I agreed with Camille A. Nelson’s statement of supporting those to speak truth to power (“At moments like this, we have profound opportunity to signal who we aspire to be,” Star-Advertiser, Island Voices, Jan. 10).

We all saw firsthand lately that a fancy law degree does not always include ethics. In additional to upholding the law and pursuing justice, lawyers also have social responsibility to educate and inspire the public, rather than inciting violence for the sake of popularity, political or personal gain.

Fact matters in law and so in the news media. Social media, by contrast, only profit from popularity by exploiting people’s thirst for responses and feedback. Whoever creates popular content is awarded with a “like” or with followers.

Popularity and truth are two different things. Law students and lawyers must help us differentiate them.

Kenneth Lam

Hawaii Kai

Homeowners have right to mitigate natural risks

There is a certain amount of risk wherever houses are built, but some locations more so than others. Build next to an ocean and risk high waves. Build in a forest and risk forest fires. Build along a cliff and risk landslides.

Yes, know the risks and accept the risks at your own peril. However, homeowners should be allowed to mitigate those risks. Those who are against building seawalls to protect private property obviously do not own oceanfront property.

Harold H. Nakagawa

Mililani

Selfishness of locals endangers public health

Some selfish people go out and don’t follow COVID-19 protocols. They are out there with no masks, no distancing, having the time of their lives (“State officials shut down Maui beach due to large crowds with maskless dancers, blatant nudity,” Star-Advertiser, Jan. 5).

The problem is not only tourists but locals who are not only hurting themselves but all those around them: their immediate family, their neighbors and the mom-and-pop businesses in their community.

How can these uncaring people get infected and expect the brave first responders to take care of them, risking their health and their loved ones?

It’s so unfair. They shouldn’t expect others to do their utmost best to heal them for their selfishness. They brought this upon themselves.

I’m sorry Hawaii has turned into this. What happened to the aloha we keep sending out to the world, but not to our own family, neighbors and friends?

For 2021, here’s hoping that aloha helps lead us out of this pandemic.

Craig Kutsunai

Kaimuki

Foreign enemy could easily attack Capitol

For all I’ve seen and read in the media, I have yet to hear any concern expressed over how easy it might be for a foreign enemy to attack our U.S. Capitol. Yes, there’s been an outcry about how ill-prepared the Capitol police were for Wednesday’s insurrection, especially when there was so much talk on social media about storming the Capitol, but what concern has been raised as to how easily the Capitol could be breached by a well-armed foreign enemy that isn’t publicizing its intent on social media?

This building is supposed to be one of the best-protected in the world, but is it really? After our homeland insurrection, I have doubts about its security against a foreign attack.

Ginny Edmunds

Niu Valley

America’s racist history raises difficult questions

How far do we go in repudiating our white American racist past? I completely understand and appreciate the movement to remove Confederate statues and the renaming of military bases that were named after Confederate generals. But there have been proposals to relocate or rename the Washington and Jefferson monuments in Washington, D.C. And some Native Americans have called for the razing of Mount Rushmore, which would include destroying the visage of Abraham Lincoln because of his treatment of Native Americans. There has been some talk locally about renaming McKinley and Roosevelt high schools.

I don’t have answers, just questions. How is American history to be taught? What do we teach? It seems that most, if not all, of our white American heroes of the past can be condemned for their racist attitudes and acts of aggression against people of color.

What type of patriotism should we be teaching in our schools? Do we end up canceling White American history? How justified are we in condemning the past and our past leaders without considering the culture of the times they were living in?

Roman Leverenz

Aliamanu

Capitol attackers were traitors and terrorists

Jan. 6, 2021, will live in infamy as much as Pearl Harbor Day, not because it will lead to war, but because it has been more than 200 years since the Capitol of our nation was overrun. To our everlasting sorrow, it was overrun by our fellow citizens at the behest of our president.

History will not look kindly on those who have undermined our democracy by following, supporting and catering to a president who began his political run by claiming a sitting president was born in Kenya; by calling the free press the “enemy of the people”; by siding with autocrats over our intelligence agencies; for pressuring allies to investigate his political rivals; by denying and ignoring Russia’s assault on our democracy with email thefts and cyber crimes; and by pretending a pandemic was a minor flu while he was holding super-spreader events.

Those who attacked our Capitol are seditionists. They are insurrectionists.

To be more precise, they are traitors and terrorists.

Robert Griffon

Makiki

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