With the end of the year now upon us, Politics Hawaii with Stan Fichtman issues this last article in 2025 with thanks to all of the readers, supporters of the blog, as well as all who have commented on the articles posted this year.
With the way Hawaiʻi, the United States, and world politics evolved in 2025, the blog continued to write on the “World through a Hawaii perspective – the political, social, business zeitgeist – analyzed.”
With the change of administration in Washington DC, the way that administration has rolled out radical changes that affect every state and just about every country in the world, and how that has made analyzing politics even more challenging, this blog continued to just look at the situations, find the story within the story, and tell that story for a deeper, more helpful perspective that was beyond the headlines.
Among other topics, this blog in 2025 wrote about the plan to address homelessness in Honolulu, the reasons why the Trump Administration is now on a colonization drive, the history behind the “airport spur” for the Honolulu rail system that opened up this year, reflections on political icons like Gene Ward, and a new perspective on the assassination of Charlie Kirk.
In all, this blog has written 29 articles this year, about 2 and a half articles a month (between 2 and 3, according to the breakdown). Of course, Hawaiʻi politics (14 articles written) and Hawaiʻi culture (12 written) took up a good chunk of the writing this year.
Other subjects, some new, also came to be part of the blog. We wrote three times about the “Department for Government Efficiency” (DOGE). The president was tagged in 8 posts, and this blog even had 5 opinion pieces, including responding to other bloggers’ posts about subjects like Hawaiian Airlines and about how the state never pays on time.
And throughout the year, up until November, the co-creators of this blog – myself, Stan Fichtman, as the prime writer, and Brandon Dela Cruz, who played a critical role in shaping the product and coming up with ideas to expand the brand – worked hand in hand. Yes, there were times that even co-creators could disagree on the subject of politics – Brandon was a supporter of President Trump and a Republican; I am an independent who never voted for Trump and am a centrist.
But in the end, healthy debate, even if we left subjects as “we agree to disagree,” did help in understanding both sides of an issue, including why people voted for Trump and, in some cases, why they stuck by him when others said he was wrong.
The sharing of ideas on how to expand the blog and the debates about politics and Hawaiʻi society from different standpoints ended on November 10, 2025, with Brandon’s sudden death at the age of 47. There is not a day that goes by that I am not reminded of what he contributed, and how his imprint on so many at his funeral was indelible.
I shall miss my friend and co-creator of this blog dearly.
With the new year upon us, the direction of this blog will remain unchanged. Along with publishing articles that aim to provide a deeper understanding of the political, social, and business stories that affect many, this blog will also continue to apply for the Society of Professional Journalists – Hawaiʻi Chapter awards for 2025. This last year, the blog received a number of awards for its coverage of various subjects.
The longer-term future of this blog will, eventually, need to be addressed. But as Qui-Gon Jinn said to Obi-Wan Kenobi in Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace, “All right, I’m sure another solution will present itself.”
Until then, may your New Year’s celebrations be bright, and may the return to work after the holidays be less stressful. See you on the other side.
Stan Fichtman – Co-Creator, Publisher and Owner, Politics Hawaii with Stan Fichtman
Co-created with Brandon Dela Cruz (1979–2025), in memoriam