The Sunshine Blog: No Faux-King Way
Short takes, outtakes, our takes and other stuff you should know about public information, government accountability and ethical leadership in Hawai‘i.
June 15, 2025 · 11 min read
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So much wrong, so little cardboard: On the same day that many in Hawaiʻi celebrated the birth of a great Hawaiian king, many others throughout the state rallied to demonstrate that America should never, ever have a monarch of its own.
Thousands of protesters turned out at the Hawaiʻi State Capitol for the “No Kings” event, billed as a nationwide “day of defiance” and occurring at the same time President Donald Trump presided over a military rally in Washington, D.C., that marked the 250th birthday of the U.S. Army and the 79th birthday of POTUS himself. (In recognition of King Kamehameha celebrations, organizers called the protest “No Dictator Day” in the islands.)
Millions of people joined similar protests in hundreds of cities throughout the country. Other “No Kings” rallies were held in Wailuku, Hilo, Kona, Nāʻālehu and Waimea.
“Everybody is just mad as hornets at what’s happening in Washington,” Jay Henderson, a lead organizer for Indivisible Hawaiʻi, told The Sunshine Blog. “We want to get out here and express our opinions about how to stop this and get our country back and save democracy.”
The Honolulu rally was punctuated by the clanging of cowbells, the pounding of drums, the blowing of soap bubbles and the booming of songs from Springsteen (“Born in the U.S.A.”), the Beatles (“Come Together”) and Guns N’ Roses (“Welcome to the Jungle”). Saturday was also Flag Day, and there was plenty of red, white and blue all around, some of it displayed upside down.
The hearty protest stretched along both sides of Beretania Street, from just before Punchbowl Street to just past Alakea Street. Participants ranged in age from toddlers in baby carriages to 91-year-old Cynthia Thielen, a former GOP state representative and current state ethics commissioner, cane in hand to keep her steady in the crowd.
Law enforcement personnel were there, too, but they discretely blended in and did not dampen the enthusiasm. Indeed, they seemed outnumbered by pet dogs.
Ikaika Hussey, a Democratic state representative from nearby Kalihi, was there to express solidarity with the community.
“The president has decided that the people of the United States are the enemy of the United States,” he told The Blog. “By positioning the U.S. military against his own citizenry, that is a gross violation of the Constitution, of the basic principles of democracy.”
The participants weren’t just there to decry Trump. Some were celebrating gay pride month and to show support for immigrants, for Palestine and for Native Hawaiians. “All power to the people, no human is illegal!” one group chanted in unison.
“Nice to see that a lot of signs have recognized that Hawaiʻi had a long history of a democratic monarchy,” said Jonathan Scheuer, an environmental consultant.
In fact, the 108th King Kamehameha Celebration Floral Parade started at nearby ʻIolani Palace just hours before the midday “No Kings” gathering.
And then there all the handmade signs: “Aloha Always, No Autocrats,” “WTF America, This Is Not OK,” “No Dicktators,” “Woke,” “Hate Won’t Make Us Great,” “No Faux-King Way,” “We Shall Overcomb” and — The Blog’s favorite — “So Much Wrong, So Little Cardboard.”
“Our vision for the country is no tyrants, not tyranny, not dictatorship — it’s democracy,” said Sergio Alcubilla, director of community engagement for ACLU Hawaiʻi. “It’s having everyday people here making their voices heard. Our freedoms are precious, and we’ve got to protect it.”
Mad man: And speaking of protests, there’s plenty to go around these days. And in case you missed it, here’s one worth watching.
A seething U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz took to the Senate floor on Thursday to decry the rough treatment of his California colleague, Sen. Alex Padilla, who was, as most Blog followers know by now, unceremoniously pushed out of a media briefing in Los Angeles by security for Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.
Padilla said he was trying to ask a question about why the feds had co-opted the California National Guard to crack down on people protesting immigration raids.
“This is the stuff of dictatorships,” an increasingly agitated Schatz said at least three times.
“One of the officers who throws (Padilla) to the ground, as he’s clearly complying, cuffs him face-down on the carpet and they say, ‘There’s no recording in here.’
“It’s a damn press conference!” Schatz shouted. “It’s for recording!”
Then he brought it down a notch, although The Blog would say he was still not exuding aloha.
“I remain hopeful that (Majority) Leader (John) Thune and other Republicans can walk us back from the brink, but I am not so sure anymore as Trump’s Department of Homeland Security raises the stakes and continues with a series of provocations to justify increasingly authoritarian actions.”
And the wrap up: “I have never, ever, other than January 6th, been so outraged at the conduct of an administration.”
Schatz, who’s trying to elevate his role within the Senate Democratic leadership ranks, is definitely attracting national attention.
Andrew Desiderio, a writer for the widely read Punchbowl News political news site, was one who was struck by Schatz’s performance.
“One senator whose speech stood out to me was Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), who flashed anger in ways I hadn’t seen from him before,” he writes in Saturday’s newsletter.
No means yes, sorta: Rep. Ed Case is also not happy, but his angst is with a proposed annual defense funding measure that he says does not support Ukraine and lacks a “coordinated strategy” for the Indo-Pacific region, a priority of the Hawaiʻi congressman. He voted against the proposal in a meeting of the House Appropriations Committee and of its Subcommittee on Defense on Thursday — even though he said the bill funds “key Hawai‘i and Pacific initiatives.”
