Another Opportunity Lost

It doesn't seem to matter how good and eminently qualified a candidate is in Hawaii; the people of Hawaii won't vote for them -- because they've been conditioned not to, and prefer not leaders but followers at the top, which is the crisis of leadership in Hawaii.

The bright side is that there are 1 in 5 people who will vote intelligently and independently -- from all the special interest endorsements and campaigning -- to do what is best for all. Obviously, that is not enough to win elections, but that does not invalidate the thoughtfulness and validity of their assessments and analysis.

For many, Panos was a litmus test of whether the populace had it in them to do the right and rational thing -- in a very clearcut matter and manner, that was summed up in that one issue of the rail. The outcome was disappointing but not surprising.

The people wish to be fooled, deceived and manipulated. They've come to prefer it.

A few have come to realize that if betterment and rationality is to come to the Islands, it won't come as the result of elections, but probably has to sneak in through the back door of cultural changes -- rather than through the political process. That is the power of choice -- in a much more everyday and far-reaching impact on lives.

Politics and government has become the entertainment for the voting minority of the population who still take an interest in such things. The vast majority, have moved on, or were never enticed in the first place, that the ballot box was the instrument of power and change -- in their own lives. It is something only "lawyers" do -- and the government workers ensure their own enrichment as their "public service."

So where does that leave everyone else not aboard the gravy train? People need to seriously ask themselves that question.