Tuesday before first decking, when almost every committee is doing “decision making” on all the bills that have been held up for one reason or another over the past month.

While everyone else- including the press- is busy watching their bill of choice, someone will inevitably try to slip in the worst piece of crap ever by gutting a good bill and inserting a horrific one.

This year's crook was Democratic Sen. Brickwood Galuteria, who has gutted SB 671- a bill introduced by Democratic Sen. Les Ihara to tighten up ethics rules on gift giving- and replacing it with another that would entirely blow up any semblance of ethics in gift giving.

But instead of it sneaking through, as has been the habit over the past decades, in the on-line age it dominated the on-line world late yesterday and this morning.

You can read the gory details at Civil Beat or almost any news and politics blog you choose- Dave Shapiro’s, Ian Lind’s and Larry Geller’s.

But only Geller figured out what the out the “rooski” part of the play was for anyone who discovered the fumble and wanted to testify.

He wrote:

Even if you wanted to testify against SB671 SD1, you can’t, because of the way it is set up. If you submit testimony it would be registered under SB671, not the amended version. Now, SB671, as originally written, appears to be a very fine bill. So if you testified in opposition, you’d be opposing that bill. It’s the way the computer is set up. The committee did not provide a way to testify against the new, evil amendment.

That’s right it's not even one of those “no means yes and yes means no” kind of dirty tricks. It’s more like the “head I win, tails you lose” swindle where the con man gets to interpret all the yeses and noes as whatever he wants them to mean.

Ordinarily this would be the part where we post the email address for the Senate Judiciary Committee but actually this time so many people know about the scam that it is apparently covered.

Instead cross your fingers that today’s decision making on moving oversight of medical marijuana from the Department of Public Safety to the Department of Health goes smoothly. Then if this stuff continues to give you headaches you’ll be more likely to have the medicine to help it go away.

GOT UGLY?

GOT UGLY?: Not being a Democrat has it’s benefits.

The biggest perk is that while party members have to bite their lip in order to repress chuckles at the more buffoonish character traits and activities of some of their candidates we can partake in full fledged guffaws.

So we got a kick out of news blogger Dave Shapiro’s “exclusive” report on a leaked letter sent by Democratic Party Chairman Dante Carpenter to some party faithful detailing some of the more outrageous posturings of gubernatorial candidate Honolulu Mayor Mufi Hannemann at the recent party convention.

Shapiro summed up the letter-before providing some side splitting details you’ve gotta read- saying that

In a 2 1/2-page letter to Hannemann, Carpenter complained that the mayor and his campaign committee decided not to sponsor a breakfast it was expected to host, “created turmoil” by hosting a competing campaign event that drew delegates away from Resolution Committee meetings, breached an agreement on the time for the mayor’s speech to the convention, ignored the time limit on the speech despite repeated warnings and tried to bamboozle hotel audiovisual people into playing an unauthorized campaign disc after the Hannemann speech.

Hannemann is the kind of “only in Hawai`i” pol whose political ambitions and tactics are so transparently ego driven and devoid of any sustaining philosophy other than increasing his own power that this election season promises to be what normally would be a hilarious skit if it weren’t for the possibility that he might actually win.

His clearly customarily-corrupt campaign-coffer-cramming has his war chest choke with corporate rail contractor’s cash and his chances in the September primary are subject only to the question of how dumb the electorate really is.

With the exception of his regrettable lock-step support of the military occupation of the islands- and the waste of billions in the process- his opponent Neil Abercrombie actually promises a tolerable administration if elected, especially after enduring the eight-year fiasco commonly referred to as the Linda Lingle administration.

While it’s a little too early for us to publicly endorse candidates- with some notable exceptions like our own Gary Hooser in the lt. governor’s contest and Lani Kawahara in our council race- the Mufster makes it easy to find the worse of two evil no matter who he’s running against.

So pop up some corn and enjoy the show. Unless of course you’re a Democrat in which case the best advice we can come up with for you is to duck.

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Clarification: Councilperson Lani Kawahara voted against the “Ako” rezoning in Waimea which we mentioned yesterday.

HOCUS JOKUS

HOCUS JOKUS: Two weeks ago today we let loose on the homophobic religious community and their disingenuous shift from defense of the word “marriage” in 1998 to a slimy attempt to conflate civil unions with their precious “M” word today and the way the corporate media contributed to this, having previously cited a post by Honolulu Advertiser columnist Dave Shapiro as an example.

We said it gave Governor Linda “Dash to the Right” Lingle a way out of her 2002 campaign statement saying she supported domestic partnerships paving the way to an expected veto of HB 444, the civil unions bill.

Now, after Lingle said to a rabid hate group- the GOP state convention- this weekend that civil union is just another word for marriage it seems Shapiro is beginning to get the message saying her statement “would seem to end speculation about whether she intends to veto HB 444... By defining HB 444 as equivalent to marriage rather than domestic partnerships, she appears to be laying the groundwork for a veto that she can argue is consistent with her 2002 statement”.

In our May 4 post we attempted to lay out the real history of the way the bigot community had slithered into a redux rewrite of the ’98 debacle.

While falsely conflating “civil unions” and “same gender marriage” in the same breath they’ve drawn a line between the terms “domestic partnership” and “civil unions”- a conflation that in actuality was just an evolution of terminology... a distinction without a difference.

In perusing the comments on Shapiro’s own apparent evolution we came upon a pair that we thought were superior in clarity and historic value describing much the same thing we tried to get across a couple of weeks ago.

So since it’s getting harder to type with every character we’re re-posting a couple of blurbs from our friend “Kolea” today in hopes that his clarity can provide assistance in the coming months as the struggle for civil rights for same gender couples moves from the legislative to the judicial stage.

First he addresses the contention that there’s no difference between marriage and civil unions- the contention that members of the civil rights movement are somehow the ones playing word games in trying to pass a same gender marriage measure by calling it civil unions.

(edited for typos/spelling)

There is no ambiguity in the bill. It basically says that couples in a civil union shall have all the rights and responsibilities of marriage under state law. The real legal differences are that CUs will not be recognized by Federal law and in most other states. This last point is not a minor consideration. A couple married in Hawaii would have their marriage recognized in other states, so common property laws, visitation rights, inheritance, etc are portable. When a married couple from Hawaii moves to another state and, tens years down the road decide to split up, there is a well-defined legal structure for dissolving that relationship, the divorce laws. Not so with civil unions.

The civil union advocates are not being "crafty" about any of this. They WANT full marriage equality. All couples, regardless of sexual orientation, should be married under the same law. No "Separate But Equal." And no "Separate But Unequal."

But because social conservatives are irrationally attached to the word "marriage" and resist extending it to same sex couples, the Civil Union advocates decided a couple of years ago to postpone the demand for full marriage equality and accept the lesser rights of "Civil Unions" AS A STEP TOWARDS FULL MARRIAGE EQUALITY.

