Candidates should give truthful, thoughtful answers
Candidates should give truthful, thoughtful answers
“I’m shocked, shocked to find that gambling is going on in here!” The GOP presidential hopefuls and party leaders’ criticism of the CNBC moderators in the Oct. 28 debate rings about as true as Capt. Renault’s faux outrage in the classic film “Casablanca.”
The Republicans and their favorite “fair and balanced” media seem to be unanimously in favor of these sort of tough, detailed questions when directed at President Barack Obama. Their apparent disdain for the man has devolved into a disrespect for the office to the point where news conferences become arguments and when one of their members calls out “liar” during a State of the Union address, the GOP and its cheerleaders praise his outburst instead of decrying his lack of respect.
So now the shoe is on the other foot. Their tactics helped promote, if not create, this confrontational atmosphere and the would-be candidates should be tough enough to deal with it instead of crying that they are being bullied by the big, bad media. The moderators and reporters are doing their jobs by asking the tough questions. The prospective candidates should do their jobs by giving truthful, thoughtful answers. That, I believe is what the American people want and should demand.
Alan Silverman
Kailua-Kona
Radioactive ocean waters: The less we know, the better?
You do remember the nuclear reactors at Fukushima, Japan, that exploded and melted down back in 2011? TEPCO has been trying desperately to clean up the mess it should never have made in the first place whilst an enormous amount of radioactive water keeps flowing into the Pacific Ocean.
We were originally told the radiation would disperse and be harmless, but radiological mapping of the ocean has shown differently.
In February 2014, Senate Bill 3049 was proposed after considerable urging from concerned citizens, but was later killed in the House.
The question is why doesn’t the geometric center of the universe, known otherwise as Honolulu, want us to know the radiological state of the ocean around Hawaii? Do they just want to ignore it and hope it will go away? That is called wishful thinking. Or do they work on the assumption the less we know, the better?
David Kisor
Pahoa