a geography lesson for mrs. roberts

(Joshua Masayoshi Huff)

Bsto brought to my attention Cokie Roberts saying that Barack Obama should not be in Hawaii "on vacation" because it sounds like a "foreign, exotic place"...and she's not backing off her stance at all. Then, she added that he should be in Myrtle Beach. Uh, would you rather be in Myrtle Beach or Hawaii? Yeah, I thought so...especially when you were born, raised and grew up in Hawaii.



Wow. This woman is not only a bestselling author and Emmy award winner, but she was also a professor at the George Washington University.

How? I mean, our "best and brightest" calling Hawaii foreign? The last time I checked, foreign meant a different nation. Is Hawaii different from "the United States"? No. It's not any different as California is from Alabama.

Perhaps, by foreign, she meant that Hawaii wasn't part of the continent. It isn't. It isn't contiguious, but neither is Alaska. Is Alaska also foreign?

Barack's "vacation" here is as much of a campaign stop as it is a rest period. As soon as he touched down at Honolulu International Airport, he drove half a mile and gave a speech.

Yes, the speech was short, but at least he came.

My brother was even on the same golf course at the same time that Barack golfed. Would he ever be in the same neighborhood as McCain? In the same time zone? He went home after seeing Barack and read up on him and urged me to do the same.

Because I can vote. Because Hawaii is a state. That votes. And Obama has not forgotten that. Neither has my brother, though it seems like Cokie Roberts has.

Because, you know, we vote here. We have Congressional representation. And, uh, we have votes in the upcoming presidential election.

We all know that talking heads aren't the end-all, be-all for political discourse, but can we please have more informed people on television? I mean, many Americans decide who they're going to vote for based on the CliffsNotes version of campaign platforms that the television news outlets provide them.

Unfortunately, they're getting their political information on America from people who don't quite understand all off the states that comprise said country.