So rather than being "crafty" or dishonest, the advocates were making a concession to social conservatives in the hopes they would be mollified. 18 months is a long time, but prior to the start of the 2009 legislative session, it was extremely common for many conservatives to say about the issue:

"I am willing to support equal rights to gay couples, but why do they INSIST upon calling it 'marriage'? Marriage is only for a man and a woman. They should call it something else."

Once GLBT community acceded to that demand in the hopes of a compromise, the Right shifted their position and started saying, "Aha! These crafty gays are playing word games! They are still demanding marriage, but under a different name!"

I'll let you in on a secret plot. Marriage equality advocates are willing to accept civil unions as a temporary settlement. It is their belief, it is also MY belief, that civil unions will grant meaningful rights to gay and lesbian couples now, that the vast majority of "straight" people will come to recognize gay couples as their friends and neighbors rather than some scary or weird "other," and acceptance of full marriage equality will quickly become the dominant attitude in the community.

Then he gives the background of the real apparent disingenuity in many of the statements made back in ’98 as opposed to those from the same people now.

Dave,

While I agree with your overall account, I think you are making more of a distinction between civil unions and "domestic partnerships" than was understood at the time of Lingle's promise to the gay and lesbian community in 2002. The terms have evolved and become distinct in Hawaii in only the last few years. In the 90s, the "some of the rights" package was called "reciprocal beneficiaries," and "domestic partnership" was a stronger concept, meaning, essentially, all the rights and benefits of marriage but without the title. In some states, the law reflects this and "domestic partnership" is exactly equivalent to what we are now calling "civil unions in Hawaii.

Since we are engaging in time travel in order to understand the context of her pledge, readers might be surprised to know that as recently as 2002, all three major candidates for Governor: Case, Hirono and Lingle, were actively courting the leadership of the gay and lesbian community.

During the fight over the 1998 constitutional amendment on marriage, Case and Hirono had both been strong defenders of equal marriage rights. Lingle had NOT been. But Lingle still had a strong core group of lesbian activists who were personally committed to her and the issue of who the community would support was very much in contention.

A series of presentations were made at the Gay and Lesbian Community Center by the candidates. At her presentation, Lingle was questioned about the constitutional amendment and whether she would veto a bill for same sex marriage if it were to cross her desk. She said she would not support same sex marriage but if the legislature were to pass a domestic partnership bill and it came across her desk, she would allow it to become law without her signature.

Again, what was meant by "domestic partnership" in those days was the same thing as what is currently being called "civil unions." Lingle's promise was not just another campaign pledge, it was an explicit promise made to a specific group of people, some of whom went on to work hard for her election. After the election, she did support efforts to create a local chapter of a gay GOP organization, the Log Cabin Republicans, even featuring a speaker from the organization at a GOP Hawaii state convention.

But those were different times. Lingle was first elected as a moderate, even "liberal" Republican. There is very little tolerance today in the national GOP and that has spread to Hawaii, where the moderates have traditionally dominated the party leadership and membership. They are now laying low, hiding their beliefs, going along with the enraged right wing. There are a few noble exceptions, but Lingle is not one of them.

Lingle's betrayal of her campaign promise is just confirming the cynicism of people who had relied upon her word. In the last few months, I have heard gay activists repeatedly say they expected her, in the final lonely minute, to remain true to her promise and her inner truth.

She is not just breaking a campaign pledge. If she vetoes this, she is betraying her sisters who supported her, defended her and worked hard for her election. I think her ambitions for success in an ever more reactionary national GOP will trump the public pledge she made to those sisters in that room, back in 2002.

LET THE GOOD GUY WIN EVERY ONCE IN A WHILE

LET THE GOOD GUY WIN EVERY ONCE IN A WHILE: The “last minute” maneuver in the state house to pass the civil-unions bill- HB 444- was still quite a shock to the system despite the fact that we’d heard that a massive push was underway by civil rights activists in Honolulu including some pretty intense one-on-one lobbying of house members by those with access.

Process geeks like us can check out Derrick DePledge’s blow by blow live twittering to find out how it came down.

It was aided by, if there’s such a thing within a legislative body, a grassroots effort by a handful of house members that greased the skids on promoting access and putting their own time and effort into convincing their colleagues to force the vote.

Next time you see Mina Morita give her a hug.

But what strikes us is the brilliant political move of the activist in letting the sleeping dog lie as the session wore suckering the bigots and religious zealots into complacency and do their work under the radar.

Now for the next six months we’re going to hear the big lie that’s becoming the popular rallying cry for many of the wing-nuts and, well, nut-case groups in general... that they are some kind of overwhelming majority even when their ranks are far outnumbered.

Whether it’s the same 18% (in a NY Times poll) of the populace that makes up the tea partiers- the same percentage that supported the war criminals by the end of the last administration- who bafflingly maintain they speak for the majority or the dog ladies on Kaua`i who claim “everybody” wants to engage their dirty smelly mutts when they go down to the ocean (and designed a push survey to prove it) it’s the latest in bogus lobbying through lies.

If you don’t have the majority on your side, just say you do over and over and get the press to report that you said it in their “he said she said” coverage.

Which is why we’ve got to make sure that if the homophobic lobby is going to try to make the November election about this we’ve gotta make sure we turn out and both support those who supported civil rights and replace those who didn’t- or keep those new candidates who don’t on the outside.

Here on Kaua`i the no votes came from the always bigoted Jimmy Tokioka and his west side cohort Roland Sagum. We can only hope good candidates will come forward to challenge them.

But assuming a Lingle veto- meaning we’d have to start from scratch in 2011- we’re going to need someone to sign the bill next year and that leaves only Neil Abercrombie.

Most know that Duke Aiona is generally one of the worst religion-addled ass-wipes around. But fewer know that the corrupt Mayor of Honolulu Mufi Hannemann opposes civil unions too.

Candidates aside our most daunting task will be to make sure that the other big lie- that civil unions are somehow related to same gender marriage- is put to rest by November... and that includes whenever some well meaning pea-brains like Jerry Burris conflates them as he did in today’s Honolulu Advertiser... just as columnist Dave Shapiro did as we mentioned last week.

Whatever Ms. Ding-a-Lingle decides to do we’ve go our work cut out for us on this one.

CHANGE TO DECEIVE IN:

CHANGE TO DECEIVE IN: Our usual attitude toward following the back-room dealing, sunshine-challenged Hawai`i State legislature is similar to that of a baseball catcher trying to catch notoriously unpredictable knuckleball pitchers- just knock it down if you can and wait for it to stop rolling and pick it up.

But still there’s one last push to revive the civil union bill that will have to start from scratch next year if we can’t get a vote out of the house- the same house that passed HB 444 last year when the senate (which passed it this year) balked.

A press release from Citizens for Equal Rights says they are:

inviting people to include themselves in a photo booklet of supporters of civil unions and H.B. 444. The booklet will be given to state House members next week to show mainstream community support for passage of civil unions legislation this session...

