As this reader sees it
You are doing your readers a disservice by continually publishing columnist Ken Obenski’s over-the-top anti-Trump pieces (“45 problems and he’s every one,” Oct. 5). I’ve read plenty of his columns to be continually reassured that he suffers from a serious case of Trump Derangement Syndrome.
I think that the honest people of Hawaii deserve better than to read a column that compares Trump to Hitler. It is this type of amateur filth that not only puts readers off, it plain lowers the intellectual bar and value of your newspaper. Perhaps now is the time to break your unlimited, unfiltered “freedom to preach hate” lease with Obenski.
Morgan Myrmo
Waikiki, Oahu
TMT will be our gift to the world
At 3 a.m. on July 11, 1054, Arabic astronomers observed an extremely brilliant light emerging in Taurus. For 23 days this supernova challenged the sun and night, the most incandescent occurrence in recorded history. People in China, Arabia, Alaska, Arizona, and the South Pacific marked this miraculous spectacle, but in Europe, no mention of it can be found in any manuscript in any library in the western world. It was the Dark Age.
Freedom of science and inquiry cannot be repressed. Nobody, no matter how they try to justify it, has the right to slam the lid on knowledge. Science, religion, and culture need not be mutually exclusive but intertwine, each supporting the others.
Major advancements through the most powerful telescope ever developed will honor the navigational skills of the brave early Hawaiian explorers and has tremendous implications for today’s descendants, continuing man’s inherent drive to push beyond known boundaries, finding forming galaxies near the beginning of time.
Seen from a distance, Maunakea with its observatories on the summit, appears as a mother raising up her young child to reach what would otherwise be unattainable.
Rather than threatening this sacred heritage, the TMT will enhance and enable the furthering of Hawaiian culture and beliefs, so intrinsically aligned with astronomy, while continuing to contribute millions of dollars annually to education and the economy.
Discoveries of our genesis will be Maunakea’s everlasting gift to the world.
Imua, TMT!
Linda Hunter
Honokaa
Rule of law then as in now
For this past year, since the protests began about Maunakea, public figures like Mr. Blangiardi, the manager of news station KGMB, and Sen. Inouye have been tossing around the concept of the “rule of law” like it was a legal fundamental Frisbee.
I haven’t heard so many people embrace the concept since I was in law school. Where was the rule of law when the Hawaiian Monarchy was illegally annexed by the U.S. in 1898? Congress said, “Hey, that’s OK. It’s all good.”
Where was the rule of law when over 120,000 U.S. citizens of Japanese descent were put in concentration camps after the bombing of Pearl Harbor by the Japanese? The U.S. Supreme Court said, “Hey, these are all potential spies, it’s all good.”
More importantly where were the protesters? In a country that seems to have lost its way and currently appears to be going nowhere except downhill, the idea of people protesting civilly in the footsteps of Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr. and Dr. Benjamin Spock has been long forgotten. Thank god there are people who are willing to peacefully stand up for something that is bigger than all of us — the idea of protecting a culture, a way of life.
As the great author Victor Hugo (Les Miserables) said, “No army can stop an idea whose time has come.” There will always be more telescopes.
Sean Gallagher
Oahu
