Why Josh Green for governor is a terrible idea

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-opinion-

After 4 years as Hawaii's part-time Lt. Governor, Josh Green has sent a clear message to the people of Hawaii; if he were honest, his message might read something like this:

"In all fairness and honesty, I do not really have much respect for the office of Lt. Governor. The stint in the Lt. Governor's office was a side hustle for me and together with my established business it's been a very lucrative four years. By manipulating my way into the Lt. Governor's office, I'd set myself up for a two-income opportunity AND a two-pension opportunity while cleverly positioning myself for a run at the Governor's job, which would open up still more economic opportunities for myself. I don't mean to insult anyone but the people of Hawaii seem gullible and poorly informed about their voting choices; I'm confident that they will almost certainly elect me governor."

Green has, time and again publicly demonstrated his disrespect for the office of Lt. Governor and the people of Hawaii by treating his responsibilities as Lt. Governor as a kind of part-time side hustle to his primary business.  His self-appointed role as "consultant" during the pandemic (Green is not an infectious disease expert) seemed nothing more than a photo op/sound bite opportunity to fast track his aspiration to be governor of the State.

While the polls indicated that nearly 78% of the people of Hawaii were fed up with tourists overrunning their home, Green publicly called for MORE tourism

At the exact same time ― almost to the hour ― when polls indicated that nearly 78% of the people of Hawaii were fed up with tourists overrunning their home, Green was publicly (through his mouthpiece, the Star-Advertiser) calling for MORE tourism as his one and ONLY solution to Hawaii's economic challenges. "Thinking out of the box" is not one of Green's strong points, as his platform, even today, is nothing more than a sorry rehash of previously broken political promises by other politicians.  Take for example, the ages old "eliminating Hawaii's shameful excise tax on food and medicine."  Despite prior campaign promises by others to remove this tax, the latter still exists, we suspect in order to resurrect and repurpose it for reuse during any given election year ― similar to the homelessness crisis or affordable housing.

Green has made it clear that he's here to pick the low hanging fruit all too abundant and available to Hawaii's compromised politicians ― low-hanging fruit that has been made available by the people of Hawaii themselves because of a history of poorly informed voting decisions.

Green suddenly surfaced during the pandemic; a marvelous opportunity to high profile himself right before an election

During the Pandemic, Green almost never got it right likely because he didn't have time to do the research that would have contradicted nearly everything he spewed in lock step with colleague, and struggling DOH head, Libby Char.

A quick fact check of Green's pandemic data quickly sets off alarm bells, stuff like natural immunity doesn't exist (Really? The FDA, CDC, WHO and even Pfizer itself in its most recent data release, would beg to differ). But, let's be honest, Green, in no way an infectious disease expert, used the pandemic emergency as nothing more than an opportunity to high-profile himself and position for the governor's race ― a remarkably shallow use of his privilege during an infectious disease emergency.

The Green/Char pandemic consultancy, poorly researched, ended up bleeding into Hawaii's politics resulting in a lot of unnecessary suffering among Hawaii's residents. Any truly caring physician would have done his/her homework.  Green was too busy running his business and his Lt. Governor side hustle to be bothered with updating his understanding of the data. We in Hawaii are forever changed as a result, and not in a good way. This should have been a bright-red warning flare for Hawaii residents.

An attentive Lt. Governor, Josh Green, would have flagged Sen. Sharon Moriwaki's toxic and illegal SB795 (2021) when it came across his desk ― twice

Had Green been an attentive Lt. Governor, he would have caught Sen. Sharon Moriwaki's toxic and illegal SB795 (2021) and flagged it to the governor (bills under consideration come across the Lt. Governor's desk two separate times before passage or veto). This bill  was not only illegal, based on a fraudulent appraisal, it was unconstitutional (Article 3, Section 14).  Had Green been doing his job on behalf of the people of Hawaii, he would have flagged this bill, and the many others like it, and demanded changes to bring the bill into compliance with the law.  But he didn't. The supreme court had to educate Green and others in Hawaii's government about the illegal legislation that was passing through Green's office. The tragic end result of Moriwaki's SB795(2021) was the creation of still more homelessness.

Green was never working for you; he wasn't even in his office

Josh Green for governor will be yet another horrible fail for the people of Hawaii. Ironically, Green has already told us that . . . and we'll ignore it.

Time's almost up for Hawaii.  It's time to BREAK THE CYCLE of incompetent, corrupt leadership here by saying NO to the career politicians who have been bleeding our community to death, destroying our keiki's future here, and dragging us further into the realm of tropical dystopia.