Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 5, Number 11, 1 November 1988 — The Presidential Election [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

The Presidential Election

0 By Clarence F.T. Ching Trustee, O'ahu

The end of this eleetion is in sight. The sign holders are about to retire until the next season and the signs are about to be put away. The TV and radio stations and the newspapers have had a hectic time running poliheal ads and have been making lots of

money. The voters have been deluged with varieties of information — some quite true, others mere half truths. The debates are essentially over. One of the important questions that we Hawaiians should be asking ourselves is: "Whieh of the presidential candidates should 1 vote for?" To simplify things (and hoping that I don't offend those of you who intend to vote for candidates other than the Republican and Democratic nominees), the question is: "Should I vote Republican or Democrat?" There are good Hawaiian reasons for posing such questions. From the Hawaiian perspective, are there differences between the parties that ean help us decide whether one of the parties is more pro-Hawaiian than the other? Let me be very clear that the discussion here is not to endorse either of the presidential candidates, but to discuss issues that have an impact on Hawaiians— that the weight given the different issues by different individuals may indicate whieh of the candidates he or she should vote for. It continues to bother me that the actions of the

United States in 1893 resulting in the overthrow of our Queen continue. Not only has the U.S. interfered in the internal operations of independent nations in the past, it continues to do so — in Vietnam, Nicaragua, the Middle East and lots of other places. In attempting to manipulate peaee, the CIA engages in espionage on our behalf. Sometimes it conspires with others to carry out atrocities to balanee the stances of other nations relative to us, sometimes it deals in drugs and money to achieve other purpose. Because some of this is happening under a Republican administration, would it also happen under the Democrats? Maybe so. But let's look deeper. The record indicates, however, that George Bush, the Republican contender, was a recent Director of the CIA. One must ask whether or not he was involved in the Iran-Contra affair and, if so, what part did he play? What else has he been responsible for? Do we want this kind of man to lead this nation? Getting closer to home, after Ronald Reagan beeame president, there weren't many welfare programs that did not get squeezed. As a member of the board of directors of the Legal Aid Society of Hawai'i at the time, I, along with others, had to scramble to keep our programs intact. Do you remember? It was to heek with the people and their problems, the money should be spent on defense. TTie Republicans also downplayed our concerns about the environment. We got acid rain and unfit drinking water. Our endangered plants and animals have been virtually ignored. Here at home, the military continues to miss targets on Kaho'olawe and sometimes invade our historical

sites with their missiles. Their rockets initiate fires that rage through strands of endangered Hawaiian trees in Makua Valley making it very difficult for our endangered Hawaiian tree snails to survive. And what did the Republicans do to the Native Hawaiian Study Commission of 1980? President Carter's appointments to the Commission in the last days of his term were replaced by President Reagan's in September of 1981. He appointed three persons from Hawai'i and six government officials. To our detriment, the majority of six rewrote Hawaiian history. Although we Hawaiians all know that agents of the U.S. helped to overthrow our kingdom and stole our lands and sovereignty, there was to be no justice. The majority found thatthere should be no reparations. Hawaiians find ourselves again poised on the threshhold of our future. There is mueh talk about such principles as sovereignty and self-governance and self-determination. Reparations, or restitution, or whatever you would like to eall it, is waiting in the wings. If Hawaiians are to get reparations, many believe that it will not eome about under a Republican administration. How the Japanese got theirs under a Reagan administration remains a mystery to this writer. But those in the know say that our best chances rest with the Democrats. It all comes down to how you would weigh the issues as you determine who to vote for. The issues brought up here are only some of them. There are others. You need to decide whieh ones are most important to you. You may need to decide whieh ones are most important to us as Hawaiians. But, most of all, you need to vote. For no matter how mueh you study the issues and how mueh you think you care, without taking that last step, all of your efforts will probably have gone to waste.

Trnstee*s Vlews

(This eolumn is open to all OHA Trustees as a vehicle for them to express their mana'o. Opinions expressed are those of the individual Trustees and do not necessarily represent the official position of the OHA Board of Trustees.)