June is done and it’s time to “flASHback” on the month’s news that amused and confused:
>> President Donald Trump stopped at Pearl Harbor-Hickam for a “gas and go” after his summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. Most presidents stop to get gas; Trump prefers to give it.
>> The U.S. Senate addressed Hawaii’s false missile alert by passing Sen. Brian Schatz’s bill to make nuclear alerts a federal responsibility. Trump will tweet us: “Believe me! A very HUGE, tremendously POWERFUL, really HORRIBLE, incredibly BALLISTIC missile is about to hit MILLIONS AND BILLIONS OF DEMOCRATS in Hawaii!!”
>> State emergency managers inadvertently revealed the name of the “button pusher” in January’s nuclear fiasco in redacted documents given to media. After realizing the mistake, it took them 38 minutes to beg for the documents back.
>> Gov. David Ige said a public viewing area for the Kilauea eruption may not be put in Puna, but 30 miles away in Hilo. It fits with his political style, in which he stands in the distance and calls, “Can you see me now?”
>> U.S. Rep. Colleen Hanabusa piled up more endorsements from labor unions and fellow politicians in her bid to unseat Ige. Winning high office is the art of finagling voters not only to elect you, but to pick up the tab for your IOUs.
>> U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard signed with a literary agency to write a book, fueling speculation about her presidential ambitions. The working title is, “Enough About You, Let’s Talk About Me.”
>> Gabbard, who bashed Hillary Clinton for not debating Bernie Sanders enough, is refusing to debate her primary opponent Sherry Alu Campagna. Hypocrisy is as hypocrisy does.
>> After promising a $44 million bond issue for rail wasn’t really needed and wouldn’t be spent, Mayor Kirk Caldwell pressed the City Council for authority to sell and spend the bonds. Fool us once, shame on him; fool us 4,587 times, we’re just damn fools.
>> State Auditor Les Kondo said city rail managers are intimidating employees by recording their interviews with him, griping, “Big Brother is listening.” So we get the arrogance of Big Brother, but not his ability to build a train on time and on budget.
>> City Council Chairman Ernie Martin proposed spending $572,405 to move Council offices to a swank downtown tower and suggested Honolulu Hale would better serve as a museum. Or we could keep using it as a house of horrors with different actors.
>> The rare “corpse flower” bloomed at Foster Botanical Garden, giving visitors a whiff of its foul, deathly odor. It filled the gap between the Legislature and the election.
And the quote of the month … from U.S. Sen. Mazie Hirono on NPR about Republican critics of her stern questioning of Trump appointees: “F*** them!” It certainly dispelled criticism that she’s long-winded.
Reach David Shapiro at volcanicash@gmail.com.
