It’s Chinatown, Jake...
(PNN) PFLUEGER ’01 GRUBBING AND GRADING VIOLATION APPARENTLY COVERS OVER WATER PIPES FED BY ILLEGAL DITCH
The grubbing and grading violations above Ka Loko Dam for which Jimmy Pflueger was cited and fined years before the dam break, apparently covered over an extensive system of water pipes fed by an illegal water diversion that steals water from Moloa`a stream.
As PNN reported Wednesday a county funded report designed to study the reestablishment of irrigation for Kilauea farmers after the tragic dam break in 2006, describes how within the past 10 years “someone” completely rebuilt the long abandoned Moloa`a Ditch to feed the Pflueger and the Mary Lucas Trusts’ lands and Ka Loko reservoir which sits on both.
The report also notes that the ditch connects to an 8” intake pipe on Pflueger’s property that undergrounds at that point just above the work for which Pflueger was cited which is above the reservoir. The intake pipe contains at least two branches, one for Pflueger’s land and one for the Trust’s land.
Apparently in addition to providing a higher water level in the reservoir for the Pflueger’s planned water sports development one of the purposes of the ditch was to provide residential use water for Pflueger’s planned resort community on the property because county water is not available in the area, according to Kallai
Since no one knew of the re-construction of the Moloa`a Ditch at the time of the inspections that led to the violation, apparently no one suspected that the grubbing and grading actually covered over a system of water pipes.
The pipes also provide water to others who own the Mary Lucas trust land including relatives of Pflueger who Kallai says, sued him over water rights in the 1990’s.
Although the particulars of that case are sketchy at present, the suit was apparently dropped and Pflueger was removed as the Trust’s head around the time the ditch was re-established.
At the time Pflueger, a Lucas heir, was the head of the Trust and was denying water to his relatives, in part for a mango farm on the Lucas Trust land according to Kallai who is familiar with the suit.
At a meeting to discuss the water situation Wed. night in Kilauea, according to Kallai one 80+-year-old-man who said he used to head up maintenance for whole the Ka Loko Reservoir and Ditch System said the Moloa`a Ditch was abandoned decades ago- perhaps as early as the 1920’s- because it was not needed for Kilauea sugar cane operations which ceased in the early 1970’s.
It had fallen into total disrepair but it remains to be determined how much of the “new” ditch was part of the old one and how much was constructed from scratch, including the three tunnels through mountains and the “ad hoc dam” at the point of diversion.
Kallai, a Moloa`a farmer, says that the estimates in the county report of how many gallons a day are being taken from the Moloa`a Stream is a severe underestimate, based on a quick glance done from a distance from the ditch and diversion rather than any real measurement.
Kallai estimates the value of the water at the county’s agricultural rate could be well into the billions of dollars.
Water rights in Hawai`i belong to the state and allotment by diversion is severely regulated based on the famous Hanapepe Water Rights case which has, in recent times led to cases like the Wai`oli Ditch decision that returned water to windward O`ahu streams and is currently being used to determine controversial water rights on Maui.
Kallai said that although we reported that she said that 200 farmers had already left Moloa`a she was rather referring to the number whose farming activities have been either curtailed or eliminated since the water in Moloa`a stream dried up 10 years ago and will have to leave if water is not restored to the stream.
She also alerted us to an April 13 2006 article by Malia Zimmerman of The Hawaii Reporter that tells the whole story we referred to Wed. regarding Kallai’s warnings that the dam was about to break just weeks before it actually did.
According to that article:
Pflueger was fined $12,500 by the state Department of Land and Natural Resources’ Commission on Water Resource Management on July 28, 2001, for altering the stream channel and diverting the stream without proper permitting for his properties at Hanalei and Kilauea, Kauai.
His water diversion activities also included those on his Pila`a property where another deluge took out the home and Kuleana of Amy and Rick Marvin due to grading of a new road done personally by Pflueger without permits.
Pflueger had constructed “lakes” on the property as part of activities that killed the Pila`a reef and resulted in his conviction on 10 felony counts and a 7.5 million EPA fine in 2006.
Kallai says those lakes were finally removed just last month as part of the remediation plan.
