Two terms to remember.
Railroaded: “If you railroad someone into doing something, you make them do it although they do not really want to, by hurrying them and putting pressure on them.”
ad hominem (from Merriam-Webster’s Online Dictionary):
Main Entry: 1ad ho·mi·nem
Pronunciation: \(?)ad-?hä-m?-?nem, -n?m\
Function: adjective
Etymology: New Latin, literally, to the person
Date: 1598
1 : appealing to feelings or prejudices rather than intellect
2 : marked by or being an attack on an opponent’s character rather than by an answer to the contentions made
To this I would add: A political style honed and perfected by Honolulu Mayor Mufi Hannemann’s administration.
What’s important to note is that ad hominem attacks, like those launched so frequently by Hannemann’s crew during the rail debate, are based on a logical fallacy.
Here’s a plain-language explanation:
An Ad Hominem is a general category of fallacies in which a claim or argument is rejected on the basis of some irrelevant fact about the author of or the person presenting the claim or argument. Typically, this fallacy involves two steps. First, an attack against the character of person making the claim, her circumstances, or her actions is made (or the character, circumstances, or actions of the person reporting the claim). Second, this attack is taken to be evidence against the claim or argument the person in question is making (or presenting). This type of “argument” has the following form:Person A makes claim X.
Person B makes an attack on person A.
Therefore A’s claim is false.
The reason why an Ad Hominem (of any kind) is a fallacy is that the character, circumstances, or actions of a person do not (in most cases) have a bearing on the truth or falsity of the claim being made (or the quality of the argument being made).
Sound familiar? We’ve heard this a lot. Kamehameha’s rail consultant can’t know much because, we’ve been reminded, he’s from New Jersey. The AIA concerns about rail? They’re just architects, what do they know?
The governor raises cost and environmental concerns. Hannemann responds:
“I believe she’s anti-rail and meaning anti-rail meaning she’s anti jobs, I’m sorry I call like it is because the evidence is compelling.”
Honolulu Weekly runs a story critical of the city’s blanket rejection of flexible light rail. Honolulu Managing Director Kirk Caldwell responds:
Curt Sanburn doesn’t live in Honolulu or the State of Hawaii. He did not cast a vote in the 2008 election, when the people of Honolulu voted 53 percent to 47 percent (the same margin by which President Obama won election, by the way) in favor of the rail project. Instead, from afar, Sanburn continued to display his anti-Mayor Hannemann bias by dwelling on the opinions of the minority in opposition.
There are lots of other examples, but the approach is clear. Find a label that will undercut the person on the other side and wield that as a weapon, claiming that it discredits what they have actually said.
I’ve said before that I’m not a fan of Governor Lingle’s. I didn’t vote for her. I’ve dissected her stands on issues at several points in the past. But I thought her comeback to Hannemann yesterday, as reported by KHON’s Ron Mizutani, was sharp and to the point. Looking around early this morning, I was surprised that it got so little news coverage.
“I think Mufi Hannemann has had a pattern throughout his time in public life and that is when people don’t agree with him he starts to attack them in a personal way, he tries to bully them into seeing it his way.
She continued:
“Rather than attacking those who don’t agree with him, I think he needs to be much more open minded, much more transparent, and instead of looking at an artificial deadline date that coincides with his political career, we need to get it right, right for the people of Hawaii, not right for Mufi Hannemann,” added Lingle.
Well said.
But it’s a problem that the issue has now been thoroughly politicized. Hannemann has made clear that he’s going to try to ride the rail issue into the Governor’s office, telling corporations and unions that the stimulus funds will flow only if he’s there to usher it all along at the state level. Could it end up that Hannemann’s city administration will end up passing its potentially flawed environmental review up to a new Hannemann state administration for review?
Checks and balances? Or checkmate?
If the rail EIS is so flawed, why have federal transportation people allowed it to proceed? Lingle said at the architects forum that she was told by the FTA that they are satisfied with the alternatives study.
The city completed the EIS for the elevated rail system in the 1990s. It was even signed by Waihee. Why wouldn’t the city know how to do an EIS now? In contrast, Lingle’s record with EIS is a joke — look at the Superferry, where she ignored the law.
