Pardon Trump
With the indictment of Donald Trump, President Joe Biden has a once in a lifetime opportunity to help bring the nation together. He should preemptively pardon Trump for all of the charges brought against him.
This action, more than anything else he could do, would cement Biden’s legacy as a healer and help bring this nation back from the brink of civil war.
Lon Hocker
Hilo
Unsung heroes
Women’s History Month has ended, and I want to thank the Kailua-Kona Library for its selection of books highlighting women’s accomplishments — such as women’s struggle to attain the right to vote or to eliminate “coverture” (a husband’s entitlement to assume all of the wife’s property and assets).
The story of women is a story, like so many others, about those who courageously face systemic suppression, meaning that culture and religion dictate the belief that one group is inferior to another. The resulting discrimination or mistreatment is ingrained so deeply that it becomes invisible to those denying that such a thing exists.
How many people even remember that women weren’t allowed to have a credit card in their own name until 1974?
Women in America have attained careers, education, status and respect unheard of in numerous countries around the world. But not without great resistance and not a lot of credit (no pun intended).
The Equal Rights Amendment for women, introduced over 50 years ago, still hasn’t been ratified by the requisite vote of 38 states. And despite females making up 51.1% of the U.S. population, of the present 100 elected U.S. senators, only eight are women.
A Hawaii mother’s Facebook post ignited the largest single-day Women’s March in history, which occurred on Jan. 21, 2017, to protest the election of a president who unashamedly denigrated women. They protested a president who would slander, silence and dismiss women — unless of course they agreed with everything he said and did.
Women are some of the bravest people I know. They fight to defend their children against gun violence and social media bullying. They stand up to spousal abuse and workplace sexual harassment. They remain strong in defending their right to make decisions about their own bodies and their identity.
Women’s History Month has ended. But let’s continue to appreciate those who are committed to making sure women’s voices are heard.
Martha Hodges
Kailua-Kona