Lies, Damned Lies, & Politicians

I get the KITV headlines via E-mail; this one about Rene Mansho arrived a couple of hours ago. It strikes me that we've got one hell of a City Council to be proud of; Mirikitani in jail, Mansho facing prosecution, Felix fighting about his damned wedding business, Yoshimura disbarred, etc. And isn't Steve Holmes's resume still under suspicion, or did that get resolved?

Not bad for a city with a population of 800,000 or so, huh?

Comments

I read about Rene Mansho from the Advertiser site, and to be quite honest, I didn't know whether to laugh, cry, curse... or hurl chunks. ;)

And to think that we're the state that's supposed to have "aloha" as a public policy...

How was it possible for Ms.Mansho (a former elementary school teacher) to pay $80,000 in city and state fines?

I don't think the courts pay any attention to "ability to pay" when they assess these fines. It's happened before; I think Mirikitani owes a huge fine, and don't I recall that the murderers of the Army guy out there in Waianae beach housing were supposed to make restitution for some sum that was clearly impossible? I know there was some case like that which had a fairly pointless fine attached to it, anyway.

My mom recently told me about a lengthy article that appeared in the LA Times regarding the corruption and scandals of the Honolulu City Council. Dude, when other STATES start trashing your local government, it's time to get a clue. Somebody hand me a voter registration form already..

In the link it states that she has already paid the two fines of $40,000.

Well, it wouldn't entirely surprise me if it came out of campaign funds. And then, as a former teacher, she probably had a fair bit in TIAA-CREF or something similar, which she could have cashed out of (with penalty...I know this feeling well) :(

Call me a cynic, but I feel one of the reasons why government in Hawai'i is ultimately corrupt is because of the way we do business here. There is no denying that the way how business is done in Asia is the way how we do business here, which is based on not how well a person can do a job or how righteous he is, but more on who he knows, who he is related to, and how much money he has.

We're almost like a microcosm of the Japanese or Chinese government--more harshly, we're like a baby Yakuza or Chinese Triad.

There's so much under-the-table dealmaking and pressuring that you would think the government is ran by a syndicate of opportunistic businessmen seeking a quick buck every chance they get. And with the State and City Government being the largest employer in the state, it's to the government advantage to keep those greased palms going.

I mean, realistically, once you're in the system with the brahdahs and the sistahs, who would want to slit their own throats by demanding reform when every corner you turn, someone who is related to your uncle's wife's sister's auntie (who just happens to be rich) is asking for a favor for "the family".

With that kind of pressure, coupled with all the more sordid cultural influences from Asia, it's no wonder the goverment is corrupt here.

Harakiri anyone?

Oh, yeah, that's right, not before a trip down to Saigon Passion III first.

My deceased uncle was a reporter in Phoenix covering the state legislature there back in the late 60's/early 70's. It was no less corrupt than Hawaii. Look at Los Angeles and its water wars with Owens Valley (see Chinatown; that's fairly accurate). The Asian influence may be unusual, but the graft, kickbacks, and nepotism are nothing unique to Hawai'i, believe me.

If you break the law, get prepared to spend some time in jail. I think Ms. Mansho is lucky she didn't get more jail time.

From the Advertiser: Rene loses "privileges" in prison

Between this and Martha Stewart's possible incarceration, there's a lot of prison jokes to be made here.

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