Akaka Bill on TV tonight

6 comments to Akaka Bill on TV tonight

• Ken Conklin

  February 4, 2010 at 9:35 am

  Very funny panel. All three of them are in favor of special “rights” for ethnic Hawaiians. Heen and Bennett are in favor of the basic concept of the bill — the only version Bennet has a problem with is the latest amended version passed by the Senate committee, but he’s been pushing the Akaka bill for 7 years. Osorio opposes the bill, but only because it doesn’t do enough for ethnic Hawaiians — Osorio wants total independence. There’s nobody on the panel to defend the viewpoint which I believe most of Hawaii’s people favor — unity and equality.

  Let me take this opportunity to announce a REAL debate between Jon Van Dyke (for the Akaka bill) and Ilya Shapiro (opposed to the Akaka bill for all the right reasons).

  The future of the Akaka Bill:
  Where do we go from here?

  William S. Richardson School of Law – 2515 Dole Street, Honolulu
  Wednesday, February 10, 2010 4 pm – 6 pm – Classroom 3- Refreshments Provided
  Contact Eliza Talbot at (808) 366-8801 or eliza8482@gmail.com
  Parking in Zone 20 by the Stan Sheriff Center – $4.00 for all day pass

  The Federalist Society of Hawai`i is pleased to host a scholarly debate
  regarding enactment of the Akaka Bill or Native Hawaiian
  Reorganization Act, and what this legislation means for the Native
  Hawaiian people around the world and in Hawai`i. We are pleased to
  welcome Iya Shapiro, a Senior Fellow from the Cato Institute and
  frequent guest on many national TV, radio, and news outlets. He will
  debate Richardson’s own Constitutional Law Professor, John Van Dyke, a
  recognized expert on the Akaka Legislation.

  John Van Dyke, Professor at William S.
  Richardson School of Law, Carlsmith Ball
  Faculty Scholar, Regents’ Medalist
  Excellence in Research, Presidential
  Citation for Excellence in Teaching
  http://www.law.hawaii.edu/personnel/
  vandyke/jon

  Iya Shapiro, Senior Fellow in
  Constitutional Studies and Editor-in-Chief,
  Cato Supreme Court Review, Adjunct
  Professor at the George Washington
  University School of Law, National
  publication, radio, and TV appearances.
  http://www.cato.org/people/ilya-shapiro

• Scott Crawford

  February 4, 2010 at 7:27 pm

  thanks for posting Ken. but to be clear, neither of these views represent many Hawaiians (however you define it) either.

  and anything sponsored by the Federalist Society immediately gets near zero credibility/interest as being “real” in my book lol.

• Keahi Felix

  February 6, 2010 at 6:55 pm

  I watched and listened to Insight. Saw again that in any form the Native Hawaiian Reorganization Act is a plan formed in committee in D.C. designed to take away the rights of Hawaiian nationals and substitute privileges instead. Comments sent in by the public ask again that hearings be held in Hawaii so that the real voice of Hawaiians can be heard. And recorded! Here, opposition to the bill is high for the right reasons.

  The intricacies of law and how law is being used amaze me. Can’t go into detail here. Few ( outside of Dr. Sai “A Slippery Path Towards Hawaiian Indigeneity: An Analysis and comparison between Hawaiian State Sovereignty and Hawaiian Indigeneity and its use and practice in Hawaii today”) call attention to the depth of ignorance/duplicity involved when U.S. Federal Constitutional Law and State law are posited as the framework for deciding the fate of Hawaiians as was exhibited in Thursday evening’s show. C’mon, we’re a country! Able to stand toe to toe with any other internationally recognized independent established Nation. Check the history.