The article also notes:
James Pflueger, who owns the property from which the wave of water could have come, claims he never altered the waterway, the dam’s spillway or the dam height. "If you find anyone who knows I diverted streams, let me know and I'll come running," Pflueger told the Honolulu Star-Bulletin. Pflueger has so far refused to return calls to Hawaii Reporter.
But, despite Zimmerman’s requests for information an investigation the state’s extensive Godby report completed in the aftermath of the dam break has nothing about the diversion and no further investigation of it has occurred on the part of the state.
The diversion was not “discovered” until the description appeared in the county report that was released last Friday, although it is dated April 12.
The report posted on line is a draft and was presented with minor revisions at the Wed. Kilauea meeting according to Kallai upon whose descriptions of the meeting we have relied for this article.
Showing posts with label Malia Zimmerman. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Malia Zimmerman. Show all posts
Friday, May 8, 2009
Friday, November 14, 2008
DIGGING UP THE DIRT
DIGGING UP THE DIRT: The grand jury looking into criminal charges against Jimmy Pflueger in the Ka Loko dam break tragedy seems as leaky as the dam itself was, as press reports of immunity for former Kaua`i Mayor Marianne Kusaka and details of evidence presented pepper press reports.
One report in particular today from Malia Zimmerman of Hawaii Reporter lays out a lot of history and background of the case revealing more details from an interview with Pflueger about his allegation of a $9,000 bribe paid to Kusaka to protect him- an interview that Zimmerman revealed for the first time was “recorded”.
But though the press reports and apparent focus of the investigation has been on Pflueger’s contention that the state bears some responsibility for not stopping him from causing the circumstances that led to the dam break, there is more news on the culpability of Kaua`i County.
She writes
Where Was County Enforcement?
(T)he county of Kauai was notified by at least two concerned citizens of Pflueger’s unpermitted grading around the dam. A County’s Department of Public Works inspector was dispatched to investigate the Ka Loko property on Nov. 7, 1997.
The inspector documented illegal grading with heavy equipment on the hilltop adjacent to Ka Loko Reservoir, and 11 days later, sent a “Notice of Grading Violation” by a certified letter to Pflueger saying inspectors “observed and verified the grading on the subject property to be in violation” of the County’s ordinances. Pflueger was ordered to “stop work immediately with the exception of work to correct any hazards to public safety and health.”
But Pflueger did not stop work. Instead, John Buist, Jr., a civil engineer for the county, says on Nov. 26, 1997, he was “summoned by Mayor (Maryanne) Kusaka” to her office for a meeting to discuss the grading violation for Mr. Pflueger. Buist’s memo says: “Buist informed the Mayor that the investigation was prompted by an anonymous phone call, but that the inspector saw and took a picture of the equipment being used for the work and the cut mountain top.”
Buist continues: “I was questioned (by the mayor) as to why we responded to an anonymous phone call and responded that it was our procedure to respond with an investigation. She questioned as to the other wasted manhours to follow up on anonymous tips and that no other County Agency responded to anonymous tips. Mayor Kusaka asked whether Mr. Pflueger had applied for a grading permit, and was told that a permit application had been filed, but without any grubbing plans. The Mayor and the Assistant Administrator, Wallace Rezentes, Sr., questioned why Mr. Pflueger should be required to obtain a permit for work in such a remote area. Mr. Buist explained that the ordinance applied no matter how remote the site may be, and noted that this was not the first violation for which Mr. Pflueger had been cited. ... In closing, Mr. Portugal instructed me that I was to stop all actions involving Mr. Pflueger and all further communications from or to Mr. Pflueger are to go directly to Mr. Portugal.”
Buist notes Caesar Portugal was in charge of handling Pflueger’s case for the county, and also that Yolanda Portugal-Cabral was under contract with Pflueger in November 1997 to help him submit the grubbing plans to the county. What is not disclosed in this correspondence - because the county officials already knew - Yolanda Portugal-Cabral ran the family engineering business for her father Caesar Portugal and ultimately it would be up to him to approve Pflueger’s plans that his daughter submitted.
Many pieces of evidence that so far have seemingly escaped scrutiny sit in the minutes of a series of Kaua`i County Council meetings from 2000-2002 during which Portugal and former acting head of the Department of Public Works (DPW) and now Planning Director Ian Costa answered questions from the council.
During many months of testimony- almost every week for more than a year- the two were grilled over another Pflueger-caused disaster in Pila`a, which PNN detailed at the time.
