The following letter was published by the Honolulu Advertiser on November 27, 2007.

Oswald Stender wrote (11/13/07) attacking the Grassroot Institute of Hawai'i (GRIH) in response to a letter from Tom Macdonald, who wrote without consultation with GRIH.

Stender mentions "push" polls, identified by questions that push respondents in a desired direction. All OHA polls on the Akaka bill are push polls in the sense that they imply there will be only good results for Hawai'i and the nation.

The GRIH poll implied the possibility of major negative impact and obvious racial discrimination. The Akaka bill creates an empty Native Hawaiian governing entity to be filled with people, land and laws via government negotiation. Nature abhors a vacuum. It takes no great mental leap to see that a host of unplanned and unintended consequences would ensue. After all, people, land, power and money are at stake. We've seen it before.

The goal of GRIH is to foster public education and debate on the Akaka bill and other issues. Our experience is that the more a subject is discussed, the more knowledgeable all citizens become, to the betterment of all.

How does Stender know that it is a "big lie" that the Akaka bill will lead to secession? The language in the bill could lead anywhere. A solution would be to add a few specifics to the bill itself, an action consistently rejected by proponents. The idea of a blank check apparently appeals to them.

How does that look to you?

Richard O. Rowland is President of Grassroot Institute of Hawaii.