Is Mufi Hannemann too tall?

We have two prominent politicians in Hawaii who do us the honor of letting us see some of their emotion, and even their temper, rather than presenting some icy Stepford Politician stoneface and daring us to figure out what they're really thinking. One of them is the very tall Mufi Hannemann and the other is the very short Neil Abercrombie. And I have begun to notice that we seem to react differently to a flash of temper from the tall one than we do from the short one. I like both men personally and feel each does more good for the state than otherwise, but I don't have any partisan commitments, which allows me the luxury of observing that they get very different reactions when they take a stand on something. When Abercrombie sticks to his guns and is not conciliatory, we call him pugnacious. When Hannemann, who is about 1.7 Abercrombies tall, does the same thing, we call him arrogant. When Abercrombie pushes hard for something, we call him feisty. When Hannemann does the same thing, we call him a bully. My problem with this, I telegraphed in my opening remark. Too many politicians won't let you see what they're thinking. You can easily form the impression that they're with you, then you suddenly learn they never were. These two guys, who may not look very similar but do have similar temperaments, either can't do the poker face bit or choose not to. I suspect that each one decided a long time ago that if they can't win the day by openly arguing their position, they don't deserve to be in office. That's harder to do than it sounds and both deserve a modicum of respect for it. The next time you read that Hannemann has "dismissed" some contrary view, if you check for more information you may find that he actually offered a much more measured and detailed response. He is currently being accused of dismissing the Kamehameha Schools proposal to rethink rail yet again, but the people who did the plan have actually offered detailed, sensible responses to options they already studied themselves - I think they originally wanted surface stations, too, but found it wasn't practical here - and Hannemann, unlike some who attack him, has actually read the plan. I'm not arguing that people need to offer Hannemann, Abercrombie and other politicians any more respect than you would offer a relative or a neighbor - the first time I saw Hannemann I yelled at him to move his double-parked car (it was a joke) - but it strikes me that the cantankerous streak each one betrays from time to time is a sign of honesty and it might be good to have that from public officials from time to time.

Comments

[Michael]

Whether one is Tall or Short, what matters to me is how one speaks. Tone of voice. What is said. Body language. Temperment. Of course one who is willing to listen as well. Open minded, not one track minded.
CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW? or can you hear me now? Tall or Short? What matters also is the end results. Campaign promises that will be done on Oahu or all 8 other Islands. When they let their poker face down, then would be the time to call their bluff.
Mass transit by all Big Yellow Taxis or Da Rail that thinks it can?

[Oahu real estate]

I've met Mufi and yes he's very tall. But all that matters now is that he doesn't want to change his mind on Rail even though it's coming in way over budget while tax revenues are coming in way under budget.

If he is as financially minded as he used to seem, he should get on the move to cancel Rail before it crushes the City financially.

[It won't. Revenues aren't down all that much, given that there is a recession, because Honolulu is having a milder recession than the other islands. HMD]