If Lingle isn’t anti-rail, why was she virtually silent for 3 years before erupting in the past month with all these questions of the rail the EIS? This is coming from a Governor who said she signed the Stop Rail Now petition because she wanted the public to have a say on this issue. Now she’s in effect saying the vote for rail doesn’t matter.
What other solutions does Lingle have that will create a significant number of jobs in 2010 and make a long-term dent in the maddening traffic congestion on the west side? Building more highways will cost far more than $5B and consume an obscene amount of land. Elevated toll roads are a sham, so don’t bring that up.
What is a ‘sham’ is the idea that the choo choo will do ANYTHING to help traffic.
2+2=4 every time!
My favorite Ilind post yet.
There should be a word for this fallacy also: “create a significant number of jobs “. Let’s overbuild Kaka’ako also cuz it will create a significant number of jobs. Why destroy the island of Oahu simply to create jobs for mainlanders?! And THAT is what and who they ship in here to TAKE these same jobs everyone wants to create.
Very well said rlb….indeed. Perhaps we will allow the continued development of another 10,000 homes or so on the Leeward side with no plan for an infrastructure that comes even remotely close to keep up….sigh…
What is an absolute shame that NOBODY can grasp in Hawaii is that for two decades we can’t seem to make ANY decision and move on…Voting on it doesn’t seem to matter. i.e; civil unions and now rail…argue, argue, argue, point counter point, point counter point…..doesn’t anyone see all the madness in this???? We are falling behind….way behind and it’s more than just rail.
I am not sure what you are getting at, but I agree 100% that with this sort of nonsense the entire country is falling behind – does some one know how much money and time is wasted in this beaurocratic nonsense! No wonder countries such as China have overtaken the entire world in such a short time span. Examples such as these just go to show that sometimes “too much” democracy can certainly stifle progress!
Well of course the jobs will go to “mainlanders” if you want to see the rail project finished within a few years of the target date. Have you ever noticed just how long it takes in Hawaii to finish what seem to be a fairly simple road project? The ongoing School Street H1 ramp project comes to mind. Been nearly a year and it’s still not done. How did H3 get built? Oh wait, it took nearly 40 years!
why don’t they have street level rail, like say… straight down the middle of the freeways now? take up the divider. One way morn, one way eves.
Contrast Mufi Hannemann’s temperament with Barack Obama’s to see the extraordinary difference this can make in local styles of argumentation. As for street-level trams, Melbourne, Australia (population 4 million) has a highly successful system which is visually unobtrusive and highly efficient.
For another example of ad hominem attacks see:
http://ilind.net/2007/11/17/saturdaymore-on-akaku-and-its-critics-and-more-morning-dogs/
You reported allegations. You reported insinuations. You never reported when the case was dismissed. You never apologized to those of whom you made insinuations based on incorrect conjecture. You never apologized to the children whose successes in technology and media you dismissed summarily.
You never reported the DCCA records. You never followed up. You still haven’t followed the trail of public access television fees being stolen for political campaigns by various Democrats.
Ian you are way better than that.
Thats not ad hominem. Thats the record.
I challenge you to follow this story up.
So, will you be taking political advertising from Mufi Hanneman?
JUST KIDDING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The rhetoric between our public officials is a distraction (to me) and I see an underlying public misconception about what an EIS is supposed to do, which is disclose all the impacts (not mitigate them to zero).
Rail has benefits and costs as does maintaining status quo or building more roadways.
There are sensible discussions about land use, rail (and the current squabble between those for and against it) on Howard’s blog.
http://blogs.hawaiinewsnow.com/howard/2009/10/11/land-use-planning-guessing-at-the-future-and-rail/
http://blogs.hawaiinewsnow.com/howard/2010/01/28/the-politicization-of-honolulu-rail/
There are no plans to extend rail to where I live and work, yet I am in favor of rail as the only thing that appears to offer some hope of a viable solution to many (not all) of our island’s traffic woes.
Ian, thanks for providing your thoughts (and a space for the discussion).
Good post, Ian. I also appreciate rlb_hawaii’r response. Point, counter-point. That’s the way it should be.
