Gov. David Ige’s leadership failure in the Mauna Kea telescope standoff becomes more confounding by the week.

In his recent State of the State speech, Ige said the stalemate over the Thirty Meter Telescope after months of Native Hawaiian protests is because he won’t violate the aloha and trust that binds us.

He said a law enforcement crackdown urged by many “would have been the easier course,” but he didn’t take it for fear of fracturing the community.

His rewriting of history is nonsense. The Mauna Kea morass exists for one primary reason: We have a governor for whom the easiest decision is no decision. The man is fundamentally incapable of making a tough call.

He’s been outsmarted by committed and disciplined protesters on tactics, politics and public relations. He’s articulated no clear message to the public, protesters or telescope developers.

Because of his policy of erratic avoidance, neither side trusts his word, and the community fractures he claims he’s worked to prevent are nearly beyond repair.

If community divisions were really his top concern, he could have ended this dispute five years ago when it became clear that a critical mass of Hawaiians opposed the telescope beyond any compromise.

If he was being honest, he would have told TMT promoters that he was unable to clear the way for the telescope to be built without major ongoing disruption.

Instead, he did the opposite and repeatedly promised TMT that if it jumped through the state’s hoops and got its permits, he would guarantee safe access to the construction site at Mauna Kea’s summit.

The promise was hollow.

Notwithstanding the disdain for a law enforcement solution expressed in his State of the State, twice since 2015 he’s announced the start of construction and initiated the arrests of protesters — only to back down both times when police action just firmed their resolve.

The latest protests ended only after TMT officials decided they didn’t have enough confidence in state promises to immediately proceed, and Big Island Mayor Harry Kim negotiated a moratorium to clear the protest camp.

In his State of the State, Ige offered no path forward other than to say, “I truly believe it can be resolved, if we put our heads and our hearts together.”

More meaningless babble at a time that needs creative leadership.

Unless the governor has a magic trick up his sleeve, there is no viable compromise in sight. Nor is there any sign of the mutual trust needed to find one.

It leaves Ige the same choices he always had: either commit to taking the mountain by force or leave TMT to move on to its backup site in the Canary Islands.

If history is a guide, the governor will do nothing and hope the issue just goes away.

Reach David Shapiro at volcanicash@gmail.com.