But included at some hearings was the issue of the illegal grubbing and grading Pflueger had done just above the Ka Loko dam and the seeming inability of the DPW engineers and inspectors to enter the Ka Loko property to search for violations.
During those sessions various DPW personnel including Portugal, Costa and engineer Wally Kudo were asked about Kusaka’s involvement and did indeed reveal extensively the pressure they received from her regarding Pflueger and developer Tom McCloskey who was also accused of illegal grubbing and grading in Moloa`a and Kealia.
Any examination of the verbatim minutes or video of council meetings and the notes of council committee meetings would provide a gold mine for the questioning of Kusaka and would indicate exactly who else needs to be questioned under oath by the grand jury to get to the truth. But it is doubtful that the minutes have been reviewed.
The council was on the verge of launching an investigation in late 2002 before many of them- including now Senator Gary Hooser, who initiated and pushed the investigation forward- left the council after the 2002 election.. The investigation would have allowed them to compel witnesses and get sworn testimony.
Council records show just what the criminal case is as PNN reported at the time. but no such investigation took place.
Another passage in Zimmerman’s piece gives a picture of Pflueger’s attitude toward his properties.
She writes
In a July 2006 exclusive interview with Hawaii Reporter on his property at Ka Loko and Pilaa on Kauai, Pflueger talked about his love for grubbing and grading the land so he could make it more “beautiful.”
He says he had a special tractor made, 44 feet wide and 17 feet tall, which can literally bury trees and shrubs and create a smooth and manicured look to the grass. “You know, you see all these weeds, we buried them. Anything you see here you can knock down and bury them,” he said, motioning across his beach side property at Pilaa.
Pflueger also said he didn’t remember ever seeing a spillway at Ka Loko, but admitted he could have covered it himself.
"And that reservoir around it is beautiful because I mowed it right down there to the edge. I did, mowed everything. I mowed everything. And if I filled something up or if somebody filled it up – tell me. Tell me. I mean, tell me," Pflueger said.
(The day after talking with Hawaii Reporter, Pflueger arranged another meeting and asked that this conversation not be disclosed, however, the interview was recorded and on the record.)
One of the lines of questioning of the DPW by the council was as to why they couldn’t just take a helicopter and inspect at the lands from above if they couldn’t get land access as they claimed at the time.
So, during the height of those “Developer Gone Wild” council meetings as they were dubbed, we were invited to tail along with activist extraordinaire Ray Chuan on a helicopter trip over Pflueger’s and McCloskey’s lands.
And what struck us was expressed in a question we asked during the flight- “What are all those ponds?” having never seen anything like it in island watersheds.
After the Ka Loko catastrophe we all to painfully figured it out- they’re reservoirs
It is quite obvious Pflueger didn’t do all the land moving by himself and in fact, as PNN has reported in the past, various “friends of Jimmy” were privy to what was at the heart of all of the damage- Jimmy Pflueger’s love for “water-skiing” on his “lakes”
We chanced upon to one of those friends who has requested anonymity who said that he and another friend of Jimmy were invited to go water skiing with Pflueger.
There, Pflueger regaled them with tales of how much effort he was putting into building up the water levels of the lakes by moving earth around the edges so that the water skiing would be better.
If there was one witness there were surely two and more but that, as yet, doesn’t seem to be a focus of the jury.
The other person there with our source was one of the closest “friends of Jimmy”- none other than the notorious Gary Baldwin the economic development guru of the Kusaka administration that left Kaua`i in disgrace after it was learned that he was a scam artist wanted by the law in connection with some deals in Colorado.
Baldwin was also a close associate of Kusaka’s- one whose Kaua`i Economic Development Board was lavished with money from the county’s largess, as PNN detailed in the 90’s on “The Parxist Conspiracy” TV news magazine.
Whether Baldwin- who we hear is out of jail and living in the northwest- has been subpoenaed in unknown but improbable.
One report in particular today from Malia Zimmerman of Hawaii Reporter lays out a lot of history and background of the case revealing more details from an interview with Pflueger about his allegation of a $9,000 bribe paid to Kusaka to protect him- an interview that Zimmerman revealed for the first time was “recorded”.
