Letters to the editor: 05-17-19

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Name fits North Kohala

The “Island of Endless Adventure” sure suits North Kohala. We have horseback riding, sky diving, ATV tours, fluming the ditch, and zip lining.

Tom Morse

Hawi

AOC’s words not twisted, just wrong

I would like to thank West Hawaii Today for allowing its readers to have editorial space where opposing views can be expressed. Wednesday’s paper had an editorial from Dan McRoberts that claimed that it was the Republicans that passed the 22nd Amendment and therefore AOC was correct.

He is obviously confused about how amendments to the Constitution occur. The Republicans did have simple majorities in the House and Senate when the 22nd Amendment was passed by both houses of Congress in 1947. Passing an amendment requires two-thirds of each house.

Approximately a third of the Democrats in both the House and the Senate joined with the Republicans to pass the amendment. Without Democrat support the 22nd Amendment would have failed to pass. Then the story is not over.

Once the Congress acts, three-fourths of the states must ratify the amendment. The 22nd Amendment was ratified by 42 of the 48 states between 1947 and 1951. Two states rejected the amendment and four states did not vote on the amendment by the time it garnered the 36 states necessary in 1951. Party control at the state level was pretty evenly split in the four years of the states voting. During that period Democrats held 19 state legislatures, Republicans averaged 19 state legislatures and 10 legislatures were split between the parties.

Clearly for 42 states to support the amendment a substantial number of Democrat legislatures supported the amendment. What does it mean? AOC’s words weren’t twisted and Dan was incorrect in saying that Republicans passed the amendment. Thank you for this opportunity to respond.

Kenneth Halverson

Kailua-Kona

Maddening robocalls now routine

Kudos to Sen. Hirono and those taking on the robocall epidemic.

Its 9 a.m. here in Kona and already six calls this morning including two fed though Wailuku and two fed though from Lihue in hopes of fooling us into believing they are local.

If they didn’t call at 4:37 a.m. I might have thought it was a friend on Kauai. If they would only enforce that farce of ‘do-not-call’ list and lock a few of these scammers up for 10 to 20 years, we might be able to sleep though till dawn. Oh, another call coming in and only 9:04 a.m., we might set a new record today of 14 unwanted and unsolicited calls.

Sorry Sharon from Google and Laura and Tom — we just never want to hear your voice again. Maybe everyone should send an invoice to Google accounts payable for $200 for telephone usage.

After all, they are using your phone to do their business. Make the *&)%^ pay!

Ken Love

Kealakekua

Like going back in time

Kudos to the Kona Historical Society for hosting Hawaiian Mission Houses’ production of Performance in the Pasture on Mother’s Day. Talk about a captivating way to experience Hawaiian history!

Well-written dialogue expertly delivered by experienced actors under the direction of the skilled director, coupled with authentic costumes and make up offered a rare glimpse into an unsettling period of Hawaiian history.

KHS’s Kealakekua site greatly enhanced the feeling of being back in time. Moving about from setting to setting was a unique way of engaging the audience. Huge mahalo to the extraordinary volunteers who quietly kept all in order on this unforgettable afternoon.

It is my hope that it will be possible for another Hawaiian Mission Houses History Theater program to the presented to our community again.

Elizabeth Hardy

Kealakekua