They include:
- $30 million to continue efforts to replace O‘ahu’s “outdated air surveillance radar, which is needed to defend Hawai‘i from missile attacks”;
- $186 million for the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, “which maintains critical scientific laboratories” at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam; and
- $177 million for the Sea-Based X-Band Radar, “which will help defend Hawai‘i from ballistic missile threats.”
The Blog has always been fascinated that someone in Congress can vote against something that the someone is largely in favor of.
But in another vote last week, Case was one of only 11 Democrats who supported a House bill that nullifies sanctuary city status for the District of Columbia. “Specifically, it vacates any D.C. laws and memoranda that prohibit cooperation with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detainers,” The Hill reported Thursday.
In an email to Civil Beat, Case defended the vote (he’s been doing a lot of that lately).
“First, I fully agree that some of the actions taken by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement under this administration are deeply concerning. Where they are exceeding their authority, they should be held fully accountable in the courts and otherwise,” he wrote.
“However, I cannot agree that state and local governments should deliberately pass state and local laws or direct practices that require them to be willfully uncooperative with federal agencies charged with enforcing existing federal laws. This includes immigration, where the Supreme Court has consistently upheld the federal government’s exclusive jurisdiction over both law and enforcement.”
Hawaiʻi’s other U.S. representative, Jill Tokuda, voted against the bill. Of course she did.
House cleaning: With Rep. Chris Todd abruptly replacing Rep. Kyle Yamashita as chair of the House Finance Committee last month, that means new committee assignments were inevitable.
Last week Rep. Kirstin Kahaloa was named to take Todd’s former leadership position as House majority caucus leader. And Rep. Cory Chun takes over for Kahaloa as chair of the House Agriculture and Food Systems Committee.
But Yamashita currently has no position on any committee except Finance.
Meanwhile, the new Republican representative, Joe Gedeon, who took Gene Ward’s spot, is a member of three committees including Finance. Read the full list here.
We get requests: One of The Blog’s pet peeves is the Legislature’s practice of introducing bills without saying who is behind them. Technically, bills can only be introduced by legislators, and the Senate president and House speaker usually introduce the bulk of legislation being sought by the governor and other official agencies. But lawmakers can and do drop bills “by request” of lobbyists and special interests without disclosing the requester.
In January, the House updated its rules and now posts a list on its website of non-package bills introduced “by request.”
But so much for transparency. Of the 23 bills on the list, 13 are simply labeled “constituent requests” and two more are Senate companion bills. Sheesh.
Still, there are a few clues as to who is behind what on the list. More research is required, however.
For instance, Rep. Terez Amato lists a couple of House bills and a couple of names. One name is that of former Rep. John Mizuno, the governor’s former point man on homelessness who is behind House Bill 1466.
The bill, which never got a hearing, called for setting up a “social gaming facility” in a special district designated for tourism. Money from fees to access the facility could have been used for things like community-based programs “focusing on solutions to housing challenges.” The bill argued that poker, cribbage, rummy, bridge and other card games do not constitute gambling “since individual skill is the predominant factor to winning.”
Here’s another one that illustrates why it’s important to know where ideas are coming from: Rep. Nicole Lowen introduced House Bill 1403, which would have required the state to explore geothermal resources on Hawaiʻi island, where Lowen is from. (It went nowhere.) It was introduced on behalf of longtime lobbyist Ann Chung for Waika Consulting, a geothermal company.
House Bill 208, introduced by Rep. Adrian Tam, for the Honolulu bar Scarlett Honolulu, would have, among other things, put the brakes on when liquor inspectors make unannounced visits. Scarlett Honolulu owners have been embroiled in legal skirmishes with the Honolulu Liquor Commission over just that sort of thing.
And it’s easy enough to Google Darlyn Scovell, who requested a bill boosting liquor taxes, and see that she is very involved in a group that advocates for help for people affected by fetal alcohol spectrum disorders.
So, House members, please do better for the public that depends on you. It’s not too late to identify those other mysterious “constituents.”
More troubling, the Senate remains unenlightened when it comes to even the slightest bit of transparency and does not have a “By Request” list for Senate bills introduced this past session.
Deep breaths: This weekend marked nationwide protests over the Trump administration and the president’s policies since he took office just six long months ago. But next weekend might be your opportunity to swing the pendulum of personal anxiety back to center — Sunday is the annual celebration of International Yoga Day and the Gandhi International Institute for Peace is hosting a community gathering at the Waikīkī Bandstand in Kapiʻolani Park from 9 to 11 a.m.
International Yoga Day is an officially recognized day in Hawaiʻi, thanks to the efforts of Raj Kumar, who founded the Peace Institute in 2001. In 2019, he and others pushed through legislation recognizing June 21 (yes, it’s a day off this year) as International Yoga Day.
Always a trailblazer (think medical marijuana, civil unions, green fee on tourists) Hawaiʻi was the first state to make it an official day. This year’s theme is “Yoga for Health & Peace” is expected to include yoga asanas, breath exercises, mantra chanting, meditation, cultural dances, and sound healing, creating a space for connection and renewal. The Blog thinks we could all use a lot of both of those.
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