But though the press reports and apparent focus of the investigation has been on Pflueger’s contention that the state bears some responsibility for not stopping him from causing the circumstances that led to the dam break, there is more news on the culpability of Kaua`i County.
She writes
Where Was County Enforcement?
(T)he county of Kauai was notified by at least two concerned citizens of Pflueger’s unpermitted grading around the dam. A County’s Department of Public Works inspector was dispatched to investigate the Ka Loko property on Nov. 7, 1997.
The inspector documented illegal grading with heavy equipment on the hilltop adjacent to Ka Loko Reservoir, and 11 days later, sent a “Notice of Grading Violation” by a certified letter to Pflueger saying inspectors “observed and verified the grading on the subject property to be in violation” of the County’s ordinances. Pflueger was ordered to “stop work immediately with the exception of work to correct any hazards to public safety and health.”
But Pflueger did not stop work. Instead, John Buist, Jr., a civil engineer for the county, says on Nov. 26, 1997, he was “summoned by Mayor (Maryanne) Kusaka” to her office for a meeting to discuss the grading violation for Mr. Pflueger. Buist’s memo says: “Buist informed the Mayor that the investigation was prompted by an anonymous phone call, but that the inspector saw and took a picture of the equipment being used for the work and the cut mountain top.”
Buist continues: “I was questioned (by the mayor) as to why we responded to an anonymous phone call and responded that it was our procedure to respond with an investigation. She questioned as to the other wasted manhours to follow up on anonymous tips and that no other County Agency responded to anonymous tips. Mayor Kusaka asked whether Mr. Pflueger had applied for a grading permit, and was told that a permit application had been filed, but without any grubbing plans. The Mayor and the Assistant Administrator, Wallace Rezentes, Sr., questioned why Mr. Pflueger should be required to obtain a permit for work in such a remote area. Mr. Buist explained that the ordinance applied no matter how remote the site may be, and noted that this was not the first violation for which Mr. Pflueger had been cited. ... In closing, Mr. Portugal instructed me that I was to stop all actions involving Mr. Pflueger and all further communications from or to Mr. Pflueger are to go directly to Mr. Portugal.”
Buist notes Caesar Portugal was in charge of handling Pflueger’s case for the county, and also that Yolanda Portugal-Cabral was under contract with Pflueger in November 1997 to help him submit the grubbing plans to the county. What is not disclosed in this correspondence - because the county officials already knew - Yolanda Portugal-Cabral ran the family engineering business for her father Caesar Portugal and ultimately it would be up to him to approve Pflueger’s plans that his daughter submitted.
Many pieces of evidence that so far have seemingly escaped scrutiny sit in the minutes of a series of Kaua`i County Council meetings from 2000-2002 during which Portugal and former acting head of the Department of Public Works (DPW) and now Planning Director Ian Costa answered questions from the council.
During many months of testimony- almost every week for more than a year- the two were grilled over another Pflueger-caused disaster in Pila`a, which PNN detailed at the time.
But included at some hearings was the issue of the illegal grubbing and grading Pflueger had done just above the Ka Loko dam and the seeming inability of the DPW engineers and inspectors to enter the Ka Loko property to search for violations.
During those sessions various DPW personnel including Portugal, Costa and engineer Wally Kudo were asked about Kusaka’s involvement and did indeed reveal extensively the pressure they received from her regarding Pflueger and developer Tom McCloskey who was also accused of illegal grubbing and grading in Moloa`a and Kealia.
Any examination of the verbatim minutes or video of council meetings and the notes of council committee meetings would provide a gold mine for the questioning of Kusaka and would indicate exactly who else needs to be questioned under oath by the grand jury to get to the truth. But it is doubtful that the minutes have been reviewed.
The council was on the verge of launching an investigation in late 2002 before many of them- including now Senator Gary Hooser, who initiated and pushed the investigation forward- left the council after the 2002 election.. The investigation would have allowed them to compel witnesses and get sworn testimony.
Council records show just what the criminal case is as PNN reported at the time. but no such investigation took place.
Another passage in Zimmerman’s piece gives a picture of Pflueger’s attitude toward his properties.
She writes
In a July 2006 exclusive interview with Hawaii Reporter on his property at Ka Loko and Pilaa on Kauai, Pflueger talked about his love for grubbing and grading the land so he could make it more “beautiful.”
