Lee Cataluna: Casting aspersions is not leadership

Death threats and talk of attacks on government employees on social media or in phone messages are absolutely wrong and to be condemned and, to the degree appropriate, prosecuted. Absolutely. No question.

But there was a strong whiff of something extra going on with Gov. David Ige’s news conference Friday. Something strategic and orchestrated. Something with the mark of propaganda.

Ige and his team have been issuing news releases left and right, volleying social media blasts and staging press conferences to emphasize, even magnify and, in some cases, perhaps create the impression that the people standing against the Thirty Meter Telescope project are disorganized, lawless and dangerous.

It started out with Ige’s statement early on that there was drinking and drug use at the protest at the base of the mountain, a claim other state leaders who had spent time at Mauna Kea denied. Since then there have been news releases from the state saying rare native plants at the protest site are being trampled, that people are parking illegally and crossing the road unsafely, that protesters block emergency vehicles and leave trash at the campsite — all things that go unchecked every single day on every island but that never merit attention from the governor.

The only problem­-solving tactic Ige seems to know is to malign the opposition.

Ige’s indignation over some angry language arising from the standoff seemed overdone for effect. Certainly, nobody should be posting that garbage, and it’s scary and painful to be targeted, but sadly, it happens all the time, and not just to politicians. But this time Ige took it seriously. He even raised his voice.

Ige should get credit for calling out bad behavior on both sides of the debate, because some of the comments on social media from TMT supporters have been flat-out racist and filthy. It is heartbreaking and infuriating to see the kinds of things Hawaiians get called in their own ancestral land. That kind of hatred isn’t elevating the pro-TMT argument.

Neither are Ige’s repeated attempts to diminish and discredit the organized, erudite, focused people who call themselves kiai. (It should be noted that the leaders of the Protect Mauna Kea movement have condemned hate speech and threats and have repeated their commitment to kapu aloha, peaceful protest.)

What was particularly odd was that Friday’s news conference was a multi­media show with projected images and audio recordings of the threats. Maybe Team Ige was trying to thwart charges of “fake news,” but what they did was give the hate speech a much larger profile by delivering it to every news outlet in the state. It amplified the problem while allowing Ige and his team to tsk-tsk about it.

Ige should focus on trying to live up to the highest purpose of his office: to be an inspirational leader, a leader so earnest and open and heartfelt that even those who don’t agree with him still have respect for him. A true leader would find a way to heal this rift with everyone’s dignity and spirit intact.

This critical conflict should be resolved with face-to-face discussions and mutual respect, not with a government-led propaganda campaign from the top floor of the state Capitol meant to demonize the opposition on the mauna.

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