It can’t be easy
Many of us have just celebrated Thanksgiving by being grateful for our health and spending time with the friends and family we’ve missed during COVID. While I’m counting my blessings, I’d like to express my gratitude for our Congressional delegates from Hawaii for their dedication during a time in Washington that hasn’t been easy.
Rep. Ed Case and Rep. Kai Kahele just spent two months learning about and listening to debate on the House floor regarding the Build Back Better Act. While the news spun partisan debate this way and that, their job was concentrating on numerous reports and the vast content of the bill which contains 2,468 pages of legalese, statistics and monetary figures. (When was the last time you read a treatise that long?)
Sen. Mazie Hirono and Sen. Brian Schatz supported a thorough Jan. 6th investigation when it was more advantageous for the Republicans not to. Having experienced firsthand the seriousness of the Capitol breach, I believe they recognize the importance of analyzing every aspect of what happened; not just Trump’s part of it.
It must be difficult to go to work every day when other members of Congress use floor time for attention-getting antics and time-wasting speeches. I empathize with their tolerance in having to put up with politicians putting on a show to get media coverage while they’re trying to do a conscientious job.
So, thank-you to them for their patience and diligence in staying focused on the task of evaluating what best benefits the people of Hawaii and ignoring all of the other noise and nonsense. It can’t be easy.
Martha Hodges
Kailua-Kona
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Deadly toxin in the US
Have you seen the picture of the smiling face of 8-year-old Jackson Sparks? You can’t see him smile in person because he is dead. Some deadly toxin has been released into the United States. This toxin is taking a lot of forms. One of those forms killed six people and injured more than 60 at a Christmas parade.
We have no more rules of behavior in the United States. Rob and burn, break into stores, run over the people at a Christmas parade. Buy the prosecutors of cities across the U.S. bribe, tell lies, let people out of jail knowing that they will probably kill again. Make excuses, don’t tell the truth for fear that it will start a riot. Don’t hold people responsible because they had a hard time in life.
Our newspapers do not tell the truth. They tell a story of the side they want to win. Why? Do they have such little faith in the creed of their chosen good guys? At one time it was the newspapers that kept the politicians straight, now they cover for them. Our country is like a marriage: Don’t keep mistreating it until it’s too late to save.
Sandra Gray
Kapaau
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