Vote!
I have voted in every election since I turned 18.
I am proud to be an American and proud to be a resident of Hawaii.
It’s so sad that such a small percentage of the eligible voters use their right to vote here in Hawaii.
This letter is especially to all of my former students: You know all about voting, so you need to vote! No excuses!
If waiting in line is a problem, or the hours the polls are open don’t allow you to vote, do what I’ve done for the past 20-plus years — absentee voting! It’s the greatest! Time at home to think about how to vote!
If you have any questions, visit www.rockthevote.org. Do it right now so you can vote in November. This is your assignment from your “favorite” teacher, Ms. Chester.
Mary Ann Chester
Hawaiian Paradise Park
Kavanaugh’s dishonesty
Judge Brett Kavanaugh said the consequences for Democrats for daring to want to evaluate his truthfulness and patterns of behavior would last several decades, and, no doubt, if he is confirmed to the Supreme Court, they certainly will — he will make sure of that in his decisions in cases brought before that court for a fair and unbiased hearing.
To be honest, I do not think his behavior 35 years ago is an indication of who he is now because I believe in the possibility of change. If we as a society did not believe in the possibility of change, we would have no right to release repeat offenders from prison. Ever.
That said, Kavanaugh’s behavior … and in his decisions as a judge in federal court make it clear that he is completely partisan in his politics and his application of that perspective to his decisions. This is not a unique flaw in him as a judge, but it should be a disqualification.
More to the point, Kavanaugh has clearly not been honest with the Senate about his past, and that dishonesty and willingness to distort the evidence of his past behaviors is much more disqualifying that those actions themselves might be. It is to be remembered that President Bill Clinton was impeached not for his sexual relations, but because he lied about them when asked.
My conclusion is that Kavanaugh does not deserve to be a judge at any level of the court system. Whether he is a very different person now from who he was back in high school and college I cannot say, but the crimes he is accused of carry no statute of limitations, and his accusers ought to file criminal complaints ASAP.
My other main conclusion is that all people who are victimized by acts of assault, whether sexual or otherwise, really should file complaints with the police immediately, as difficult as that might be emotionally. It should be remembered that if you are victimized, you are VERY unlikely to have been the first or the last victim. Therefore, you have a social and a moral responsibility to do what you can to respond appropriately and allow due process its best chance of being effective.
Carl Oguss
Hilo