We own this turd. 
But he's in trouble in the polls. Election in November. About every forty years, my state's voters take off the partisan blinders. Hopefully, four years of this guy is enough.
Neil Abercrombie, D-Hezbollah
By Malia Zimmerman
July 25, 2006
A Closer Look At Abercrombie’s Record
By Susan Page
September 29, 2010
Was elected Governor of Hawaii in 2010
Served as U.S. Congressman (D – Hawaii) from 1991-2010
Was a member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus
Has close ties to the Democratic Socialists of America
See also: Congressional Progressive Caucus
Neil Abercrombie was born in June 1938 in Buffalo, New York. After receiving a bachelor's degree in sociology at Union College in 1959, he took a job as a schoolteacher. Abercrombie went on to obtain a master's degree in sociology in 1964 and a Ph.D. in American studies ten years later—both at the University of Hawaii. While there, he became a close friend of Barack Obama Sr. and Stanley Ann Dunham, the parents of future U.S. President Barack Obama.
Motivated by his opposition to the Vietnam War, Abecrombie in 1970 ran (unsuccessfully) for a U.S. Senate seat (representing Hawaii) against Republican Hiram Fong. In 1974 Abercrombie was elected to the Hawaiian legislature, and four years later he won a state senate seat. In 1986 he was victorious in a special election for Congress to fill the unexpired term of Rep. Cecil Heftel. After serving three-and-a-half months in that post, Abercrombie was defeated in the Democratic primary for the full term by Mufi Hanneman. Next, Abercrombie was elected to serve on the Honolulu city council from 1988 to 1990.
In 1990 Abercrombie won a seat in Congress (representing Hawaii's First District, which encompassed downtown Honolulu and Pearl Harbor). In the House of Representatives, he became a member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC).
At the 1992 Democratic Party convention, Abercrombie delivered what was reported to be an "extemporaneous, impassioned speech" to a "Socialist Caucus" explicity organized by the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA). All of the other speakers at this event were DSA members: Bob Fitrakis, Ed Vargas, and Cornel West.
On September 27, 1995, Abercrombie—along with Congressional Representatives Bernie Sanders and Maxine Waters—was a guest speaker at the first in a national series of DSA town meetings on economic security.
Abercrombie was the only member of either the House or Senate to vote against a February 15, 2006 resolution saying that the United States should withhold financial aid from the Palestinian Authority in light of the fact that the latter was now controlled by Hamas, a terrorist organization that unambiguously called for Israel’s destruction.
On May 23, 2006, Abercrombie joined just 36 other House members in voting against the Palestinian Anti-Terrorism Act prohibiting U.S. aid to the Hamas-led Palestinian government “until it renounces violence, recognizes Israel's right to exist as a Jewish state, and accepts all previous Israeli-Palestinian agreements.” The measure was supported by 361 House members and passed by unanimous consent in the Senate.
On July 20, 2006, Abercrombie voted “No” on House Resolution 921 that his fellow congressmen approved overwhelmingly (by a margin of 410-8) and the Senate passed unanimously. This Resolution condemned Hezbollah and Hamas for launching unprovoked acts of war against the Jewish State; it also called for the U.S. to help disarm Hezbollah and to impose diplomatic and economic sanctions on Hezbollah's state sponsors, Iran and Syria.
Abercrombie has served as a board member of Amnesty International, an organization which has often accused Israel of human-rights violations. He is also a member of the Out of Iraq Congressional Caucus.
When Senator Barack Obama ran for U.S. President in 2008, Abercrombie was honorary chair of the Hawaii Obama Campaign.
In early 2009 Abercrombie announced that he planned to run for the office of Hawaii Governor in 2010. In that election, he defeated Republican opponent James Aiona by a margin of 57.8 percent to 40.8 percent.
To view some significant highlights of Abercrombie’s legislative voting record in the House of Representatives, click here.
For additional information on Neil Abercrombie, click here.
A historic beat down. I am so glad he is done. Too bad Schatz is likely going to beat Hanabusa to serve the rest of Dan Inoye's U.S. Senate term.
Denby Fawcett: A Pidgin Guide to Neil Abercrombie’s DownfallThe Hawaii governor's blunt talk may have been the straight truth but his bedside manner left much to be desired.
AUGUST 12, 2014·
By DENBY FAWCETT
Now that dust has settled, it might be helpful to turn to the Hawaiian pidgin English dictionary to get a better grip on why Hawaii Gov. Neil Abercrombie was so handily blasted out of office by his underfunded and relatively unknown challenger, state Sen. David Ige.
On Primary Election Day, Ige was still so unfamiliar to some voters, I heard a fellow refer to him as “the Japanese guy running against Abercrombie.”
A key reason Abercrombie became Hawaii’s first incumbent governor to lose a primary election is what I call the “Wot, Boddah You? “ factor.
Boddah You (bah dah YOU) or Why, Boddah You? in pidgin or Hawaiian Creole English means, “Whaaat, you got a problem with what I am doing?” Or more bluntly, “You don’t like what I am doing? Well, F-bomb you.”
In pidgin, this is known as “attitude” or “get attitude.” And it is not a nice way for a politician to “ ack” or act.
PF Bentley/Civil BeatHonolulu City Councilmember Ann Kobayashi sign waves with Gov. Abercrombie at the corner of South King and Ward before his last campaign rally of the Primary season on August 5, 2014.
Honolulu City Councilmember Ann Kobayashi sign waves with Gov. Abercrombie at the corner of South King and Ward before his last campaign rally of the Primary season on August 5, 2014.
