Senator Scott Brown has a new ad out that is a bit long but the money line is “Let America be America again.”
Now I believe that President Obama was born in Hawaii, but as I told my three Exchange Students decades ago, Southern California is not the United States so don’t judge the US by San Diego! Iowa is America!
Believe me, Hawaii is not the United States either. I have spent a total of more than two years there living the life of a Kama’aina , writing extensively about the history, culture, and politics of Hawaii and believe me Hawaii is not Iowa, which is more nearly “America.”
I know Hawaii in ways that tourists cannot conceive. It is a combination of Chicago corrupt politics combined with New Jersey union business practices, and all with a Japanese accent.
Years ago I was in Hawaii during an event that encapsulated it all, and is a metaphor for the culture, and it was the Bishop Trust when several attorneys published in the front page of one of the two Honolulu newspapers a long exposé titled “Broken Trust.”
More than a decade ago I wrote this in an article that appears on my website still today:
“The Bishop Estate is run by five Trustees, and until the recent controversy, they were appointed by the State Supreme Court. These were political patronage appointments for generations, and one of the now ousted Trustees was the former Leader of the State Senate. These political appointees were paid a minimum of $865,000 a year, each!
In 1997, five influential private citizens submitted a report called “Broken Trust” in which they said the huge Bishop Estate was being badly mismanaged. The two main Hawaiian newspapers (eventually) published Broken Trust in front-page articles.
Jean and I followed the saga since the day it was exposed.
Subsequently, the Trustee who was the former Leader of the State Senate filed a suit against another Trustee, and was himself indicted for felony fraud. His wife and her brother were also indicted, all in a kickback scheme that involved the Bishop Estate.
Another Trustee attempted suicide by drug overdose after having been found in a compromising position in a local hotel restroom with a female attorney who represented a branch of the Bishop Trust. The female attorney committed suicide the day after the discovery. Another Trustee was under investigation by a Grand Jury, and the most controversial Trustee – no, she is none of those so far mentioned – was sued for incompetence by two of the other Trustees and her resignation was demanded by almost everyone.
No one resigned during the years of controversy. Why would they when they continued to receive a salary of more than $72,000 a month?
The State Supreme Court washed their hands of the whole affair, because they appointed each of the Trustees, and announced that they will appoint no future Trustees. Several of the State Supreme Court members were criticized for their close ties with the Trustees.
Will Rogers once said that the two funniest things he had ever seen was the Mexican Army on parade, and the Arizona Legislature, but he had never witnessed the Bishop Estate in Hawaii. The Bishop Estate was emblematic of the self-dealing, corruption, and political “good old boy” network that has been entrenched for more than a hundred year in Hawaii.
None of this is obvious to the tourist who is sunning on Waikiki Beach, but the results of the disarray of the state in general, the bad economic condition caused by the Japanese economy and (Hawaiian) anti-business atmosphere has caused a real “brain-drain.” The Honolulu newspaper, which has been on this subject for years, had a two-page article on that “brain drain”. Many Hawaiian who have fled to the mainland complained about that which I have expressed. The newspapers have been filled for years with articles on the anti-business atmosphere, corruption, etc.”
If Mitt Romney does not understand “average” Americans, believe me Barack Obama from Hawaii and the Ivy League, then Chicago does not either.
At least Romney understands business. Big step up!
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