Lee Cataluna: Ige throws mountain of distraction as TMT foes stay focused

Something happened. Something is happening. There may not be extrapolated numbers from a current telephone survey to quantify it, but the huge number of people standing against the construction of the TMT on Mauna Kea serves as evidence.

Support for the Protect Mauna Kea movement is growing, spreading, crystallizing. People who used to think the construction project was wholly positive and completely benign — or who didn’t feel connected enough to have an opinion — are now getting in their cars, getting on a plane, going to the mountain and joining in the effort any way they can. Minds have been changed, hearts have been won over.

Starting construction on the Thirty Meter Telescope now would be devastating, not only to the many who deeply believe it will do irreparable damage to the mountain, but also to the integrity of the project itself. Hundreds of astronomers around the world have voiced their concern over TMT being built despite the objections of indigenous people. If it is built, it will forever have that taint.

It would be wrong to focus on Gov. David Ige as the source of the problem and the key to the solution. Ige has the power of his current position, but he’s not the money behind TMT or the ambition behind the consortium. He’s just a passive-aggressive politician with zero leadership skills. Protecting Mauna Kea is not about winning over or defeating Ige. It just means going around him.

Having Mayor Harry Kim step in to do the diplomatic work that Ige is unable or unwilling to do at least lets the sulky governor stay home in Honolulu. It also keeps Lt. Gov. Josh Green from making his boss look bad.

Although Ige finally made it to the base of Mauna Kea Tuesday, no one should ever forget the statements he made last week accusing Native Hawaiians and their supporters of criminal and unsafe behavior there.

When the governor maligns a group of indigenous people by saying they’re drinking, taking drugs, disorganized and don’t even know why they’re protesting, that’s seriously disturbing.

Casting aspersions about the kiai and saying they don’t even know what they want are techniques of distraction and attempts to discredit the move- ment.

None of Ige’s claims have been substantiated by any official report. Kupuna were arrested for sitting in the road, so why didn’t law enforcement arrest the people who were supposedly drinking and using drugs on state land? Those arrests would have at least made more sense. Meanwhile a number of state officials, including the lieutenant governor, actually visited the site and said they didn’t see anything of the sort. This reveals Ige’s willingness to bear false witness against perceived opponents, a fatal flaw in a leader’s integrity.

It isn’t correct to say that Mauna Kea has become a catchall symbol for every Native Hawaiian issue. The story of what is happening right now on Mauna Kea is complicated and layered, but the kiai are not unfocused or wildly lumping in unrelated grievances.

In the telling of every human story, there are three elements: A. What is happening now. B. What happened before that gives context to what is happening now. C. What it all means.

The Protect Mauna Kea movement has a lot of B and the C that can be interpreted in many ways, but the A is very clear and focused. This is about that mountain.

Reach Lee Cataluna at 529-4315 or lcataluna@staradvertiser.com.