Almost from the beginning of his first year in office, Abercrombie began to belittle and blame his critics, sometimes shouting them down — most famously on Maui. Abercrombie’s heated exchange with a group of Maui nurses in May 2011 was recorded on amateur video and went viral. The governor leaned forward to shout and point his finger at a nurse who questioned him about a proposed 5 percent pay cut for public sector nurses, which at the time was part of his administration’s proposed budget.
It wasn’t so much what Abercrombie said as how he said it. It was like he was trying to pick a fight with the poor nurse. Wot, boddah you?
Randy Perreira, the head of the Hawaii Government Employees Association, Hawaii’s largest public workers union, says what Abercrombie did in office “totally belied what he promised when he ran for office four years ago: an inclusive, collaborative government, a new day of cooperation and civility.”
“We all thought here is this grandfatherly, college professor coming home from Washington to set Hawaii right,” Perreira says.
Instead, he says, from the beginning it turned out to be the opposite with Abercrombie berating people and saying things he didn’t need to say.
“Neil seemed to have the Midas touch in reverse. Everything he touched turned to stone,” Perreira says.
With Abercrombie it was clear even before his first year in office was over that the public didn’t like him.
When he was booed and shouted at by public workers during a February 2011 legislative hearing on his proposal to cut Medicare reimbursements for retired public workers, the governor was asked later by a reporter if he was surprised by the negative reaction.
This could be also called the High Mucka-Mucka factor, which lead to Abercrombie’s downfall.
Abercrombie answered, “I am the governor, I am not your pal, I am not your counselor. I am your governor. And I am determined to be truthful with everyone about what we will have to do together to survive.”
Abercrombie was saying the right thing, which is that as a leader you have to take tough stands and you can’t expect everyone to like you. But after it was widely quoted, usually out of context, it translated to many to mean what is called in pidgin “tantaran,” which means “I wear the crown and you don’t. What I do matters. I’m elected. You have to do it because I say so.”
This could be also called the High Mucka-Mucka factor, which lead to Abercrombie’s downfall. Abercrombie would have done well to listen to the wisdom of the late entertainer Don Ho who said, “The bigger you are, the smaller you must act.” Be humble not “tantaran.”
And, talk about things that didn’t need to be said: Abercrombie didn’t need to infuriate Hawaii’s hundreds of thousands of football fans when he questioned the $4 million the state pays to the National Football League to host the Pro Bowl.
Abercrombie said the Pro Bowl “happens to be an easy target because it is so stupid. You can’t do things like give $4 million to a $9 billion football industry and not give money to children.”
Abercrombie’s logic was flawless but the way he expressed himself was a disaster to his tailgating, football loving, former supporters. In pidgin it was “irraz” — irrational, annoying, irritating. To say something like that is to seem out of control, to “Make A (make ass), make a fool of yourself, as in “Eh, no make A.”
Abercrombie lost touch.
It wasn’t just Abercrombie’s “irraz” way of talking. It was the unexpected things he did that left his supporters shaking their heads. As the months wore on, different constituencies who had rallied to support him started to feel marginalized and betrayed.
In pidgin, these unexpected twists generated the “Haaah??” factor, meaning “ Wot?” or “How could you?” “What were you thinking? Haaah?”
Old folks were astounded when Abercrombie moved to tax the pensions of any retiree receiving more than $37, 500 in benefits.
Advocates of transparency in government were surprised when Abercrombie refused to release the names of court nominees from the state Judicial Selection Commission. The Honolulu Star-Advertiser sued for disclosure of the names and won in Circuit Court.
This was the same governor who had promised to be open.
Environmentalists were taken aback when Abercrombie failed to straighten out elements of the rail transit contract they thought were egregious. And to fight for farmland and open space. Instead, Abercrombie supported the Hoopili and Koa Ridge projects on Oahu. Also, environmentalists were angered by his backing of the Public Lands Development Corporation, an agency formed to fast-track development of state lands.
“He managed to alienate every environmentalist who supported him,” said author and former political reporter Tom Coffman.
Coffman had volunteered to help Abercrombie, but he said he drifted away from him when he saw the governor doing the opposite of what he had promised.
Many other residents say they lost faith when they perceived Abercrombie was giving up necessary governmental oversight to allow Kakaako to turn into a free-for-all zone for any developer who poured money into Abercrombie’s campaign. It was a perception that stuck as more concrete towers began to rise up to block out views of the Koolau mountains.
In pidgin, this is the “Fo Real?” factor. Meaning “what do you think you are doing? Are you Fo Real?”
Abercrombie’s logic was flawless but the way he expressed himself was a disaster.
Former Gov. Ben Cayetano, once a close ally of Abercrombie, says “Neil went off the deep end with developers. He supported plans that included new buildings higher than 600 feet tall. Never in my wildest dream did I believe he would support something like that.”
Or in pidgin: Is he Fo Real?
A pidgin amplification of what Cayetano is saying: “No, shame, Neil. No shame, you.” Meaning “Wow, Abercrombie, doesn’t anything embarrass you?”
Political analyst Dylan Nonaka, a former executive director of the Hawaii Republican Party, told me five months ago Abercrombie ‘s political career was finished. He told me then Abercrombie would lose to David Ige by double digits.
Nonaka said “Abercrombie has lost the trust of the people. Once you lose trust, you are a dead duck in politics.”
How exactly did Abercrombie, who had been successfully elected to public office for 40 years, lose the trust of so many voters? The feisty Abercrombie voters loved when he was a Congressman far away in Washington. Who knows exactly, But everything became “all hammajang”, all messed up.
There was no going back. Once you “stay all hammajang, you stay pau.”
It is over.
http://www.civilbeat.com/2014/08/denby-fawcett-a-pidgin-guide-to-neil-abercrombies-downfall/?cbk=53e9fcda5c766
