Just like Cartoon Network, but these characters are real

The same fellow who convinced me last week that our local political leaders should have their own wind names is now suggesting that we can also classify elected officials by the cartoon characters they bring to mind.

It’s been a slow news week, so what the heck, here’s my list of poli-toons. If you can do better — as many of you did on the wind names — or have other pols you’d like to add, go for it.

Federal: Sen. Daniel Inouye: "Foghorn J. Leghorn"; Sen. Daniel Akaka: "Mr. Magoo"; Rep. Mazie Hirono: "Tweety Bird"; Rep. Colleen Hanabusa: "Sylvester the Cat"

State: Gov. Neil Abercrombie: "Yosemite Sam"; Lt. Gov. Brian Schatz: "Boo-Boo Bear"; Senate Majority leader Brickwood Galuteria: "Baby Huey"; Senate Judiciary Chairman Clayton Hee: "Hellboy"; House Majority Leader Blake Oshiro: "The Cheshire Cat"; House Minority Leader Gene Ward: "Wile E. Coyote"

City: Mayor Peter Carlisle: "Bullwinkle J. Moose"; Prosecutor Keith Kaneshiro: "Dudley Do-Right"; outgoing Council Chairman Nestor Garcia: "Tweedledum"; incoming Council Chairman Ernie Martin: "Tweedledee"; Councilwoman Ann Kobayashi: "Bubbles the Powerpuff Girl"; Councilman Stanley Chang: "Stewie Griffin"

And a few of the hopefuls: Linda Lingle: "Olive Oyl"; Mufi Hannemann: "The Big Bad Wolf"; Ed Case: "Richie Rich"; James "Duke" Aiona: "Ned Flanders"; Charles Djou: "Jiminy Cricket"; Panos Prevedouros: "Doctor Strange"

He’s not local but I can’t resist: Rep. Anthony Weiner: "Captain Underpants"

We have room for a few "flASHbacks" on the week’s news that amused and confused:

» Hawaii residents are living longer, with the number of people over 90 nearly doubling since the last census. That’s great news. It’s always nice to have a bigger pool of potential U.S. Senate candidates.

» Abercrombie released $12.5 million in construction funds for the public schools that he said are part of his "New Day Work Projects." These are what used to be known as "Old Day Porkbarrel Projects."

» The governor’s spokeswoman, Donalyn Dela Cruz, has taken a side job writing and producing a new travelogue show called "Passport Hawaii." Every sinking ship needs a travel agent.

» Hawaiian Airlines raked in nearly half of its $110 million profit last year from charging fees on checked luggage. No wonder they give more legroom to bags than passengers.

» A McCully resident returned home to his apartment to find a naked Navy man sacked out in his bed. I guess the drunken sailor is one military component that technology just can’t replace.

And the quote of the week … from California visitor Krista Lavezzo on the flurry of street and sidewalk work around Waikiki and Ala Moana as Honolulu prepares for APEC. "Horrible construction, nasty, disgusting, gross and noisy. It’s crazy. I could’ve fallen in a hole."

We like to call it "eco-tourism."

David Shapiro can be reached at volcanicash@gmail.com or blog.volcanicash.net.