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Political eyebrows went up when Hawaii’s U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard arrived in New York on Monday to visit President-elect Donald Trump. But was anyone really surprised? Gabbard, a Democrat, has built a career on bucking her party’s orthodoxy; her criticism of President Barack Obama’s Mideast policies earned her high-profile appearances on CNN and Fox News. The president-elect invited her to Trump Tower, and they discussed Syria, terrorism and other issues, her office said.
Sounds reasonable: Bending the ear of the president-elect on foreign policy is an opportunity not to be missed. As for working for Trump, Gabbard said she was not seeking a job, nor was one offered — at least not yet.
Nothing gets finished except the studies
News that 11 possible sites have been ID’d for Oahu’s jail relocation brings up a nagging sense of of deja vu. Where have we heard this before: blue-ribbon studies spinning options for relocation, year after unsuccessful year, to deal with an urgent situation?
Oh right, it was the city’s attempt to replace the landfill at Waimanalo Gulch. A big, sloppy “oops” came in 2012, when a much-publicized ranking of top possible sites erroneously named Kailua (data error) instead of Kahuku. The Waimanalo landfill remains where it’s been since 1989.
In that ill-fated landfill study, 11 possible sites were ID’d — the same number as for the jail’s relocation. Funny coincidence. Let’s hope that the consulting-industrial-complex isn’t the only thing moving.
