The ostensible “stewardship” of Mauna Kea as a sacred site proposed by House Bill 2024 has been wrested from the Senate Water and Land Committee and placed in the hands of the Senate Higher Education Committee under the fiercely partisan enemy of the University of Hawaii, state Sen. Donna Mercado Kim — yet another example of putting the fox in charge of the henhouse (“Bill seeking new management for Mauna Kea advances in Senate,” Star-Advertiser, March 24).

After several unsuccessful attempts to shred the university down to a size only Kim and her anti-UH colleagues regard as appropriate to Hawaii’s educational needs, this latest effort is aimed at dismantling the university’s globally acclaimed astronomy programs by minimizing their input.

This is disrespectful of both contemporary science and ancient indigenous astronomy. Auwe!

Perle Besserman

Kakaako

Skip Kakaako station, get rail to Ala Moana

I can’t believe our mayor is using the Kakaako rail station as an excuse to shorten the rail route (“Shorter route could avert a Kakaako land dispute,” Star-Advertiser, March 20).

Did he not read the recent Big Q results, in which 55% of respondents said they wanted rail to go to Ala Moana (“What do you think of Mayor Rick Blangiardi’s plan to end Honolulu’s rail project in Kakaako, at least for now?,” Star-Advertiser, Big Q, March 18)?

If he wants to eliminate a rail station to save money, I nominate the costly and contentious Kakaako station. That financial savings could help cover the cost of building both the downtown and Ala Moana stations. Completing the planned route with the loss of only one station also should have appeal at the federal level.

Ann Beeson

Chinatown

Gabbard, Carlson used as Russian propaganda

“Russian TV uses Tucker Carlson and Tulsi Gabbard to sell Putin’s war,” as reported by Robert Mackey of The Intercept. His report was dated Feb. 24, the day that Russia invaded Ukraine.

A recent letter writer took exception to U.S. Sen. Mitt Romney tweeting that Gabbard was responsible for “treasonous lies” and promoting Russian propaganda (“Romney wrong to apply ‘treason’ to Gabbard,” Star-Advertiser, March 22). Using his definition of treason, “providing aid and comfort to the enemy” could apply to both Carlson and Gabbard.

The writer praised Gabbard for her honorable service in the military and labels Romney’s behavior as disgraceful since he avoided military service during the Vietnam War by working as a Mormon missionary.

Remember: Benedict Arnold was a major general in the army before defecting, so having military service does not exclude treasonous behavior.

Jim Wolfe

Nuuanu

It’s easy to enter war, but much harder to exit

Could Ukraine become another Vietnam, Iraq or Afghanistan for us? Should we send armed forces to fight the Russians?

Each war is similar and different. But the proven historical truth is that it is easy to get into a war but hard to get out. People think that starting small is the easy way to minimize casualties and pull out if necessary. But once our soldiers die, it actually becomes much more difficult for peace because then we think, “They cannot have died in vain.”

We have to ask ourselves how many deaths we are willing to risk for another war. How many dead is the price of freedom?

Even if we devastated Russian forces in Ukraine, what do you think nuclear- powered Vladimir Putin would threaten then?

On the other ugly hand, peace and freedom only happen when enough people are willing to kill and die for it.

Leighton Loo

Mililani

Political parties spell the end of America

Columnist David Brooks missed the mark with this one (“Let’s keep up the pressure: reasons why autocracies fail,” Star-Advertiser, March 21).

Readers need to know why democracies fail, and George Washington made that clear, predicting political parties would be the end of the U.S.

Voters no longer elect the best person for a position, as candidates are selected and promoted by a political party. Once elected, that person could care less about constituents and city, state or union, but votes the party line to maintain the support and best interests of their political party.

U.S. rankings are plummeting well below those of other nations. Yet Americans free-fall into debt while the political parties contest each other, because the majority of Americans are happy to let their government do the thinking for them, thus confirming that a government of the party, by the party, and for the party shall perish from the Earth.

Rico Leffanta

Kakaako

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