Vote Republican
I am coming straight out and saying vote Republican! Democrats have been basically in control of the sad realities of Hawaii government since statehood and we are simply sad, rather deplorable and pathetic socioeconomically. People of Hawaii face the highest cost of living in the nation and housing costs are also the worst in the United States.
Kanaka Maoli died on the waiting list for Hawaiian Home Lands and that is really a disaster for the original inhabitants of the Hawaiian island chain. In addition to that, Hawaii is the worst state in the United States to do business.
Simply said, we got to clean house in all portions of Hawaii government or else disasters lie ahead. Many disasters have already taken place in supposedly paradise and we got to change directions for the socioeconomic realities of Hawaii is really pathetic. Too many of my good friends have moved to various parts of the world for a better quality of living. This has got to stop.
Dean Nagasaka
Honokaa
Walls a waste
Even if Trump succeeds in getting his wall built, it will not stop people from entering the U.S.
They can always dig tunnels to get in like the drug runners did. What a waste of money. Those who are determined to get through will get though one way or another. Why waste money on a foolish wall?
Colleen Miyose-Wallis
Kailua-Kona
Ask yourself what’s true
To protect our democracy and freedom, Americans must dig deep to answer questions like: Do Putin and Trump tell the truth and walk in the light of democracy, or do red flags appear when a secret meeting takes place between an ex-KGB chief and a president who has a deal to build Moscow’s biggest skyscraper — a man who refuses to show his tax returns to prove his business acumen or malfeasance?
Is history fictional (i.e., no holocaust), or do great societies learn from history’s lessons (i.e., that stable and prosperous nations can fall to despotism when malevolent tyrants like Hitler and Putin want to control them)? Do Americans fare better individually and collectively when they act to protect our nation and democracy, or when they put their political party’s leader first?
Fact: Putin has and is invading sovereign nations through cyber and real warfare. He supports a brutal regime that’s causing genocide and unprecedented emigration from war-torn Syria. Trump has been caught in lie after lie with photos and recordings proving the falsehood of his mercurial drivel. And he’s shown the world by word and deed that he’s willing to kick our allies to the back of the bus to make room for new-found soulmates like Putin and Kim Jong-Un.
If you were president, why would you be friendly and secretive with Putin even after more Russian hacking indictments — thick with proof — came to light? Why would you cozy up to authoritarian leaders who ruthlessly murder, marginalize, and imprison perceived enemies (even rock bands!) while dissing time-tested allies like Germany, France, and the UK? Would you have called events like the Japanese invasion of Pearl Harbor “fake news” because a foreign leader seemed pretty OK and strong to you? And why would you want to stop an investigation into Russian election interference if you had nothing to hide and the country had everything to gain by allowing that investigation to continue? Bottom line: Would you save yourself and your financial interests from Russian blackmail if it meant handing your country’s secrets and future over to a hostile power?
Take your time. The truth can be complicated.
But as a citizen of a free nation, your kuleana is to know it and to vote it.
Janice Palma-Glennie
Kailua-Kona