Those who plan to lobby legislators are expected to use the booklet as evidence of community support to ask House members to vote on H.B. 444 before the session adjourns.

CFER invites anyone who wants to be included in the equal rights booklet to email their name, photo, and affiliation to equality808@gmail.com . CFER plans to group the photos by community categories such as realtors, lawyers, paddlers, faith groups etc. For more information, the public should send an email to equality808@gmail.com, or go online at www.tinyurl.com/equality4808 .

It’s worth a try and we urge you to lend your face.

But we don’t expect much, not just because the house supporters have all the guts and backbone of a squid but, in large part because even people who know better continue to use the 1998 vote on same gender marriage to claim that “the already people voted on the issue” even though this is a civil unions bill, not a marriage measure.

It’s not to say that same gender couples shouldn’t be entitled to the same misery as opposite gender couple. But if the “leaders” of the movement have decided to fight for this intermediary step despite the fact that marriage equality is sweeping the country and world, so be it.

Speaking of those who should know better, take Honolulu Advertiser columnist and blogger Dave Shapiro- please.

Today he writes:

Supporters of civil unions for gay couples are again pressing for a vote in the Legislature this year, trying to persuade lawmakers that public opinion has changed since voters rejected same-sex marriage by 2 to 1 margin more than a decade ago.

The big question is whether it's public opinion that has significantly changed since 1998 or just Democratic Party politics.

In case his conflationary confection isn’t muddled enough, in answer to a comment he says:

it was absolutely clear in 1998 which way those voters wanted the Legislature to define marriage and the Legislature acted accordingly. The challenge now is to show that sentiment has changed, not to continue playing games with terminology.

That’s bullsh-t... and you know it Dave. Not only does the bill not bestow marriage rights but back in ’98 the supporters of the constitutional amendment to allow the legislature to define marriage as restricted to opposite gender couples said they had nothing against the type of equal rights the civil unions provide, they just wanted to restrict marriage.

You were there Dave- you were editor of the Star-Bulletin and covered it every day.

We were there too by the way and, much to our chagrin, we got it first hand from hundreds of people as we registered them to vote.

It was one of the most miserable of experiences but as fate would have it we had agreed to volunteer to register voters on the county building lawn- as a fundraiser for the League of Women Voters of Kaua`i- during the first year of “Wiki-wiki” registration.

And boy did they come in droves asking “is this where I register to vote against same sex marriage?”.

We had to register all comers, many of whom had never voted before- or likely since. But as we talked to them we came to realize it was the word marriage itself- and certainly not the rights bestowed by it- that people objected to.

To a person they all said they would support allowing everyone, regardless of gender, to enjoy the rights marriage brings but they didn’t want actual marriages to be effected.

This nonsense has gone on for the last two years and even people like Shapiro carelessly spread the false notion that the ‘98 vote has anything to do with HB 444, as the handful of vociferous religious wing-nuts have tried to claim.

Don’t fall for it. While they- and our friend Dave- are entitled to their own opinions they aren’t entitled to their own facts.

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Another three day weekend this week- be back Monday.

TOO SMALL TO FLAIL

TOO SMALL TO FLAIL: The things that piss off the electorate really baffles us sometimes. Perhaps it’s the ease with which we fall for the misdirection ploy. Maybe it’s that when a scam is of the MEGO (my eyes glaze over) variety people go back to something they can understand rather than spend the extra time to figure it out.

But whatever it is it seems that the masses prefer to worry about getting a Woolworth’s Funereal (being nickeled and dimed to death) than receiving a full walletectomy.

That may explain why we generally get up in arms over the pennies our elected officials receive for their services instead of the legal- and not so legal- bribery system that is democracy American style which cost us untold riches on the back end.

A perfect example is Honolulu Advertiser columnist/blogger Dave Shapiro’s seemingly never ending crusade to mention the pay raise the legislature received a couple of years back at every opportunity as if it alone were at the root of all economic miseries.

But what Dave fails to mention other than occasionally and in passing is that the low pay for “part time” legislators has led to a system where the nature of the outside employment of most legislators is a direct result of the power of their positions.

It takes a special “boss” to let their employee spend three months away from their job as well as a slew of time between sessions. Just go down the list of legislators’ outside jobs and you will more often than not see “consultant”- usually with firms whose profits rise and fall with the actions of the legislature.

Combined with those direct bribes known as “campaign contributions” we’re stuck with a system that cost us billions in tax credits and special interest legislation often actually written by corporate crooks and cronies doling out the moolah..

But while we’re worried about the actual salaries that the reps and sens are being paid, keeping them low is what actually causes this fraudulent system to thrive.

In order to be a state legislator either you play the “consultant” game and ply the rubber chicken circuit or you’re independently wealthy. There’s no in-between and no opportunity for the citizen-legislator we all cite as ideal.

We’ve spoken to literally dozens of people over the years, ones who everyone wishes would run for office but don’t because they simply can’t afford it. Yet Shapiro and his mindless adherents want to keep the salaries at a low enough level to keep the current system in place.

And it’s the same nationally. This week we’ve noted four copies of a “chain letter” email we first started receiving about six months ago but has gone viral on the local progressive “lists”, entitled “An idea whose time has come”.

It reads:

For too long we have been too complacent about the workings of Congress. Many citizens had no idea that members of Congress could retire with the same pay after only one term, that they didn't pay into Social Security, that they specifically exempted themselves from many of the laws they have passed (such as being exempt from any fear of prosecution for sexual harassment) while ordinary citizens must live under those laws... The self-serving must stop....

This is the same congress that has not just allowed but perpetuated the fiscal system, bailing out Wall St. and the banks while people are being thrown out of their houses after being scammed by the self same crew- a crew that refills congressional campaign coffers like it’s a 7-11 refilling your 87 ounce Dr. Pepper.

Yet there’s no real regulation even proposed at this point for the banks or campaign finance. Instead the email proposes a:

28th Amendment to the United States Constitution

"Congress shall make no law that applies to the citizens of the United States that does not apply equally to the Senators and/or Representatives; and, Congress shall make no law that applies to the Senators and/or Representatives that does not apply equally to the citizens of the United States ".

Are you freakin’ kidding? This is what gets your panties in a bunch? Not constitutional amendments denying the demented recent Supreme Court ruling confirming “corporate personhood” or the 30 year old “money is speech” ruling than makes public financing of elections a Herculean task if not an absolute joke?

Parenthetically that’s another tangential idiocy- people who say “I don’t want my tax dollars financing these politicians campaigns”. For every dollar we’d spend taking money out of political campaigns we’d be saving literally millions doled out to those that pay the legal bribes under the current system.

For instance we are now faced with a give-away to insurance companies instead of a single payer Medicare-for-all that would save us trillions because congress actually admits they are too controlled by campaign contributions to get it passed. It’s just one example of the cost of privately financed campaigns.

