Trump lacking in temperament

Wow, I don’t believe what I just witnessed (“Rivals pull no punches in contentious debate,” Star-Advertiser, Sept. 27).

During the presidential debate, Donald Trump went into a rather disjointed rant. I know, I know, that is not surprising.

The surprising part is that he was ranting about the ideal temperament that a president should possess, and how he has it and Hillary Clinton does not. Were I to advise him, I would tell him, “Rant all you want, Donald, but not about temperament, please. A good temperament is not a virtue that you appear to have.”

His display, his rant, pretty well said it all. It is so obvious he should not be our next president.

Jim Howard

Manoa

Trump’s honesty bothers some

Donald Trump bothers us. He doesn’t talk like a politician. He doesn’t mince or parse words; he speaks his mind.

Instead of being tactful, he is foolishly candid. He doesn’t rely upon the teleprompter enough; instead he is open, spontaneous and straightforward. He must not be smart, for he does not seem to understand that honesty in politics is foolish.

He does not give due consideration to the sensibilities of others; instead, he says what he means. This man is too transparent to be elected; we see right through him. There is no obfuscating, pettifogging or equivocating; we know where he stands. That’s political suicide. We’re not used to that.

He is awkward in his speech and in his manner; he is not smooth, suave, patronizing or pandering. He does not act like a politician. He scares us.

Nelson S.W. Chang

Kaneohe

Public service good for nation

An excellent article by Victor Craft and Peter Adler (“Mandatory national service would strengthen America,” Star-Advertiser, Island Voices, Sept. 21).

The ongoing experience of other progressive countries confirms the benefits of national service. The only thing I would add is the advantage of having more of our population invested and involved in decisions of our government.

Think of the World War II experience: Everybody got involved: kids buying stamps, adults buying war bonds, a real draft, rationing, victory gardens — and a huge war ended in five years.

In 2003, President George W. Bush said, “Never mind, go shopping” — and the wars go on and on, trillions of dollars later and no end in sight, the cost of no citizen participation and oversight.

So yes, restore the draft and other forms of national service, and let our youth develop a consciousness about and a commitment to our country.

Tom Tizard

Kailua

We can learn from Nazi rising

The Star-Advertiser recently announced the passing of Karl Dietrich Bracher, a German historian who examined the “Nazi phenomenon” (“German historian examined ‘Nazi phenomenon’,” Star-Advertiser, Sept. 24).

Bracher observed that many of the conditions that prompted the rise of the Nazi movement in Germany still exist: the social and ideological feelings of imminent crisis, anti- democratic and populist- nationalist emotions, authoritarianism and anti-modernism.

Many of today’s voters are unfamiliar with what happened in Germany, but refusal to know and understand that historical experience could be our nation’s downfall. That would be a tragedy.

James B. Young

St. Louis Heights

Don’t give break to Mana‘olana

Mana‘olana Partners should not be allowed to buy the approval to break the zoning rules (“Council vote on tower delayed over concerns on affordable housing,” Star-Advertiser, Sept. 23).

It should not be allowed to build higher and with more density. Tourists will stop coming to Oahu if all they can see are too-tall buildings.

Mary Moore

Kailua

Mileage tax similar to flat tax

I agree completely with the letter regarding the proposal to tax mileage driven instead of per gallon of gasoline (“Gas tax better than mileage tax,” Star-Advertiser, Letters, Sept. 23).

The mileage tax clearly is an offspring of the calls for a flat tax on incomes instead of progressive taxation, because a regressive flat tax would reward the 1 percent with lower bills while the rest of us who make less money would pay disproportionately.

Worse, as the letter argues, taxing mileage would reduce incentives to drive more fuel-efficient vehicles.

That travesty would rank right up there with the decline of solar installations due to lost subsidies and hindrances in permitting — a demonstration of insincerity in our leaders who claim to want to switch to sustainable sources of power.

Allowing coal burning in power plants here also ranks high for lack of vision.

If you’re going to talk the talk, walk it too, please.

David Chappell

Kaneohe

Tax cars based on miles driven

Bob Karman would prefer a gasoline tax rather than a mileage tax (“Gas tax better than mileage tax,” Star-Advertiser, Letters, Sept. 23). He said “the idea of basing highway revenues on miles driven is stupid.”

His argument uses the example of a 40-mpg car versus a 10-mpg car driving 100 miles.

He claims that, with a mileage tax, both drivers would pay the same tax to drive the 100 miles, so there would be no incentive to buy fuel-efficient cars. Let’s do the math.

Assume fuel cost to be $2.70 per gallon with a 16.5 cents-per-gallon county tax. The 10-mpg driver would pay $27, including $1.65 county tax for driving the 100 miles. The 40-mpg driver would pay only $6.75, including 41 cents tax.

For a mileage-based tax of, say, 83 cents per 100 miles, both motorists would pay the same tax. But who cares?

It’s the overall cost of the fuel, not these pennies of gas tax, that are important to car buyers.

Roads are worn down by cars, and the more driving, the more damage. It’s only fair to charge by the distance driven.

Jim Harwood

Manoa

Hawaiians weigh alternate statuses

The big divide within the Native Hawaiian community is between Hawaiian Native American status and international sovereign Hawaiian status.

A significant number of intellectuals have sided with Hawaiian Native American status.

The international sovereign Hawaiian faction has been growing stronger and more rapidly every day. Many Native Hawaiians living outside of Hawaii support international sover- eign Hawaiian status.

This issue will have to be voted on by Hawaiians and non-Hawaiians. The Kingdom of Hawaii, before it was overthrown, was a cosmopolitan nation of people, including those with mixed bloodlines.

Keoni Ronald May

McCully/Moiliili