Posted on: Saturday, November 22, 2008
A week of lawmakers & breakers
By David Shapiro
Things seemed to settle down after the political excitement of recent months, but there was still plenty of fodder for our "flASHback" on the week's news that amused and confused:
President-elect Barack Obama is thinking of appointing former rival Hillary Clinton as his secretary of state. Maybe she'll get a chance to run for cover at some foreign airport for real.
The Topps Company will sell trading cards spanning Obama's life. I hope they'll quiet the conspiracy buffs and make the Hawai'i card a picture of his birth certificate.
Local Democrats will host a fancy ball on Jan. 20 to celebrate Obama's inauguration. Don Quijote had better stock up on formal rubber slippers.
Possible 2010 rivals for governor James "Duke" Aiona, Mufi Hannemann and Colleen Hanabusa all showed up to break ground for the $800 million Walt Disney resort at Ko Olina. You can't start digging for the glass slipper early enough.
The City Council may make it illegal to send text messages from cell phones while driving. They just don't want us writing them to complain about traffic jams and potholes.
Mayoral candidate and city transit opponent Panos Prevedouros says he's innocent of reckless driving charges against him. If the judge disagrees, I'm sure Hannemann will be happy to send him a bus pass.
Big Island police and prosecutors are looking for a way to ignore a voter initiative making marijuana the county's lowest law enforcement priority. If they can't busy themselves with pot busts, they'll have to find out what happened to Peter Boy.
It could take the state Ethics Commission a year to finish its investigation of free Sugar Bowl trips handed out by the University of Hawai'i. Marijuana will never be the lowest law enforcement priority as long as we have ethics laws on the books.
Twin brothers, 14, were arrested in 'Ewa after one falsely reported the other kidnapped so he could hang with his girlfriend instead of going home. You'd think between the two of them they'd have one working brain above the belt.
Survivors of the late entertainer Don Ho are still fighting over his estate. Is that any way to say "I'll Remember You?"
And the quote of the week ... from David Rickard of CVS, which is acquiring Longs, in explaining Hawai'i to investment bankers: "It may seem hard for you and me to believe, but the indigenous Hawaiians have a term for people from the Lower 48 that is not complimentary." He may be hearing that term a lot.
Reach David Shapiro at dave@volcanicash.net.