It’s the same stupid mentality that has people claiming the “moral hazard” of helping their neighbor payoff the impossible mortgage the bank scammed them into while thinking the trillions given out to “too big to fail” institutions was done in order to “save the financial system”.

It’s the same idiotic cut-off-your-nose-to-spite-your-face “pay cuts for the legislature” mantra that actually makes sure that they have to live a shady existence to survive and serve at the same time.

Get off it folks. While we argue with the teller over the quality of the free toaster they’re giving out in the front of the bank the CEOs are shoveling cash out the back door.

We’re just too distracted by our own petty jealousies and craven covetousness to notice the fixed nature of the game of three-card-Monte being played out on the corner.

EVERYBODY’S BITCH

EVERYBODY’S BITCH: To whore or not to whore- that is the question every “blogger” faces, whether of the journalistic or social networking type.

Last week Honolulu Advertiser blogger and former Star-Bulletin Editor Dave Shapiro set off a turd-storm describing how he

read in the Pacific Business News how a bunch of bloggers and social media types from the Mainland were here on a free Hawai`i vacation compliments of the Hawai`i Tourism Authority.

I don't have the marketing expertise to say whether the $15,000 paid by HTA on the So Much More Hawai`i junkets was worthwhile in terms of attracting visitors to Hawai`i.

But the new media folks accepting the freebies were a throwback to the bad old days of journalism when favorable coverage was for sale at the right price

Well after Dave referred them to the Society of Professional Journalists Ethics Code which forbids “freebies” for travel writers (and other “reviewers) because of the obvious conflict of interest, many of the blogger/whores- who were acting as journalists but were really just PR hacks masquerading as reporters- got wind of the post and tried to defend themselves.

After the denials by some that “I’m not a journalists- I’m just a blogger”- despite the fact that they are doing exactly what a reporter does- their reactions were, like any child caught with their hand in the cookie jar, expected and priceless in defending their actions with either “but everyone else is doing it” or “well, really I didn’t take THAT much money/freebie”.

But those who “blog” and also try to maintain actual journalistic principles face the same dilemma facing newspapers these days- how to financially support their efforts and still maintain those ethical standards.

Some may solicit donations like Disappeared News’ Larry Geller. But many others like Ian Lind have turned to advertising which is all too easy with “googleads” and “doubleclick” offering cash-for-eyeballs, even if it is at a rate of pennies a click.

Today Ian- and the rest of us- got a lesson on the pitfalls of “signing up” to allow ads to appear with his posts.

Ian, a former investigative reporter for the Honolulu Star-Bulletin, usually provides comments and added content on local stories and provides links to interesting web sites and posts, all interspersed with original reporting.

But today he presented arguably the best piece of investigative journalism in the state this year with under the professionally crafted headline Door-to-door security sales ringing consumer alarms.

It details an apparent scam happening on O`ahu involving Mormon students on summer vacation who are parlaying their door-to-door skills gained in “missionary” work into selling fly-by-night, long-term contacts for “free” home security systems.

The problem is that when you click through to the stand-along page for Lind's article, right across the top, googleads/doubleclick has pasted a click-on ad reading

Need and Alarm system?
Let Buyerzone Save You Time and Money
Compare Alarm System Price Quotes and Save

And of course when you click it on you see

Buyer Zone- used by over 4 million buyers
Compare Free Quotes- Let us save you time and money in 5 minutes- Take our Survey
Or....Search our Directory of Monitored Alarm System Companies

Of course when you “search” there is only one company to “compare” - ADT Monitored Alarm Systems”, a “reputable” company with many years in the business.

Lind has no control over which ad google will post with which article, but of course google is well known for automating a process where their ads correlate with the content- as anyone who uses gmail knows all too well

The problem is that to anyone who doesn’t know how google works or doesn’t put it together with the ad on Ian’s site, it makes what is an extraordinary piece of investigative work onto one that raises questions about the integrity of the author by making it appear Lind is just running down the competition for his “paid” masters.

No reputable newspaper runs ads based on content- note the word “reputable” since it seems to happen more and more these days. And certainly they would never be so gauche as to put the ad at the top of a page that contains an article on a related subject. And that goes double for on-line ads... if they have the ability to control it.

While on-line ad revenue for news providers will seemingly be minimal for the foreseeable future. if the google-style information gobbling and regurgitation advertising model is the future of newspaper reporting, those getting freebies on tourism marketing junkets may be the least of the ethical problems for the “news business”.

SAIL AWAY

SAIL AWAY: We couldn’t help but be amused by an article in the Maui News describing the Superferry supporters picking over the bones at the auction of the venture’s paraphernalia

Reporter Chris Hamilton described the paltry pickin’s and said

All who were interviewed said they were Superferry proponents. Although excited by an auction atmosphere, most still called it a glum day. Many people, though, expected Superferry to return in a couple years after the legal wrangling has run its course.

It’s hard to imagine upon what the wishin’ and hopin’ crowd are basing their expectations these days but Monday Dave Shapiro’s post-mortem tried to stare down reality by rehashing one of the original argument for the ferry- that car and passenger transport ferries are successful businesses on islands across the world and so we should have one here too.

In trying to make the case he quoted a couple of US professors, Dick Miller and Betty Sugarman, as saying the state should be establishing an interisland ferry just like they do on the mainland as part of their highway systems

They concluded by saying

"To serve these needs the closest equivalent to a highway system would be inexpensive, reliable, and regular ferry service. It is the state’s job to fulfill this responsibility, just as all states assume responsibility for highways."

Politics, state misdeeds and military madness issues aside, none but the Pollyannas can deny the venture was a dismal failure in a business sense. Even with far-below-cost fares they couldn’t attract enough passengers in the two years they operated to have made money even if they had been charging full fare.

Yet the quotes in Hamilton’s article and comments on Shapiro’s post indicate that people apparently ignore all that and continue to look country and world-wide and say “if it works there it will work here”.

But one fact has seemingly been overlooked since the days almost 10 years ago when this false truism reared it’s ugly head.

Every single successful ferry system in the world connects islands with a continental “mainland” of some sort. All of them have a point of connection or terminus that allows the customer base that includes “the rest of the world”.

And because that’s not possible in Hawai`i without a 2,000 mile ferry link there simply is not a sufficient customer base to make a ferry successful in a financial sense.

That is the fatal flaw in the Superferry’s business plan, one that ultimately brought down the venture and should put a nail in the coffin of any future attempts at reviving the concept of an “H-4”.

Successful ferries in places from the islands around the Seattle, Washington area to Scandinavia all connect to vast continents and customers from perhaps thousands of miles around have access to them if they desire to go to the island destinations.

The number of cars and people that can patronize those ferries in is the tens if not hundreds of millions whereas, even assuming service between all of the main Hawaiian islands, the number of vehicles and adult passengers here tops out at about a million or so.

