Think Before You Write

[Peter Kay]

I’m glad to see that lots of folks are sharing their ideas. If I had a choice between having a lot of discussion that I didn’t particularly agree with vs. having very little discussion that I completely agree with, I’d take the former.

When I read some of the comments that some people leave, I wonder if their authors carefully considered their position before they wrote it. Some of the "proposals" are incredibly controversial and wouldn't have a snowballs chance on Kilauea to even be considered. I think that perhaps when people put out statements like these they may be thinking this is an Empire and they are the Emperor. The reality is that this is a Democracy. This means that you need to gain popular support for your issues amongst the voters.

Think about that before you put out your statement. Think like a ConCon delegate running for office and putting forth your ideas. Think about how many people would support your idea, and then most importantly, think about how many people will be against your idea. If you’re coming up with an idea that only a small group will support, but many more will vehemently oppose, all you’ve done is stirred up a hornet’s nest and you risk losing support for even the more popular positions you might put forth.

I think controversial proposals that will minimally impact Hawaii have the potential to overwhelm the ConCon. Let’s not let that happen. Let’s identify a few key areas nearly that everyone agrees need constitutional fixing instead of getting distracted with inflammatory issues.

[Peter Kay]

Rick,

Clearly, I've not successfully communicated the concept here. This is a "free country" discussion area and so long as we're on the general subject of ConCon anyone's topic is fair game. Look in the forum area and there's stuff all over the place.

My singular and consistent point is that you need to Think Before You Write. If all you want to do is get a bunch of stuff off your chest and come out with whatever you feel like saying, then be my guest.

But if you want to actually solve a problem, you can only do it with the support of others. You need political support in the truest sense.

I believe that right now, our finest example of collaborative problem solving is demonstrated in the discussion about the BOE and statewide responsibility.

Your "solution" was predictable: "Get rid of unions!" but meanwhile, the rest of the folks collaborated and produced an extremely good dialog that demonstrates the very best of civic discussions.

So I'm not asking to stay away from specifics per se. But I am saying that we should address problems that everyone agrees are significant with approaches that many can support.

You want to sit there with your singular solution to everything, be my guest. But you won't get one step in the direction of where you want to actually go.

Finally, with respect to your “he’s hanging out with Ed Case” statement, it unfortunately speaks volumes of a short sighted view where everyone has secret agendas and alliances. Unfortunately, you failed to recognize that Sam Slom is also a member and was at the press conference. You also failed to recognize that HawaiiReporter.com is one of our media partners.

Do I have an agenda? Of course I do. But I’ve been completely public about it: I want to see the establishment of a viable e-democracy start in Hawaii and blossom to the rest of the nation.

And I know I’m not going to get there by hammering on unions.

[Rick M.]

OK, fine. Talk about pie in the sky and all your feel good stuff. My point is that without specifics, it is only talk and you are misleading people into thinking they can accomplish things which are inappropriate and impossible to do via a Constitutional Convention.

Sure we all want to "improve education" -- but how?

Get rid of government unions?
Decentralize - which could have already been accomplished if there was any will to do it on the part of the Administration. We can put it in the constitution - but will it be implemented?
Get rid of unfunded federal mandates? ConCon can't do that.
Get rid of violent students? Again ConCon can't do that.
Return to teaching basics? What would we change in the Constitution????

My point is that talking about all this feel good stuff has nothing to do with the ConCon. Unless people talk specifics, those who DO have specifics will get what they want done and you people who have no idea what you are talking about will be left going, "WHaaaaaa?" as the whole process is hijacked.

I can't understand why Peter Kay wants to keep the discussion away from specifics unless he already knows what he wants and is just using you guys as window dressing

Since he's hanging out with Ed Case, a Democrat, we can make some guesses as to his agenda.

[Crystal]

commenting and participation is also far more likely to occur if there is an environment of learning as well as sharing. There is a vast wealth of not only opinion here but information as well! I came with a desire to learn and I'd hate to see highly controversial topics taint this to the point I don't want to ask questions.

[Garland Davis]

I,m reluctant to comment so soon after joining, I am trying to work my way through what has been posted to date and I want to reread the current constitution.

Rick, you are doing exactly what Peter is trying to avoid this early in our discussion. Now is the time to plan and discuss the overall dimensions and purpose of the boat, not start rowing it before it is built.

[digitaleye]

Thanks for posting this site! It has already spawned a lot of other social networks here in Hawai'i since posted!

[digitaleye]

I noticed the code is in the main page, so
can't you just place the favicon in the root directory?

[Peter Kay]

nope. I don't have access to the source code of these pages. I can get it, but then it brings in a whole host of maintenance issues that I don't have the resources to deal with right now.

[digitaleye]

can't you just place a tag in the meta data of the main page?

[Peter Kay]

Not easily.

[digitaleye]

will Ning allow forfavicons?