So, what is anybody's take on 2nd term Hawaii Senator Brenton Awa?
Fired from KITV for his anti-Covid vaccine ideals, then becoming a freshman Senator who went virtually unscathed by his "You would be hung for criticizing me" comment to a well-respected female Hawaiian leader, saying "I am never going to regret something that comes out of my mouth" to this week's speech as the now Senate minority leader, where he said some really smart good things that need to be dealt with, but just had to tap into that pulsating vein of divisive "red meat" tossing to appease his parties core diehards with the "mahu" comments...
So, up and coming Hawaiian republican superstar, or loudmouth arrogant punk?
The people definitely seem to love him. His view on term limits appeals to me. So much of what is wrong could be solved by preventing people from making a career out of holding office IMHO.
I beleive that if you ignore the sound bites and look at people in long form, in their own words, you get a truer sense of who they are.
01-20-2025, 01:33 AM (This post was last modified: 01-20-2025, 02:20 AM by HiloJulie.)
"I beleive that if you ignore the sound bites and look at people in long form, in their own words, you get a truer sense of who they are."
Well, respectfully agreeing while at the same time respectfully disagreeing here Punatang.
In as much as I can understand EVERYONE says something stupid, dumb, unintended, or in the heat of the battle, MOST would take a step back and say, well, "I was wrong." Even if there is no apology to whatever was said to whomever, at least one could admit what they said was inappropriate, wrong etc.
But, when Awa told the Leialoha Rocky Kaluhiwa, over a bill being considered to ban forms of aquarium fishing, which died, due to Awa's vote, invoking the Hawaiian Kingdom rules and justice system, that she "would have been hung for not supporting a Hawaiian," he did not acknowledge it as a stupid statement, or said so out of the heat of the battle, no, he doubled down on it.
So, sound bite or not, he thinks anyone who disrespects a Hawaiian should be hung. But then he further adds: “The governor is from Pennsylvania. I’m native from this place and I’ll leave it at that.” “There are different perceptions. Our mentality is our governor should never be not from here.”
And then the whole "mahu" take. For what? He's pandering. To his minority of the minority base. In the context used, the comment, nor himself made it funny. He tried but failed at making it funny.
And it was a sound bite he knew all too well that would resonate with that minority base. And that's why he said it.
I think the guy has GREAT potential. He's good looking, articulate, and smart.
Just really stupid at times. And too damn stupid to realize it. But for now, I'll chalk it up to youth.
When claiming Hawaiians should be hung and anything dealing with "mahu's" puts a Hawaiian resident into a good job, home, feeds their family and keeps them from being victims of crime and reduces their taxes, I'm all ears.
In the meantime, his "sound bites" will erase anything good he clearly shows he can be and do.
So, in sum, I think he could be the Governor of Hawaii someday. He just needs to realize that in order to do so, he needs to pander to the other 80ish percentile of the electorate.
Including being disrespected as a Hawaiian at times and those "mahu" voters!