He says he had a special tractor made, 44 feet wide and 17 feet tall, which can literally bury trees and shrubs and create a smooth and manicured look to the grass. “You know, you see all these weeds, we buried them. Anything you see here you can knock down and bury them,” he said, motioning across his beach side property at Pilaa.
Pflueger also said he didn’t remember ever seeing a spillway at Ka Loko, but admitted he could have covered it himself.
"And that reservoir around it is beautiful because I mowed it right down there to the edge. I did, mowed everything. I mowed everything. And if I filled something up or if somebody filled it up – tell me. Tell me. I mean, tell me," Pflueger said.
(The day after talking with Hawaii Reporter, Pflueger arranged another meeting and asked that this conversation not be disclosed, however, the interview was recorded and on the record.)
One of the lines of questioning of the DPW by the council was as to why they couldn’t just take a helicopter and inspect at the lands from above if they couldn’t get land access as they claimed at the time.
So, during the height of those “Developer Gone Wild” council meetings as they were dubbed, we were invited to tail along with activist extraordinaire Ray Chuan on a helicopter trip over Pflueger’s and McCloskey’s lands.
And what struck us was expressed in a question we asked during the flight- “What are all those ponds?” having never seen anything like it in island watersheds.
After the Ka Loko catastrophe we all to painfully figured it out- they’re reservoirs
It is quite obvious Pflueger didn’t do all the land moving by himself and in fact, as PNN has reported in the past, various “friends of Jimmy” were privy to what was at the heart of all of the damage- Jimmy Pflueger’s love for “water-skiing” on his “lakes”
We chanced upon to one of those friends who has requested anonymity who said that he and another friend of Jimmy were invited to go water skiing with Pflueger.
There, Pflueger regaled them with tales of how much effort he was putting into building up the water levels of the lakes by moving earth around the edges so that the water skiing would be better.
If there was one witness there were surely two and more but that, as yet, doesn’t seem to be a focus of the jury.
The other person there with our source was one of the closest “friends of Jimmy”- none other than the notorious Gary Baldwin the economic development guru of the Kusaka administration that left Kaua`i in disgrace after it was learned that he was a scam artist wanted by the law in connection with some deals in Colorado.
Baldwin was also a close associate of Kusaka’s- one whose Kaua`i Economic Development Board was lavished with money from the county’s largess, as PNN detailed in the 90’s on “The Parxist Conspiracy” TV news magazine.
Whether Baldwin- who we hear is out of jail and living in the northwest- has been subpoenaed in unknown but improbable.
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
A DIFFERENT BREED?
A DIFFERENT BREED?: Though we weren’t invited, from all reports the Republican Convention this weekend was a clash between the true wing-nuts and the Lingle-Wingles and the blogs have exploded with details.
But the irony may be that the “we’re not Republican enough” crowd that is accusing the Cunning Linguists and McCainiacs of being too much like Democrats-Lite have accomplished turning their confab into an affair steeped in the kind of backbiting, infighting and generalize disunity that usually reserved for meetings of the Democrats.
Poinograhper Doug White does a pretty good wrap up with some good links but for some real red meat you need to check out the lengthy post from Republican State Senator Sam Sloam’s main squeeze, “Hawai`i Reporter” Malia Zimmerman.
Zimmy’s a pretty good reporter and doesn’t hide her biases. And though many of them are personally repugnant to this pug-nose she makes it easy to find the facts all the better to judge her presentations in light of full disclosure of her views.... as opposed to many who present news but lie to us using the preposterous “I’m totally objective” laugh line.
At her web site she posts some tomes from both sides with depictions of the depravity of the obviously staged and scripted process where dissidents- mostly .Ron Paul supporters and Akaka bill opponents- and defenses and justifications by the Party establishment http://www.hawaiireporter.com/story.aspx?8be0d031-187e-47e6-b964-cc204f8e5fcc for the iron-fisted way the convention was run- into the ground
But she fails to do what Doug did- give us a link to the spot at Republican blog Mel’s (Ah Ching) Internet Universe where a purloined copy of the actual script is posted along with chief dissident Eric Ryan’s description of events.
The script is tight- every action, word and of course outcome of votes is included, although in an attempt at humor it is noted that the pledge of Allegiance might not go according to script because Sam “shoot-from-the-hip” Sloam was the introducer.
