It's all about Aloha
by Jonathan Jay on 18 September 2007
"It's All about Aloha"
No aloha, no Ferry.
No EIS, no Ferry
No malama Aina, no Ferry
No malama Aina, no AINA!
Does anyone want this?
Do you want this, Governor?
Perhaps this will help you better understand:
When you travel, before you enter someone's yard, first you call out - and wait to be invited in.
Then, you walk of to the front door and knock.
You wait till someone comes to the door, and invites you in.
Then you take off your slippers before enter the home.
This is aloha, this is respect.
Aloha is the way we do things here.
That is what I was taught when I arrived.
Did you miss class that day?
The Ferry has not respected Kaua`i.
You have not respected Kaua`i.
Your Appointees at Hawai`I DOT has not respected Kaua`i.
Kaua`i is our island home. We come from many different walks of life. We come from many different backgrounds. Some of us have been here for a short time, some of us have been herre for almost 2,000 years – but we all have one thing in common – we all love Kaua`i, and we all demand the outcome be pono for Kaua`I, for ALL of Hawai`I Nei – not just the Board of Directors and the Stockholders for the Ferry Corporation. Our interests outweigh their desires for speedy profits. They must FIRST obtain an EIS.
Do not fly here at the last minute of the 11th hour to finally ask if it is OK to come barging into Nawiliwili Harbor next Wednesday with 'Security' so tight it is like wearing muddy combat boots with as you storm into our home. No Aloha, no come. This is no way for a lady to treat Kaua`i.
What is the cost of all this?
Six Thousand signatures -
How dare you ignore our reasonable requests.
How dare you rebuff our Council leaders unanimous voices
How dare you confuse our Mayor with your "Unified Command"
He is our Mayor, not yours - set him free to join his people. You did not vote for him, we did.
He works for Kaua`i, not Linda Lingle.
Let Bryan Baptiste do his job
Let Bryan Baptiste be the Mayor of Kaua`i
When you come to our home with a military flotilla to help shove your boat into our harbor, This is not Aloha.
And you write new laws with the ink still wet and treat us like we are terrorists in our own homeland, this is Terroristic Threatening!
This Rogue behavior is unbecoming to a duly elected Governor
When you work to secure profits for the Ferry Corporation over protecting the interests of the people who elected you into office – and the aina you have sworn to malama, and perpetuate in righteousness… Have you read you oath of office, Governor Lingle!
Where is the Aloha in any of that?
This is your mess Governor Lingle
This is your fault the EIS was not started 2 years ago.
You can not blame anyone else
You said it wasn't needed
you said it wasn't necessary,
you said "Slam dunk mister president"
You were WRONG.
The Supreme Court said so >unanimously<, but now you say they are not the final authority. What?
What is it about 'Supreme' you don't understand?
Why is it so hard for you to respect the rule of laws you didn't re-write to suit yourself? If Hawai`i begins to get the reputation that the 50th State is a bad place to conduct BAD BUSINESS, good for us!
Who do you think you are?
This is your fault this confrontation is escalating
Tell your Unified Command to stand down.
Tell the Coast Guard to 'Guard the Coast'
Tell our Mayor to tell our police to go fight crime
Tell yourself:
The Unified Command can not confront a Unified Community
This is what they do in Authoritarian Regimes
This is State-Sponsored 'Terroristic Threatening'
This is a regime that needs changing.
All of this tension,
All of this struggle
All of this ill-will
does not need to be so.
You have the power
You can shut this all down
You can leave this meeting a hero, and the people of Hawai`i will sing your praises – Hurray for Lingle! Hurray for Lingle!!
You can make history:
It only takes one simple thing
Three simple letters
declare you have seen the light
declare the scales have fallen from your eyes
declare : "I AM SORRY PEOPLE OF HAWAI`I NE"
and support the majoritarian call for an E I S
before Ferry impacts begin.
It is not only the pono thing to do –
It is good politics – Simple lidat.
If you do this, jump on the bandwagon and join the rest of us already on, we will welcome you with Aloha and open arms!
The past will become the past.
Bygones will become bygones.
Some will forgive – many will forget.
Who knows, you may become so popular in Hawai'i, you might one day even be elected Senator.
Stranger things have happened.
Aloha and thank you for coming to Kaua`i.