And don’t forget- in order to forge a dependable convenient “highway” type system, ferries in most places run many times a day making “early morning in, late evening out” a possibility for passengers.

Many factors came up over the years that led to the demise of the Superferry. But those who refuse to learn from the experience would do well to look at those aspects as merely small contributory factors to a venture doomed to failure from the start due to the forced economy of scale that a handful of tiny islands thousands of miles from a land mass presents.

A QUICK ONE WHILE HE’S AWAY

A QUICK ONE WHILE HE’S AWAY: One of the hallmarks of a good con game is misdirection. On the street-corner of course there is no pea under any shell because the hand is only quicker then the eye if the eye is distracted at a crucial moment.

And in the legislature while thousands are distracted by the civil unions bill the other measure we mentioned yesterday- the one to open the flood gates to corporate cash for politicians- has received little if any attention..

The Sierra Club finally woke up to this sleight of hand, sending out an appeal to it’s members this morning to contact legislators to try to kill off the outrageous attempt to open the spigot of corporate cash via House Bill HB 539.

Citing a Feb 22 Honolulu Star-Bulletin Editorial they told members that

With all of the recent attention on “clean” elections, ethics, and money in politics, HB 539 is a huge step in the wrong direction.

and asked they write and say to their reps

What does campaign finance reform have to do with Hawaii’s environment? Plenty! When campaign contributions influence how elected leaders vote on environmental policy, the environment usually loses. Many of the largest campaign contributors in Hawai`i have a significant impact on the environment, such as the utilities, oil companies, and developers. That’s why I am opposed to HB 539, which would allow corporations to give an unlimited amount of money to Political Action Committees.

But the biggest bombshell was Dave Shapiro’s column in today’s Honolulu Advertiser where he referred to House Judiciary Committee Chair Jon Riki Karamatu as “Cal Kawamoto Jr.”

For those who don’t remember Kawamoto he was the Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee who was charged with all sorts of fundraising and financial mischief and was the reason that “CleanElections” reforms died in the legislature for almost a decade until he was dumped by voters fed up with his self-serving paternalism.

The column contains the best brief description of the specifics of history and dangers of the bill we’ve read yet saying the Bill would:

increase the limit on corporate PAC contributions from $1,000 to $25,000 per election, but ended up approving unlimited corporate donations...

Legislative leaders claim their passage of the $1,000 limit on corporations in 2005 was inadvertent, but reformers like Sen. Les Ihara say that alleged mistake was "the most significant campaign reform legislation in the last two decades."

The bill would also repeal the ban on out-of-state contributions, some say to allow Congressman Neil Abercrombie to fill his war chest for his reported run for governor in 2010.

Shapiro then describes Karamatsu’s rational as “outrageous reasoning”. and describes his “rambling lecture to Barbara Polk of Americans for Democratic Action Hawai`i.”

Shapiro writes

Lawmakers usually defend special-interest campaign donations by piously citing the free-speech rights of the special interests.

But Karamatsu defended legislators' rights to collect more corporate money — and for uses other than campaigning.

Karamatsu said, "The costs (are) rising. I mean all of us here know what it is like ... it costs thousands of dollars to just do mailings. Those costs have gone up extraordinarily."

Nonsense. Campaign spending is already too high. A study of the 2006 election by the Campaign Spending Commission found that winning House candidates spent a hefty average of $40,000 and winning Senate candidates spent $80,000.

The big bucks are easy for incumbents to raise from special interests and a major barrier to challengers — a big part of the reason 40 percent of incumbent legislators ran unopposed in 2008 and most of the rest had only token opposition.

Such lack of accountability at the polls is exactly why legislators feel free to enrich themselves with impunity by taking 36-percent pay raises while the rest of the community sucks it up, and pursuing more corporate cash that will make it even harder for challengers to take them on.

Karamatsu said legislators need more corporate money so they can donate more to their political parties and district charities....

Karamatsu invoked fond memories of discredited former Sen. Cal Kawamoto, who was cited by the Campaign Spending Commission for buying votes with charitable donations, among other violations, and then tried to pass legislation limiting the commission's oversight of legislators.

"You guys put pressures ... on how much we can give to nonprofits. If not, we get busted like Cal Kawamoto," Karamatsu griped. "Every time we're getting sex-abuse fundraising letter and domestic violence fundraising letter ... He helped all these kids, and he got blasted for it. You're tying our hands on what we can do here."

The “outrageous” part of all this is that is it a rationale for the insanely corrupt practice of in Hawai`i where pols are allowed to collect campaign contributions and then turn around and give unlimited amounts to “community groups”- especially those that get out the vote for them.

This Chicago-style, practice of out-and-out vote buying was the reason Kawamoto was dumped and it again raises the question of what the ditzy Karamatsu is doing in the Judiciary Chair, especially in light of some of the bizarre pseudo new-age/Buddhist religious rambling at his blog where he also complained about being strong-armed by Honolulu Prosecutor Peter Carlisle earlier in the session before removing the post after it drew a lot of attention in various blogs..

HB 539 Draft 1 was passed out of Karamatsu’s committee and is up for second and third reading after tomorrow’s five day recess and before the Match 12 “crossover” of bills to and from the senate.

MONKEY’S AND WEASELS VS. JOKERS AND THIEVES

MONKEY’S AND WEASELS VS. JOKERS AND THIEVES: It’s anything but lonely under the big top.

The winners’ butts are barely parked after the 2008 game of musical chairs and already the players are throwing elbows for position and the music is playing for the 2010 political sweepstakes.

Only this time there’s going to be way more candidates circling the seats, with not just one but many less chairs to be fought over than suitors to fill them.

Senator Gary Hooser’s announcement that he’ll run for Lt Governor comes with instant opposition like Democratic Party Chair Bryan Schatz and Honolulu Councilmembers Rod Tam and Donovan Dela Cruz.

But with the announcement that he is seeking to play second banana to one of the Abercrombie Hanabusa or Hannemann triumvirate comes an opening for a top political plum for Kaua`i politicians- and one sure to cause all manner of the upwardly mobile to vacate their once coveted incumbencies.

While Honolulu-centric bloggers like Ian Lind and the long fingered Dave Shapiro (whose chair may be in Hilo but whose keyboard is on O`ahu) have quite a bit to say as to who will be flitting around the fifth floor in 2011, here on Kaua`i the speculation has already begun as to who will try to fill Hooser’s shoes.

Today former councilman, former mayoral candidate Mel Rapozo - who for the next two years at least is reduced to nitpicking at council and planning commission meetings and blogging like the rest of us poor schlubs- speculates on the game of marbles to come saying

Who will run for (Hooser’s) seat? It is way to early to tell, but the names that come to mind are JoAnn Yukimura, Ron Kouchi, and James Tokioka. If Tokioka decides to run for the Senate seat, we will have a vacancy in his State House seat as well. The next few months will be very interesting, and maybe even surprising. I have some tough decisions to make as well. I will be considering all of my options.