On the Akaku story, I’m glad the complainant provided the link to your earlier story. Your account of Dowling’s attempts to dominate Akaku struck me as pretty well-sourced.
The complainant’s rather careless charges about stolen funds, in contrast, strikes me as an unfounded rumor, unless or until, he/she provides some evidence to back it up.
Readers of these allegations might think Democrats on Maui oppose Dowling’s development projects. Unfortunately, that is not true. A lot of them are in his pocket and also unsympathetic to Akaku.
If Ian’s critic were more interested in presenting a coherent case, instead of throwing mud, we might have learned something from his comment. Instead, we are just encouraged to go back to Ian’s 2007 entry and learn, once again, what an undemocratic enemy of free speech Dowling is.
Keep up the good work, Ian!
Sometimes this state make a diehard Democrat want to become a Republican.
I disagree with most of Lingle’s stances, but I’m even more afraid of a Gov. Mufi. On a local level, it is pretty clear that a lot of city projects are designed as kickbacks to campaign contributors. Ugh.
You aren’t a diehard Democrat if you ever want ANYTHING to do with being a Republican. The two parties are incompatible at the core. Think about your real values if you ever consider this.
ian, i believe that “ad hominem” literally refers to males as “hominem” is the accusative singular of the noun “homo” or man. in lingle’s case should this not then be “ad feminam”, where “femina” is woman?
you might have the nail on the head here Mr. Lind
I can handle having a governor that is far too conservative for my views
I can handle having a governor that is far too liberal for my views
I could not stand a governor that will attack me and others for just having differing views
…A bully as governor is not what Hawaii needs.
What Dowling did in relation to Akaku is true, simple as that. As charming and influential as he could be, (I think) he is a snake. Community access television funds are very much in jeopardy, just watch our legislature this year, the wolves are at the door. And they are mostly Democrats. Republicans haven’t a clue.
[comment slightly edited]
Haole Boy I hear ya. You make a good point. However, we will now consider all angles.
“They”… are using this “it WILL create jobs to develop this next necessary monstrosity” illicitly. Deceptively. The implication is it helps the local family. Of course, it does not. Tooooo many of these jobs I have seen and heard go to haoles they ship in here for the beginning, middle and end. Take a look at most any construction project. Imported workers.
Further:
Doesn’t taking four times as long for construction and repair mean job security?
Yes.
k den.
Are actual workers to blame FOR this long drawn out schedule to complete something?
A’ole! I don’t T’INK so.
They follow orders. Timelines, according to equipment, schedules, etc. handed to them by their supervisors and the lead dudes on these projects. And by, well, politicians… Contractors… Suppliers.. whoever else has their hand in the honeypot.
Maybe that is one thing we all say;
“ah ain’t no bee t’ing braddah” about living here in Hawai’i. One of the many things that make us different than the mainland. One o da things we take our time about doing. So what. No like? Hele on. Go back mainland. I really don’t see any need to rush to emulate the ConUS on all aspects of modern living. In other words: Ainokea. Keep da jobs local. No matter what.
People can complain all they want to.
The Supreme Court of Hawaii ruled that PEG Access Organizations are private corporations afforded no special status than any other private corporation. As such, PEG Access Organizations are under no obligation to reveal their books or how they spend PEG Access Fees.
Akaku Executives have gone on record stating that procurement is the correct proper and legal check and balance with regard to how Akaku Executives spend PEG Access Fees. According to the Hawaii Supreme Court, or the Law, they are correct.
Whether or not any laws were broken by Akaku Executives using PEG Access Fees to lobby the Hawaii State Legislature for exemption for procurement really is moot. The Hawaii State Procurement Office is completely within its legal right to exempt PEG Access Organizations from Procurement, as it has historically, and continues to bi-annually, to date.
Even if the allegations that Akaku Executives spend more money on air travel and hotels on the mainland than they do on services on the islands of Lanai and Molokai, it is completely in their legal rights to do so. In fact, with regard to decisions involving the expenditures of PEG Access Fees the CEO and Chairman of the Board of Akaku, in this case, are the only two people that do have a legal right to do so.