i L i n d . n e t

Gov. Lingle was a master of understatement in handling questions about chief of staff Bob Awana’s involvement in a complicated mess involving allegations of blackmail and sexual solicitations, as well as a separate corruption probe.

Honolulu Advertiser: “Hawaii Gov. Lingle will speak with aide”
KITV: “Lingle Has No Comment On Awana”

The Advertiser, in its non-bylined story yesterday, quoted Lingle:

“Well, obviously I read the articles while I was gone,” Lingle said. “In one of those cases there’s an ongoing criminal proceeding, so I’m not going to comment on it at all.

“I just got back, this is my first day at work, and I’ll be talking with Bob further about it.”

I’ll be talking with Bob further? Does that suffice? Does that mean that she hasn’t really talked to him yet? That would require believing that she wasn’t in telephone contact with her office on a regular basis while traveling, something I don’t believe. Phone records might tell the story if anyone wants to dig deeper into the cover story.

And the issue for Lingle and Awana is not the criminal proceeding but the backstory behind that criminal proceeding. Is there a basis to the allegation that the case of international blackmail was triggered by Awana’s relations with a woman in the Philippines, and that this may have involved sexual activity while on official state travel? Those are among the allegations made by the defendant’s family and published elsewhere, and have so far been left relatively unchallenged by the Lingle administration.

KITV played the issue sllightly differently:

When asked if she still has confidence in Awana, the governor said she wasn’t ready to talk about it.

“I’ve just gotten back, this is my first day of work and I’ll be talking with Bob further about it,” said Lingle.

That talk should be sooner rather than later.

If you haven’t done it yet, set aside some time and start wading through the Washington Post’s series on VP Cheney, ” the most influential and powerful man ever to hold the office of vice president.”

The Star-Bulletin also blogs…Jason Genegabus broke the news of the closing of Magoo’s in Puck’s Alley on his blog yesterday afternoon. There’s a fuller account in today’s SB by Kristen Consillio.

I ran across this commencement address and, although I don’t like seeing “fifty years ago” referred to as the ancient past, I do agree with the view that we’re poorer as a community as our schools lose regular art, music, and similar cultural classes and programs.

I snapped this photo a couple of days ago when a friend was out visiting. It’s part of our mountain view, very different from the usual early morning beach/ocean photos that I more routinely share. So it’s presented just as a mid-week change of pace.