Your Views for March 5

‘Monsantoman’ Tsuji

Shame on state Rep. Clift Tsuji, chairman of the House Agricultural Committee.

For the second year in a row, he killed a bill (HB 2564) that would have created buffer zones around schools to protect against pesticide drift.

What kind of a person won’t protect kids from pesticide poisoning?

As a former banker and “biotech legislator of the year,” he appears more concerned about chemical company profits than protecting the common good, including children’s health and safety.

Tsuji brings shame on the entire Hilo district he claims to represent. Come on, Hilo — stand up for the kids. Send Tsuji packing. Let him go back to work for the bank instead of being a tax-paid mascot for Monsanto and other special corporate interests.

According to the state Campaign Spending Commission for the current election period, 2014-16, Monsanto was Clifton Tsuji’s largest campaign donor by twice the amount of his second-place donor, and not one donation came from the Hilo district he supposedly represents, as far as I could see on the list of donors.

Most came from Bishop Street and Manoa Valley in Honolulu. How come?

Jim Albertini

Kurtistown

Cult of The Donald

I’ve been very baffled by the (Donald) Trump phenomenon during this presidential campaign. Despite all his stinging insults and incendiary statements, and despite his professed admiration of a quote by fascist dictator Benito Mussolini, Trump still remains immensely popular.

Lately, I encountered two statements he made that explain everything. In a campaign speech, he bragged, “I could stand in the middle of 5th Avenue and shoot somebody, and I won’t lose any voter.”

Then in his victory speech after the Nevada caucus, he declared, “I love the poorly educated.”

The personality cult of Donald Trump is so powerful that he can insult his own followers, and they will still blindly vote for him.

Ben K. Azman

Lahaina, Maui