What Rapozo doesn’t mention in naming only those out of office is how this will effect the ambitious who are already in one seat or another.

And by “the ambitious” we mean every single one of them.

There is also a mayoral election in 2010 along with one for the seven members of the county council and a trio in the legislature. And you can bet all of the sitting have their eyes on greener grass of someone else’s seat.

But we have no doubt that there will be the same belly aching come the July 2010 filing deadline- that “there are no good candidates” once again despite this advance warning that it’s going to be a wide open field.

Every election year it’s the same thing- people who have the fire-in-the-belly if not the name recognition and even a good resume but won’t run or, when summer comes just suddenly discover there is going to be an election in a few months but haven’t done anything for the past two years to prepare for the opportunity.

Even worse will be another group will whine and snivel at their lack of choice and try to promote the joke of a “none of the above” option on the ballot while they refuse to run for office themselves.

But for anyone really serious about public service, today is your lucky day.

We’re here to remind you that with a little hard work over the next two years you too can have everyone in town calling you a hack, a crook and a dunderhead for the two years following your election.

Yes it’s time to get started and all you need is a running car a few good pair of shoes and a few boxes full of something to give away.

It’s time to visit every single one of your neighbors- it’s time to “walk the island”, going door to door talking to each person and letting them know who you are, what you’re running for and why they should vote for you.

Oh and bring ho`okipa. It should be something that they will not just throw away like a pen or key chain or something else with your name on it that you haphazardly ordered a bunch of. It’s got to be something people will either use or see every day that reminds them of you.- preferably something that is unique to you and your campaign.

Now get a map- a good, up to date one.. And then get movin'- there are almost 100 weekends between now and the election- plenty of time to knock on every door.

Now there are a select few people for whom this might not work- this mean-mouthed, higher-taxes and bigger-government advocate comes to mind. But for those of you who will come to us the summer after this one and ask us to support you and haven’t been doing this for two years, don’t wonder why you come in in 22nd place in a 21 candidate council race.

There very well could be almost all “vacant” seats- those without incumbents- on the council and in state house races to go along with state senator slot because, as we know from experience, having competition never stopped a politician from seeking higher office and there will be at least two or three current or former office holders in every race.

This is your year. find a gimmick- er, gift- put some gas in the jalopy and get out there.

Otherwise shut up next year. We’re tired of hearing “oh woe is us we have no good candidates again” every two years or if you do run having to see you stand there at the debates with your thumb up your butt because you don’t know the issues, you don’t know the voters and have no chance because you got a late start but we had to support you because at least you aren’t “them”.

Oh and it wouldn’t hurt to start following the actions of the person in the seat you’re seeking so you just might be able to do something once you get into office. But that’s a thought for another day.

BUT DID IT HAVE TO BE A TOOTHLESS HOUND AND AN OLD GRAY MARE

BUT DID IT HAVE TO BE A TOOTHLESS HOUND AND AN OLD GRAY MARE?: The blurry line between journalists and public relations hacks and flacks is getting more indistinguishable every day with reporters who started out afflicting the comfortable and comforting the afflicted downsized into suckling on the teat of corporate conniving to sell you what you don’t want and never needed.

But those few who are left working for mainstream publications and TV news outlets are under more and more pressure to swallow any dog and pony show that provides innocuous and subservient news-hole fodder.

So it should come as no surprise that the Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders have nothing on the Hawai`i press corps when it came to swallowing whole Linda Lingle’s latest PR stunt- her supposed economic stimulus program comprised of already approved projects repackaged with a shiny new bow.

You really have to search hard to find out anything that is actually being done in the supposed “fast tracking” and as a matter of fact no one in Honolulu that we can find has actually uncovered the fact that there is actually nothing being done this week that wasn’t being done last week except for the grin and grip for three neighbor island mayors seeking to appear as though they are “doing something to fix the economy”.

A look at the two major Honolulu dailies shows piss poor journalism in ballyhooing Lingle’s application of porcine makeup with not a one actually asking- much less reporting on- exactly what kind of “fast tracking” will actually be done.

The Advertiser’s Peter Boylan is particular smitten, leading his report by saying.

The state is looking to fast- track $1.86 billion worth of capital improvement projects to stimulate the economy and create jobs.

The 1,521 projects include highway improvements; maintenance and new construction at public schools and university and community college campuses; public library upgrades and repairs; small boat harbor upgrades and expansion; Hawaiian Homes construction; public housing facility repairs and renovations; and hospital and healthcare facility improvements.

After a paragraph saying Honolulu Mayor Mufi Hannemann refused to show up for the farce he continues to describe the sow’s ear as a silk purse, saying

The projects identified by Lingle have already been budgeted and approved by the Legislature, and construction could begin within the next 18 months. The projects are set to be put out to bid by September 2009 and awarded by June 2010, Lingle said.

Lingle said she wants to stimulate the economy because "no one is coming here to rescue us. It is up to us."

She added: "My bottom line is it can't be business as usual. That won't work in these times."

The state will pay for the projects with a series of bond issues or by taking money from $3 billion it has in the bank, Lingle said.

Then he’s off on a tangent of Honolulu’s need for other projects turning his piece into a he said/she said political battle between the mayor and governor, never getting back to exactly what the real “news” is

The Star Bulletin’s usually astute Nina Wu was even more vapid. She not only fails to report what specific “fast tracking” there will be she doesn’t even mention that phrase much less explain that they are just a recycled and repackaged list of projects.

Wu simply regurgitates Lingle’s PR crew’s descriptions of the wondrous amounts of money Lingle will single handedly be bestowing on we commoners saying

Calling it an unprecedented initiative, the governor said the main goal was to create jobs.

"It's about real families," said Lingle. "When I talk to our team, I don't talk about it in terms of CIP or projects; I talk about it in terms of your neighbors, your friends, your family being able to have a decent life, being able to make their mortgage payments. That's what the effort is all about."

And that’s nothing compared to the editorial in today’s Star-Bulletin which proclaims “Lingle stimulus plan should work, in time” saying

GOING forward with state construction projects in an expedited timeframe announced by Gov. Linda Lingle should help the state climb out of its current financial ditch but not overnight. The move to hurry along approved state projects in cooperation with federal and county actions is laudable but limited by processes that cannot be sidestepped.
Lingle said more than 1,500 projects statewide that were approved by the Legislature will be put on a fast track, an 80 percent increase of projects previously put on such a schedule. Even then, she said at a news conference, the projects will be put out to bid by next September and contracts awarded by a year-and-a-half from now.

Want a more pantingly pedantic point of virew? Try today’s blog post from Advertiser columnist Dave Shapiro who has apparently been looking for something to butter up his fave on the fifth floor after being forced more and more recently to acknowledge her failed administration.