Every actual vote was fully scripted as to outcome including the ones for national committee members and the convention delegates described by having the speaker at the podium say “Raise your right hand for yes. put them down. Raise your left hand for no. Put them down. The ayes have it and the motion is passed. “
The only sort-of vote that wasn’t fully scripted with a forgone conclusion was a call for the question that needed a 2/3 majority. Although the script mentions the possibility of not getting the 2/3 needed to cut off debate it continues as if the no-discussion vote had been “yea”.
Malia’s lengthy piece is priceless- she sure lets her long hair down and let’s it all hang out in a piece headlined “Not A Happy Party”.
Here’s her lead:
She goes into detail on the scripted votes and other tactics that tortured poor Roberts Rules, questioning the ethics of party leaders and saying “(t)he outcome of this convention clearly demonstrates that a change in party leadership must take place at the next convention in 2009”.
She also announces her new Co-Chair position on the “Reform Republican Victory Caucus (RRVC) that has been recently established”
She goes on at length with some interviews with long time and new Republicans who were "appalled”- one couple being 41 year veterans of these events- and bemoans the dearth of Republican legislative candidates this year, even denigrating Lingle heir-apparent Lt. Governor Duke Aiona and his presumed run in 2010.
But buried deep in the story is a story that has perplexed Hawai`i bloggers and even mainstream press for a while now- the identity of the ZeroShibai cartoonist. According to Zimmerman, who has run the cartoons, despite his past denials dissident-in-chief Ryan is the penman- or at least one of them.
As political junkies may already know ZeroShibai appeared on the radar screen a while back with it’s “Cow Inoa” cartoon which lampooned- or a least attempted to - the rights of those of Hawaiian descent. That was followed by a scathing condemnation from the Office of Hawaiian Affairs’ Haunani Apoliona- the very thing the author was apparently looking for- causing the whole matter to wind up on the pages of the Honolulu newspapers.
Although Zimmerman leaves a little wiggle room by saying Ryan only “contributed to http://www.zeroshibai.com,/ where various artists take shots at elected Republicans and party leaders” all the cartoons seem exceptionally similar in artistic style and humor... and Ryan is a graphic artist.
Zimmerman did not name any other possible artists but one must wonder if this “outing” of Ryan was with his knowledge since it is essentially calling him a liar for his earlier public denial of involvement.
Zimmerman is perhaps best known for protecting sources as a reporter working with ABC-TV’s 20/20 in their account of the misdeeds of Jimmy Pflueger which allegedly caused the Ka Loko dam break on Kaua`i “murdering” 7 people, as has been accused.
She has more recently been credited with spurring the successful efforts this year to enact a Reporters’ Shield Law which also covers bloggers who engage in reporting.
Did Malia burn a source to whom she had previously granted anonymity? We’ll have to await a response from Ryan.
But for now it’s exceptionally gratifying to know that with the newly reinvigorated transplantation of mainlanders came a crew seemingly dedicated to the destruction of the Republican party, who are now seemingly joining the Democrats in reflecting the famous Will Rogers statements- “I’m not a member of any organized Party- I’m a Democrat.”
What more could a Green growler ask for- the Circular Firing Squad is apparently bipartisan now.
But the irony may be that the “we’re not Republican enough” crowd that is accusing the Cunning Linguists and McCainiacs of being too much like Democrats-Lite have accomplished turning their confab into an affair steeped in the kind of backbiting, infighting and generalize disunity that usually reserved for meetings of the Democrats.
Poinograhper Doug White does a pretty good wrap up with some good links but for some real red meat you need to check out the lengthy post from Republican State Senator Sam Sloam’s main squeeze, “Hawai`i Reporter” Malia Zimmerman.
Zimmy’s a pretty good reporter and doesn’t hide her biases. And though many of them are personally repugnant to this pug-nose she makes it easy to find the facts all the better to judge her presentations in light of full disclosure of her views.... as opposed to many who present news but lie to us using the preposterous “I’m totally objective” laugh line.
