The state of Hawaii's elected representatives

Looking at the gaggle of Congressional District 1 candidates rushing to try and fill Colleen Hanabusa's soon-to-be-vacant seat (as she attempts to supplant Brian Schatz from his seat in the U.S. Senate), it's hard to know who to vote for. None of them stands out as a particularly strong candidate. Some have had lots of experience sitting in legislative bodies, but have accomplished little, while others are idealists and reformers who have never held elected office and are much too likely to burn bridges and make enemies, preventing any of their reforms from ever taking place.

Looking at Hawaii's history of elected representatives, either from the Territory or the State of Hawaii, we have had titans of politics sit in Congress and fight for Hawaii in the past. Robert Kalanihiapo Wilcox, Prince Jonah Kuhio Kalanianaole, Samuel Wilder King, Jack Burns, Dan Inouye, Tom Gill, Patsy Mink: for better or for worse, these men and women fought hard for what they believed was best for Hawaii. Although not every idea they implemented was a success, not everything they accomplished has survived, and not all that they believed in turned out to be in the best interest of Hawaii's people, they still got shit done. These are the figures that shaped modern Hawaii, as representatives to Congress and, as was the case for several of them, as governors and U.S. senators as well.

Compare them to our current selection of choices and it seems the quality of our politicians, both in terms of leadership as well as sheer political skill, has declined. This is the argument that is made in a soon-to-be-published essay on the Hawaii Independent for which this illustration was created to accompany. Once the article comes out, the link will be posted. Where is our modern day Wilcox? Where is our Mink? I hope to see them enter the political arena soon.

Ain't No Mountain High Enough

Yes, that is the Dome of the Rock in the last panel, converted into the Thirty-Meter Telescope. If this incredibly sacred mosque in old Jerusalem, built in 691 AD on the Temple Mount site where the second Temple of Jerusalem once stood, were to be converted into the TMT, a lot of people would lose their shit. The name is derived from the site's significance to the Muslim, Jewish and Christian faiths: the rock it is built upon, known as the Foundation Stone, is sacred to all three religions. We hope that by drawing a giant telescope coming out of such a holy place, we remind people that Mauna Kea is just as sacred to Hawaiians. #MaunaKea #WeAreMaunaKea #TMTshutdown #TMT #aoleTMT #BulldozeYourOwnTemple

For there are indeed valleys low enough.

Ozymandumbass

All that you need to know about this comic is wonderfully encapsulated in Sam Laird's article on Mashable. Of course, if that doesn't do it for you, there is, literally, a metric shit-ton of news on this, largely from Europe and the Middle East because, well, America doesn't generally give a shit about soccer. At least not during the NBA finals.

By the way, you might notice that this comic was created not entirely just by me, which is mostly why it's a lot better than the first three. No really, having someone you respect in your field (comics, in this case) vet your work first will make it much better. When that someone is your Freshman year roommate who kicks ass at being hilarious, and actually takes fairly large segments out of his day to work on the script with you, the comic is going to be cash. Or at least, collectible Magic the Gathering cards. Which could be sold for cash.

Thanks so much to Vince Fitzgerald for whipping this comic into shape and helping me with several more in the works. For you, the reader, I hope this means more laughs and more insight into this crazy world of ours.

Reporting in Honolulu, but not necessarily paying all my attention to it, I'm Will Caron. Thanks for reading.

Watch less T.V.

Burnin' Down the House

Hopefully a fairly self-explanatory comic. We now have four heavy-weight political contenders for the office of Governor: incumbent Neil Abercrombie (D), James "Duke" Aiona (R), David Ige (D) and Mufi Hannemann, who just declared his official entry last week as the newly formed Hawaii Independent Party candidate.

But honestly, the capitol building could literally be burning down and these guys still wouldn't stop being politicians. I really don't know who the best choice would be among them. Abercrombie has proven that he doesn't keep his promises (a new day in Hawaii my ass); Aiona is supposedly a stand-up guy, but he's probably still too close to the Hawaii Republican Assembly view point when it comes to equality and helping the working class (which is to say he won't); Ige is fairly unknown, other than the fact that he's managed the state budget for awhile as head of the Senate Ways and Means committee; and Mufi (former Honolulu mayor) is, by many accounts, a vindictive bully, albeit an efficient one.

All I know is, none of these talking heads are really who I'd want to see as Governor, but at least the choices are better than they are in Idaho.

Not a poke in the eye with a sharp stick, but not far from it.

Why couldn't they have taken Rush Limbaugh instead?

You might have seen the dozens of celebrities, including Michelle Obama, that have tweeted pictures of themselves holding up a #BringBackOurGirls sign, in support of the 300 or so Nigerian school girls that were kidnapped by radical Islamist and terrorist group Boko Haram.

Of course, holding signs isn't going to bring a happy ending about on its own, but it helps raise awareness and might help build a critical mass of people who actually give a shit. Once this critical mass of shit-givers is achieved, maybe the Nigerian government (which has been doing a horrible job of handling the situation) will actually get its ass in gear and go after the dirt bags.

Speaking of dirt bags, Rush Limbaugh (naturally) felt it was more important to find something to criticize Michelle Obama over than to be an actual human being, and made fun of the First lady's hashtag picture saying, "look how sad and pathetic she looks." Well, Rush, I think you'd look pretty sad and pathetic if it had been you that had been kidnapped. Unfortunately we weren't that lucky.

If you're like me, you watch The Daily Show as often as possible and, if so, you probably saw the episode where John Stewart goes after Rush for being such a dick. He came up with the hashtag #FuckYouRush, and I intend to help get as many people using that tag as possible... by making a comic about it.

Even though we still have to put up with you, Rush, while innocent school girls are being held captive, at least I can make myself feel a little better about it by imagining what that stupid, pathetic face of yours would look like if you had been kidnapped, and then drawing it.

#FuckYouRush