Rolling out a plan and acknowledging where the issue is now is one thing; it will be the follow-up by Miyahira that will tell whether the new plan put forward is the solution we’ve all been waiting for.
As part of our in memoriam for PHwSF co-founder and co-creator Brandon Dela Cruz and in recognition of his role in the creation of this blog, we reissue his original piece here, faithfully reproduced.
So the shutdown did not end because a genuine compromise emerged, in the viewpoint of this blogger. It ended because the escalation curve broke open, and only one side was prepared to continue up it.
One is accused of drifting from the mission it was founded upon. The other is accused of holding to its mission so tightly that it may now violate the law. Different places, different histories — but both face the same question: how does an institution stay true to its purpose when the world keeps changing the rules around it?
The airport’s inclusion wasn’t destiny; it was a decision, argued and voted into being, but credit is due where it’s due: Charles Djou saw the value of that alignment long before the city did. When we ride past after October 16, 2025, it’s worth remembering that what feels inevitable today was once anything but.
Younger candidates are challenging Case with a much more nuanced — and far less taboo — appeal to generational change. What Case once invoked against Akaka, and paid dearly for, is now tolerated, even expected, by an electorate seemingly more comfortable weighing leadership through the lenses of age, urgency, and readiness.
Charlie Kirk’s passing now poses the same challenge for TPUSA: can an organization built on his energy adapt to new leadership, or will it remain frozen as a reflection of its founder?
Turning Hawaiian’s story into a morality play might make for easy headlines, but it does little justice to the reality. The airline wasn’t blindsided by its own arrogance — it was sideswiped by Covid, by Hawaii’s own prolonged shutdowns, by Japan’s deep and ongoing economic struggles. To say it “failed” because it didn’t copy Alaska is to confuse hindsight with analysis.
Big problems don’t lend themselves to quick-to-decide solutions. Mayor Blangiardi is only the latest leader in this state who has discovered the rock wall of opposition in Hawaiʻi, on any issue of controversy, is both well-built and able to withstand withering attack, both through policy and rhetoric.
With that, how did Politics Hawaii do in the awards? First, a setup – Politics Hawaii went in for six awards this year, including the coveted A-Mark Prize for Investigative Reporting (for the SMS shutdown saga). That was one of two awards this year that came with monetary prizes, a fact that the emcees noted in their presentation.