  I want to commend Dr. Jon Osorio for keeping a cool head and a warm heart in opposition to the bill during the TV presentation and to Dr. Kalei Watson for doing her best to understand the situation and to express her concerns with intelligence, even though when push comes to shove she feels that she must support the bill. For myself, I cannot go part way. No to the Akaka Bill. Bring the hearings home to Hawaii.(Hui Pu, Hawaiian Independence Action Alliance, Ka Lei Maile Alii Hawaiian Civic Club protest 1-1 10 which Obama witnessed.)

  E ho‘o Hawai‘i Kakou. C’mon everybody. Stop lagging. Let’s go do it! Otherwise, to use Noho Hewa film maker Keala Kelly’s assessment, “Complacency = complicity.”

• Tane

  February 6, 2010 at 8:16 pm

  I agree that the saving grace for this program was Dr. Jon Osorio, Jr. State AG bennet seemed appropriate to be on the panel; the other two were very questionalble for being there. The panel was lop-sided and advantegeous for the pro-Akaka representatives. Only three questions were being addressed and the program cut short to cover the death of
  Frank Fasi.

  I sent in the question, “Why are the backers of Akaka Bill supporting the U.S. WASP racist doctrines of Manifest Destiny which the Bill promotes and why no hearings on all the islands?”

  This is a perspective that is never mentioned outside of wanting hearings on all islands to voice our concerns. I’m sure Akaka and his cronies wouldn’t be able to promptly answer until they confided with each other to deliver an immediate response. The hearings should take testimony and there should be a question & answer period in a following session at the hearings. Like Sgt Friday’s famous quote, “Just the facts, Ma’am!”

  The bottomline is the voice of the Kingdom of Hawai’i subjects, the citizens who have the say on their nationalism not the U.S. Americans. This Bill may not deter that decision; but it obfuscates and demonstrates a form of compliance the U.S. is accustomed to and affords continued violations of the laws of occupation and neutrality of our nation-state, the legitimate, still existing, Hawaiian Kingdom. Reconcilliation doesn’t happen within the U.S. Interior Department, but the U.S. State Department.

  As it stands, we are spoken of in the third person, and they are telling us what is good for us rather than what we expect and want. They are deciding for us. We’ve been ignored and they have coerced Hawaiian organizations and private interests that will gain personal and pecuniary advantages to speak for us while further dividing the community of nationals regardless of ethnicity. The legitimate Kingdom is multi-ethnic and not a U.S. American native tribe of indigenous Americans with a blood quantum requirement. Why continue to promote the Manifest Destiny doctrines, the myth, and the lie? It’s hewa!

• Scott Crawford

  February 6, 2010 at 8:39 pm

  I didn’t watch the whole thing, but I caught the part when the question of hearings in Hawaii was brought up, and Boylen said something to the effect of “weren’t there hearings, haven’t we been thru that?” Then someone said something about hearings in 1994, even thought the bill wasn’t introduced until 2000 lol. You’d think someone would actually know some basic facts about something so important, which has been raised as an issue over and over. The one and only set of hearings was held in 2000, but the huge point that they neglected to mention is that the overwhelming majority of testimony was opposed to the bill at that time. And then they’ve never had hearings in Hawaii since.

• Keahi Felix

  February 7, 2010 at 6:17 pm

  Yes hearings on all the islands. With U.S. officials firmly committed to hear testimony. In venues of dignity. No repeat of what happened in 2000 when due to a hip replacement and doctor’s orders Akaka could not travel, the meetings were cancelled at the last minute. We on Kauai were heartbroken and outraged that the Senator did not delegate another official to take his place. We also lost the chance to testify in person at a dignified setting, the Kauai Community College Performing Arts Center, where even if the Senator could not have been there, perhaps some technological modality would have accommodated testimony for him and his team to review.

  So instead we quickly organized to go to a pavilion at Lydgate Beach Park. People came from all over the island, 99% against the Akaka bill. No officials present, but the meeting was videotaped and sent to Honolulu where testimonies were being taken.

  My question. How can the officials entrenched in D.C. be obliged to come hear us in Hawaii before further action on the bill takes place?