At her web site she posts some tomes from both sides with depictions of the depravity of the obviously staged and scripted process where dissidents- mostly .Ron Paul supporters and Akaka bill opponents- and defenses and justifications by the Party establishment http://www.hawaiireporter.com/story.aspx?8be0d031-187e-47e6-b964-cc204f8e5fcc for the iron-fisted way the convention was run- into the ground
But she fails to do what Doug did- give us a link to the spot at Republican blog Mel’s (Ah Ching) Internet Universe where a purloined copy of the actual script is posted along with chief dissident Eric Ryan’s description of events.
The script is tight- every action, word and of course outcome of votes is included, although in an attempt at humor it is noted that the pledge of Allegiance might not go according to script because Sam “shoot-from-the-hip” Sloam was the introducer.
Every actual vote was fully scripted as to outcome including the ones for national committee members and the convention delegates described by having the speaker at the podium say “Raise your right hand for yes. put them down. Raise your left hand for no. Put them down. The ayes have it and the motion is passed. “
The only sort-of vote that wasn’t fully scripted with a forgone conclusion was a call for the question that needed a 2/3 majority. Although the script mentions the possibility of not getting the 2/3 needed to cut off debate it continues as if the no-discussion vote had been “yea”.
Malia’s lengthy piece is priceless- she sure lets her long hair down and let’s it all hang out in a piece headlined “Not A Happy Party”.
Here’s her lead:
“This weekend’s state convention was possibly the lowest point of the Hawaii
Republican Party. I have attended many conventions in the past but this was the
first time I have ever witnessed such large scales of impropriety and
malfeasance on the part of the party leadership. While the party leaders
continued to espouse “unity” throughout the convention weekend, there was none
to be found.
“It was also the first time I have seen delegates
weep in regards to the conduct of the party leadership. Many of these delegates
were there to have a wonderful time and enjoy the convention process. The
guerilla tactics used by the McCain campaign and the GOP leadership represent
reprehensible behavior. “
She goes into detail on the scripted votes and other tactics that tortured poor Roberts Rules, questioning the ethics of party leaders and saying “(t)he outcome of this convention clearly demonstrates that a change in party leadership must take place at the next convention in 2009”.
She also announces her new Co-Chair position on the “Reform Republican Victory Caucus (RRVC) that has been recently established”
She goes on at length with some interviews with long time and new Republicans who were "appalled”- one couple being 41 year veterans of these events- and bemoans the dearth of Republican legislative candidates this year, even denigrating Lingle heir-apparent Lt. Governor Duke Aiona and his presumed run in 2010.
But buried deep in the story is a story that has perplexed Hawai`i bloggers and even mainstream press for a while now- the identity of the ZeroShibai cartoonist. According to Zimmerman, who has run the cartoons, despite his past denials dissident-in-chief Ryan is the penman- or at least one of them.
As political junkies may already know ZeroShibai appeared on the radar screen a while back with it’s “Cow Inoa” cartoon which lampooned- or a least attempted to - the rights of those of Hawaiian descent. That was followed by a scathing condemnation from the Office of Hawaiian Affairs’ Haunani Apoliona- the very thing the author was apparently looking for- causing the whole matter to wind up on the pages of the Honolulu newspapers.
Although Zimmerman leaves a little wiggle room by saying Ryan only “contributed to http://www.zeroshibai.com,/ where various artists take shots at elected Republicans and party leaders” all the cartoons seem exceptionally similar in artistic style and humor... and Ryan is a graphic artist.
Zimmerman did not name any other possible artists but one must wonder if this “outing” of Ryan was with his knowledge since it is essentially calling him a liar for his earlier public denial of involvement.
Zimmerman is perhaps best known for protecting sources as a reporter working with ABC-TV’s 20/20 in their account of the misdeeds of Jimmy Pflueger which allegedly caused the Ka Loko dam break on Kaua`i “murdering” 7 people, as has been accused.
She has more recently been credited with spurring the successful efforts this year to enact a Reporters’ Shield Law which also covers bloggers who engage in reporting.
Did Malia burn a source to whom she had previously granted anonymity? We’ll have to await a response from Ryan.
But for now it’s exceptionally gratifying to know that with the newly reinvigorated transplantation of mainlanders came a crew seemingly dedicated to the destruction of the Republican party, who are now seemingly joining the Democrats in reflecting the famous Will Rogers statements- “I’m not a member of any organized Party- I’m a Democrat.”
What more could a Green growler ask for- the Circular Firing Squad is apparently bipartisan now.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
