ELECTION A WASTE; IT'S ABERCROMBIE'S FAULT

The special election that we just witnessed was a disastrous waste of time, energy and a million dollars. Charles Djou will go to Washington for five months and at the same time try to campaign so he can win the general election in November and stay permanently.

The real victims are the people of District 1 who have been practically unrepresented for the entire calendar year of 2010. The other victims are the people of Hawai'i who lost their seniority in the House of Representatives and all the federal dollars that come with it.

Neil Abercrombie should have stayed where Hawai'i needed him most, in D.C. Abercrombie should have thought about the consequences of quitting his job and how it would impact the people of our state. Abercrombie made a poor choice when he quit his job thinking he could better serve us as governor. His actions demonstrate how extremely irresponsible, irrational and personally motivated he is.

NEXT ELECTION

DJOU WILL WIN IN NOVEMBER, TOO

In November, some people feel Democrats will defeat Charles Djou. The argument goes: Put the Democrat votes together behind one person and that will be over 50 percent.

If the Democrat primary pits Hanabusa versus Case, the winner of that primary will come out bruised, and with depleted funds. If Hanabusa goes against Djou, many of the moderate Case voters will go to Djou. If Case runs against Djou, the choice will be between one moderate (who missed votes in Congress) and the incumbent Djou. And in Hawai'i we vote for the incumbent unless he has done something really bad.

Put the Democrat votes together you say? I'll believe it when I see it. You Democrats need a candidate who can do that. And that candidate ain't Case or Hanabusa.

THE ARTS

CAN WE WHIP UP MUSIC ON THE CHEAP?

Because of many years of mismanagement on the part of the board, and the inability of the new director to find enough donors to fund the programs, the university announced that the sports schedule for all the teams will be cut in half.

Furthermore, in an effort to save money, scholarships will be reduced to only the starting lineups, but coaches will be asked to find students who played in high school to help out on the day of the big game.

The director assured everyone that even with a reduced schedule, and the lack of players, the teams will still be able to put on a terrific show for the fans.

Oh, I'm sorry, did I say the university? I meant the symphony.

CONCRETE JUNGLE

FREEWAY TREES ARE LOVELY, AND TROUBLE

Congratulations to the Department of Transportation for incorporating our love of the āina into highway maintenance by allowing banyan trees to grow out of many freeway overpasses.

So beautiful to see the trees, some appearing to be well over six feet, thriving and unpruned. Certainly our visitors appreciate these "street bonsais" even if they will eventually undermine our infrastructure.

Well worth the eventual price tag, I say.

RAIL TRANSIT

SCRAP TRAIN IN FAVOR OF DRIVERLESS CARS

Randall O'Toole of the Cato Institute, a well-respected public policy research foundation, believes that rail will be outdated and unpopular in eight years. He says that driverless vehicles will lead the way in a new transportation revolution. By using laser guided "adaptive cruise control cars," traffic will flow three times quicker than normal.

Collisions are caused by slow reflexes; computers won't have that. Moving at consistent speeds, traffic jams will be a headache of the past. Fewer cars idling equals less pollution.

Impossible? Engineers from Stanford have developed the most up-to-date models. Watch the news this fall when their driverless Audi TT negotiates the hairpin turns up Pikes Peak at racing speeds.

This vehicle never veers more than a half inch off course. O'Toole says the greatest obstacle is the government, which would rather push taxpayer subsidized trains. Turning vehicles into driverless cars is basically a software update.

Scrap the rail, pay our teachers to go back to school, and enjoy your beautiful (hands-free) drive to work. Why put us into perpetual debt to buy and maintain an obsolete white elephant?

IMMIGRATION

MISSED OPPORTUNITY TO SHOW LEADERSHIP

There is no doubting the intellect of our president and his ability to articulate clearly to those who agree and disagree.

So it has been continually disappointing to witness missed opportunities for Obama to exercise apolitical leadership. Throughout the painful health care debate, which ended sadly with the submission of an intentionally flawed bill, there were many opportunities for leadership.

We waited for a leader to rally both sides of the debate, and to do it frequently, not as a last effort after a fit of frustration. Obama could have done it well, and in so doing occupy the leader's moral high ground instead of slogging around in the political trenches.

The recent banter over the Arizona identification law presented yet another opportunity for presidential leadership. The leader-president would take the objective position that state governments are constitutionally empowered to enact laws, and that such laws still need to withstand the scrutiny of the constitution. That's the high ground.

Instead, the political-president decries the law as "misdirected," dismissing the efforts of a state government. Alas, we cringe in veiled embarrassment as the opportunity slips and we look from the trenches to the vacant heights.

POLITICS

INFORMED TEA PARTY NEEDS NO LEADERS

The column by Clarence Page about the tea party movement being compared to "'60s lefties" (May 21) confirmed one thing — he doesn't get it.

His comment about the pride of the tea partiers in having no formal leaders, structure, agenda or platform is spot-on. I happen to connect with the tea party movement and what I have gotten from it is that you need to be informed before you vote.

First, you need to know who you are and what your values are, and understand that everyone's values are not the same. Then you need to be informed about your candidates and weigh the candidate's past actions against your values.

Don't believe what anyone says. Get to the source that will lead you to the truth. Simple as that.

I don't need a leader to watch over me, I don't need an agenda to understand, and I don't need a platform. This is what I've gotten from the tea party movement — be informed. Change will come from an informed public.