On Politics: When it comes to COVID-19 and fans in University of Hawaii stands, Gov. Ige remains unmalleable

Today’s unpronounceable word is “unmalleable.” It is the perfect word because it is the ultimate political quality.

Unmalleable is a personality trait I’m thinking about in terms of, “What makes David Ige so unmalleable?”

The word means “not able to be influenced, persuaded, or controlled.” Those sound exactly like the qualities you are searching for when looking for someone to run the state.

Someone unmalleable would not bend to special interests, someone who’s integrity could not be twisted or deformed, someone who would stand tall in the face of a political crisis.

Too bad, “unmalleable” also means something “difficult or impossible to shape or work.”

People who are unmalleable are seen as being “intractable,” as in “difficult to manage or mold; “an intractable disposition”; or “intractable pain.”

When Ige battles the COVID-19 virus, he shows “unmalleable” fortitude and strength as he refuses to bend in his protection of community health.

And when he refuses to listen to rational reasoning to allow some measly number of sports fans into the temporary on-campus University of Hawaii sports complex to watch the state’s only Division 1 football team play, he is “intractable” and also a pain.

The degree of discomfort Ige is able to cause was made clear by Lt. Gov. Josh Green last week, as the part-time emergency room doctor refused to back down from his call for Ige to at least open up UH football — the only big-boy football team in the country that doesn’t allow fans to sit in the school’s outdoor facility.

“I do think when possible we should begin to return to some normalcy, like having fans at outdoor sporting events if they are vaccinated and wearing masks. We should follow the science and make decisions that way,” Green said in response to my question.

“People’s mental health includes coming back together, social activities and some confidence that they can provide for their children through work. This is the daily consideration I try to share with the governor and team,” Green said.

Last week, House Speaker Scott Saiki joined in the pleas as he formally asked Ige to open up UH’s Ching Stadium for the weekend homecoming game.

“Permitting a modicum of spectators will also demonstrate to other states that Hawaii is returning to normalcy, but in a far more prescribed manner,” Saiki said in a letter to Ige.

The governor has led a charmed political life from being picked out of nowhere by Gov. George Ariyoshi to fill a state House vacancy in 1985 and then become a state legislator almost completely uncontested for decades, before making political history by upsetting incumbent Gov. Neil Abercrombie in the 2014 gubernatorial primary.

In his two terms Ige has dealt with catastrophes both natural and of his own making, but none has had the impact of the COVID-19 virus and the ensuing state economic collapse.

So far Ige has demonstrated that he is capable of sticking with stubbornness when he should bend and listen to reason and get the “malleability” question right. It is his choice.