Instead of pointing out the emperor’s lack of appropriate apparel he pushes to what appears to be the Advertiser’s party line, turning the story into a hit piece on Hannemann. He wrote:

So what happened when Lingle called Hawai’i mayors together to work on an economic plan? Hannemann skipped out, and he deserves as much criticism as he earlier heaped on Lingle.

Before puking out political punditry that praises the Governor and the neighbor island mayors and faults His Mufiness for having more important things to do than participate in ding-a-Lingle’s no-news news-event.

Of course none of the TV news programs had anything more in their fleeting coverage than what they were spoon-fed and most were decidedly worse in terms of not reporting the deceit itself much less details of it.

But credit where credit is due- even if it is from what is usually the worst paper in the state- or country for that matter- The Garbage- er, Garden Island (TGI) on Kaua`i.

In reading relatively new reporter Michael Levine’s article you get a feeling that he wasn’t buying the gift wrapped turd.

Apparently he actually asked some of these questions and after describing the already-in-the-pipeline nature of the projects and listing some of the amounts of money to be spent he writes

However, the announcement should not be seen as Lingle actually releasing the funds from the state’s coffers — Pang said projects in which bids have not yet been awarded are not ready for release, and that the standard process, including planning and permitting, still has to occur on a case-by-case basis.

As an example of what’s not new he reports that

Nearly half of Kaua‘i’s funding total is expected to be used to widen a two-mile stretch of Kaumuali‘i Highway between Anonui Street and the Lihu‘e Mill Bridge.

According to information on the CIP Web site, that project alone is projected to cost just over $70 million.

The project is expected to go out to bid in June 2009, to be awarded in September 2009, and to begin construction in February 2010. The contract time is projected to be 825 days.

So the project, which was always scheduled for that timeframe as he reported previously, will now be scheduled for that same time... only this time it’s thanks to Lingle with an assist in doing nothing from Kaua`i Mayor Bernard Carvalho

According to Levine there’s nothing specific they will be doing to fast track anything except for determining what if anything they can do- which is probably nothing.

“These projects will help in getting our construction and building trade sectors moving,” Mayor Bernard Carvalho, who pledged support for the program at an afternoon press conference with Lingle and other county mayors, said in a release.

Beth Tokioka, executive assistant to Carvalho, said the mayor’s staff was continuing to look through the list to determine what assistance the county can provide to help speed up the process.

Additionally, Carvalho said in a press release that the county is compiling its own list of high-priority CIP projects for immediate and near-term implementation.

“Millions of dollars at the county level are already in the pipeline or are ready to be awarded,” he said.“We are currently preparing for a bond float so that we can fund additional CIP projects.

Supporting our economy during these difficult times remains a top priority for my administration.”

So let’s get this straight- even the fast-tracking is a con job because there’s no guarantee from Lingle that this will speed up her “release” of the funds or that she’ll do it any differently than what is proscribed by laws and rules. And, Carvalho will also be following the law and rules at the county level for permitting and planning approval.

We can only hope that someone like Levine- if not him- is named to replace the departing TGI Editor Adam Harju who is reportedly moving on to- believe it or not- “The Cambodia Daily”.

Levine has done some really exceptional reporting even though Harju has been a stalwart of censorship and drivel in service to publisher Mark Lewis.

But it appears, despite Harju’s denials when he took the job that he was “here to stay”, Kaua`i was for him just “another stop on the circuit” of small but increasingly larger community papers that younger mainland reporters ride to professional legitimacy.

Well the community’s gain is Harju’s loss- As everyone knows the only reason he was here was for the surfing anyway. We’ll most likely be looking forward to an even more out of touch malahini from “the circuit” taking the TGI reigns.

Keep it riel Adam and don’t take any bamboo ones. We’ll let Pol Pot’s living henchmen know they have nothing to worry about in the way of investigative work from you.

(PNN/gw?) ABERCROMBIE : “I WILL BE RUNNING FOR GOVERNOR”

CIRCLING THE SEAT: PNN has learned that Congressman Neil Abercrombie has told Democratic leaders that in fact he will run for Governor in 2010.

According to sources close to Abercrombie he has been telling party leaders “I will be running for governor in 2010“.

One source who asked not to be identified because the announcement should come from Abercrombie himself said that the congressman, with prodding from his family feels it is time for him to “come back home” after turning 70 in June.

Speculation in the press has focused on what will happen in the various musical chairs scenarios that will no doubt commence with Abercrombie’s official announcement.

Also up for reelection in ‘10 is Senator Dan Inouye who, many believe will seek another term despite the fact that he will be 86 at the time but so far there’s been no announcement.

So as the beguine begins the list of suitors spocking out the various available chairs is growing by the day.

Former 2nd Congressional District (CD) Congressman Ed Case has sent out a rather strange email in the last few days asking recipients to recommend which office he should seek two years hence- governor or congress- saying he will support Inouye’s reelection in ’10.

Senate President Colleen Hanabusa is also said to be looking for new environs although Abercrombie’s decision could influence her reported interest in the gubernatorial race.

And of course there’s the always-running-for-something Honolulu Mayor Mufi Hannamann. While he would have to resign to run for Governor he could run for congress without giving up his current digs.

While most of the speculation on the Mufster’s future has centered on an office on the 5th floor of the capitol, he might see the open congressional seat as an opportunity without a downside should he lose.

And on the Republican side there’s no dearth of ambitious “against all odds” candidates beginning with Governor Linda Lingle who’s pretty much played out any popularity she might have enjoyed six years ago.

Lingle has been mentioned often as a Republican opponent for Inouye’s seat but even though it’s probably pure delusion on her part to think that with her plummeting popularity she could win any race at this point, she may believe that running for an open congressional seat- against the winner of what promises to be a bloody battle in the Democratic primaries- might make more sense,

And the always comical Charles Djou, a Honolulu Councilman know for his somewhat bizarre manner and penchant for self aggrandizement who has already announced his probable losing run for Abercrombie’s seat.

Last and least of course there’s Lt. Governor Duke Aiona who has been running for governor for six years now with his right-wing-nut religious agenda. He gives whomever the Democrats nominate an almost free pass to Washington Place.

But these Honolulu habitants seem unaware that no matter what their support at home may be, half the state’s population not only doesn’t live “in town” and if their names are known at all out here in the boonies it’s because they are so roundly disliked.

That may be the reason why one name being thrown about now about is none other than Kaua`i Senator Gary Hooser.

As Honolulu Advertiser columnist and blogger Dave Shapiro told us in yesterday’s blog post on the “2010 political follies” notes: .

Hooser is running a banner ad on an online news site asking readers “Who is Gary Hooser?” and “What are his core values?” and inviting them to “Click here to watch The Gary Hooser Story.” But when you click through to his Web site, all you get is a teaser that it’s “coming soon” on Dec. 5.

If Hooser is making a big effort to increase his visibility, you have to assume he’s also got his eye on governor, lieutenant governor or Congress.

