Come on. Give Linda Lingle a break.

She's been taking more heat for not going to the president-elect's meeting with all the governors this week than she did for questioning his ties to Hawai'i during the campaign.

But to look at her schedule, it's clear that she was up to her eyeballs in meetings this week and just couldn't justify dropping everything and flying all the way to Philadelphia for a few minutes with the president-to-be. She had a meeting with Ted Liu to talk about tourism stuff, a meeting with Pearl Iboshi to talk about economic stuff, and a meeting with the ambassador of Australia, among many other things.

And on Tuesday, the day of the meeting with President-elect Barack Obama, Lingle had a big, exciting announcement planned.

... an electric car!

Really? An electric car? That's it? Oh.

No, no! It's a car that runs on electric minutes, kinda like a cell phone with charging stations planted everywhere like parking meters!

Ta-da!

Yeah, she should have gone to Obama's meeting.

The crucial element in effectively using the "I'm too busy" excuse is that you have to make an effort to look busy. And not just busy-busy, but important-busy.

The governor's schedule for this week, posted online, looks a bit more juiced up on the busy-busy than in previous weeks, especially the ones when she was off to the Mainland pallin' around with Palin.

And the buildup to the electric car press conference was laughable. Unveil a car that runs on invasive species limu or Ala Wai sludge and all of Hawai'i be impressed. Show us a stubby little Nissan that runs on electricity and we'll grab copies of our current HECO bills and tell you to save it, Auntie, I can only afford to walk.

There are two possibilities. First, that Lingle really thought the electric car and the list of busy-busy meetings truly were too important to reschedule — which makes you question her priorities.

Or second, that she was too sulky to face Obama after she told America his ties to Hawai'i were tenuous and then he got the highest percentage of the vote right here in her state.

Doesn't it make you nostalgic for the blunt style of Ben Cayetano? He would say in such a situation, "I don't like the guy. Why should I go?" and leave no one to question his sincerity.

But in the end, it'll all be OK. Lingle says she'll invite Obama to meet with her when he's here in town later this month. For his grandmother's funeral.

Nice.

Lee Cataluna's column runs Tuesdays, Fridays and Sundays. Reach her at 535-8172 or lcataluna@honoluluadvertiser.com.