So we dialed up the always available Hooser- the only elected official we know of who widely circulates his personal cell phone number and urges people to call any time- to find out about his plans.

Hooser told us that his prime interest is in serving the 7th State Senate District but feels that perhaps there are future opportunities for him to serve out there and though he has no plans to leave the job he loves representing Kaua`i and Ni`ihau, he would like to have people in the state outside of Kaua`i know more about him and see what develops.

Hooser could run for either senate or congress in 2010 without giving up his seat to run although a lieutenant governor run would require him to “resign to run”. Hooser has said in the past that his passion is in legislative affairs far more than administrative.

The fact is that Hooser is wildly popular on the Garden Isle and when it comes to representation in Washington D.C we neighbor islanders haven’t had one of our own in congress since Patsy Mink.

And while the rest of the pack may have a tough time with their negative images among neighbor islanders Hooser biggest problem with culling the votes of city dwellers may be name recognition alone.

Hooser’s biggest obstacle is probably that not many outside Kaua`i know the answer to the question “Who is Gary Hooser/” although as Senate Majority Leader many who follow politics know not just his name but his reputation as a well-liked progressive legislator who’s not afraid to stand up for his constituents and to the special interests, even within his own party.

Abercrombie seems a shoo-in for the Democratic gubernatorial nominee and therefore governor at this point.

Hanabusa has a disproportionate and distorted image of her popularity outside her district and is blamed for quite a few fiascos and capitulations to special interests as Senate President.

And Case is a perennial primary loser known as a “DINO”- Democrat in Name Only- which may put him out of the running should he go up against Abercrombie, Hamabusa or Hannamann in a state-wide Democratic primary.

Maize Hirono, the current 2nd CD representative, like Case is from Honolulu and won the seat with less than 25% of the vote in the wild non-partisan special election that followed Case’s resignation to run against Sen. Dan Akaka in ‘06. And she faced no real opposition in her reelection campaign this year.

While it’s doubtful Hooser would take on a sitting congresswoman in his own party it’s certainly not out of the question. Hooser originally won election to the state Senate by taking on a Democratic incumbent, Jonathan Chun, in 2002.

The question that must be asked now is whether Hirono might run for Abercrombie’s urban 1st CD – the district where she grew up and actually resides.

Should that happen Hooser’s attempt to let voters know “Who is Gary Hooser?” might, in hindsight be an appropriate move- one that could bring real neighbor island representation to U.S. Congress for the first time in a long time.

THE BITE ISN’T BLEEDING MUCH AND AW, HE’S SO CUTE

THE BITE ISN’T BLEEDING MUCH AND AW, HE’S SO CUTE: We’ve got a buddy who never tires of asking us, in referring to our apparent obsession with Kaua`i politics, “So, you still got your nose in the cesspool?”.

And apparently it was all for naught when for a few days we took on the absurd machinations of the “City and County” only to hear “so now you’ve got your nose in a bigger cesspool”

Perhaps our fascination with our leader’s excrement is because of this penchant of much of the citizenry to excuse our government officials with the basketball cliché of “no blood, no foul” when confronted with the a level of lawlessness that is apparently ok unless our personal ox is actually killed, not merely gored.

Yesterday we got an email from a usually astute observer who said it didn’t matter who exactly was being replaced in the Honolulu Hale filing deadline fiasco we focused on over the past few days because they had already chosen a replacement candidate.

And today, in an appropriately entitled piece “Phew, Somebody Forgot to Flush” former Honolulu Star Bulletin Editor and current Advertiser blogger Dave Shapiro detailed some of the story- without shedding any new light- regarding the events Tuesday and since.

But instead of squeezing off a bit of his usual righteous indignation he ended his piece by saying

But let’s be real: What are the chances that Democratic patronage workers are going to tell the House Democratic majority leader who is supported by the Democratic mayor of Honolulu that he can’t run.

Then today, in another plop in the potty, Honolulu Advertiser reporter and blogger Derrick DePledge detailed the latest flouting of the law, this time by the state’s Chief Elections Officer Kevin Cronin.

It appears Cronin didn’t bother to - and wasn’t apparently bothered by the fact that he failed to- fulfill the requirements for his job by failing to register to vote when he came here from Wisconsin in February.

When, after a tip, DePledge asked Cronin if he was indeed “a registered voter of the State” as the law states he must be, Cronin reportedly replied “It was one of those things that I never got around to doing, Thank you for reminding me.”

You would expect the outrage would be gushing like an open artery not only at the lawless arrogance and stupidity but the fact that Cronin- who was ultimately responsible for the Tuesday screw ups- is being sued over his awarding of a contract to a Hart Election Systems that bid $41 million to count our votes instead of a $19 million ES&S bid and apparently he made the decision knowing he didn’t validly hold the job... a point we expect ES&S to raise in court.

Cronin reportedly has had prior associations with Hart and ESS was the preferred contractor under former Chief Elections Office Dwayne Yoshina who was replaced, many observers say, due to partisan-based political maneuverings by the current administration.

But among the comments in DePledge’s blog was one that voices the who cares mantra with clarity

First “Bryan” expressed the requisite minimal indignation by saying:

Never got around to doing, what a load of crock!!... This tells us 1 of 2 things, either Cronin is hiding something (maybe his resident status back in Wisconisin) or he is just too stupid to understand the law. Either one dosn’t look good for us voters.

But “Jane” was seemingly unfazed saying:

Isn’t it a requirement by the State of Hawaii for new employees to sign a Declaration of Residency? I had to. If Cronin did this, the whole issues is much ado about nothing. Maybe he was waiting to find permanent residency, maybe... other election issues took precedent- expand your mind Bryon and don’t be so pessimistic.. the failing of Hawaiian schools-now that is something to be concerned about.

The fact is that if Cronin was not a registered voter until now, he could not have legally held the job. And if he never legally held the job he could not have legally and officially made the decisions attributed to him. All actions done in his capacity as Chief Elections Officer should be null and void.

What is it that rouses the rabble when hearing someone stuffed a boar’s head in the toilet amongst the graffiti in the brand-new, always-filthy, county bathrooms in Kealia but keeps us ho-humming it all when everyone from the president to the three pig-headed law-breakers running for Kaua`i Mayor take a dump on our law books?

It’s bad enough when they actually pull off their crimes and no one cares. But the worst may be when an official’s illegal actions don’t accomplish the deed-most-foul they had in mind and so people think it’s time to “move on”.

If I’m doing 80 in a school zone I don’t get to “move on” just because I didn’t hit a kid. If I try to rob a bank and don’t get any money the FBI won’t send me along my merry way..

Are we still so ingrained with plantation mentality that we allow our mucky mucks to do whatever they want as long as their corrupt attempts use their office to gain advantage fail?

Don’t answer Ralphie-boy- Norton can’t hear you down here in the sewer.