RADIO REPORT: Faleomavaega Coming Home 'Soon'

Radio Station KHJ-FM Washington correspondent Matt Kaye reports that Faleomavaega intends to return to the territory before the November 4 election to campaign for re-election.  Although the story that appeared on KHJ’s talanei.com website quoted that he will be “going home soon-in the next couple of weeks,” there is no indication if these were words that Faleomavaega spoke to Kaye or Kaye was quoting someone on staff.  The story did not include embedded soundbites.

Although Kaye said this announcement ends “speculation that his illness might keep him in Washington,” it remains a mystery what is keeping Faleomavaega in Washington more than three weeks after Congress has recessed for the campaign.  Yes, one day after the recess he attended a White House barbecue but his press release to that effect announcing President Obama had invited him was virtually meaningless since it is an annual affair to which all Members always are invited regardless of party.  Since it was the evening before the recess, he had plenty of time to catch a plane to Honolulu on Thursday, remain overnight, and come down to Pago Pago on Friday.  But no Eni.

There was speculation that because he attended the first San Diego Pacific Islanders Festival in 1994, perhaps he would attend the 20th anniversary of that event on the weekend after recess on the way home.  Since it draws a crowd of 150,000 people, many of them Samoans, he could do a little fundraising then head out to the Pacific to catch the Monday flight down to Pago Pago.  But, again, no Eni.

Since he is Ranking Democrat on the Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific, which also included legislative and oversight jurisdiction over the global environment during the four years of his chairmanship (2007-11), it also seemed plausible that he would remain in Washington to take the short hop up to New York to participate in the UN summit on global climate change, particularly since he skipped the Small Island Developing States conference in Apia in August.  But, again, no Eni.

It was thought that surely he would have been in New York because there would have been many opportunities to meet with Asian and Pacific leaders there for U.N. General Assembly debate while awaiting the meeting India Prime Minister Narendra Modi was scheduled to hold with nearly 40 Members of Congress the day of his major Madison Square Garden speech on September 28.  This one seemed a given not only because of Faleomavaega’s position on the House Foreign Affairs Committee but also because he has been so public and visible on U.S.-India relations, and a champion of Modi, who was just elected last Spring.  But no Eni in New York. 

In fact, he was eclipsed by the only other Samoan in Congress, Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI), a freshman Member who already has risen to third in seniority on the A-P subcommittee and has an even more special relationship with Modi since she is the first Hindu ever elected to Congress.  When Modi was elected, Faleomavaega put out a press release congratulating him.  Gabbard, on the other hand, telephoned to congratulate him and got him right on the line.  She also received much publicity for making a special presentation following his speech while Faleomavaega was relegated to writing an op-ed piece for an Indian on-line publication called Business Today.

If for some reason he were not in New York but still not traveling home, perhaps he was waiting for Modi’s subsequent visit to Washington, where the Prime Minister had additional meetings, a White House dinner and a State Department lunch.  According to Kaye’s report, Faleomavaega was not included on the elite guest list for the Obama dinner.  Perhaps the White House figured since he attended the barbecue, where he got a fresh photo with the president, that should be enough. Whatever the reason, no Eni.

But, aha, Kaye reports that Faleomavaega was to participate in the State Department lunch co-hosted by Secretary of State John Kerry and Vice President Joe Biden.  These lunches are considered the consolation prizes for people who cannot not get on the “A List” for a White House dinner.  Quite a come down for someone so senior and so vocal on India.  Perhaps he paid a price for outspokenly criticizing Obama and Kerry for U.S. policy towards India .  We will take Kaye at his word that Faleomavaega was at that lunch but it is over a week after the lunch and there is no press release out of the delegate’s office. Since Modi’s visit, all he has had is a release commemorating the fifth anniversary of the tsunami in Samoa and announcing the availability of some college scholarships. Curious, considering how much he has publicized U.S.-India relations and his support for Modi.

So here we are: no more congressional sessions, no more U.N. gatherings, no more Asian head of government visits, no more barbecues.  The only reason he might have been here is to stand outside the Washington Redskins stadium to shake his fist at the owner as part of his effort to get the team nickname changed to something less offensive to some Native American groups.  However, if he were there last night for the Monday night game for that purpose, there has been no publicity.

Several years ago after an election, he made a point of expressing his pleasure that another delegate had taken the chairmanship of the House insular subcommittee, leaving him free to concentrate on Asian issues.  Now it might be said that much of the rationale for his continuance in office is lost due to his chronic illness.  It seems clear that his foreign travel days are over and a popular young congresswoman of Samoan descent has made his presence on the Foreign Affairs Committee unnecessary as well.

It is particularly ironic that he has been grounded at a time when the National Journal has produced a report of congressional travel that crowned him “the most-frequent free flyer” of all, [who] was treated to a dozen international excursions in the past three years [2011-2013].   And that of course was without benefit of additional trips he might have taken in the fourth quarters of 2013, most of which he spent in a hospital bed.   The period between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day, when Congress is out of session, is one of the most popular times for congressional travel.  

It continues to be mystifying why Faleomavaega presses on.  His pension is fully funded, his health insurance is terrific, he can keep his plan in retirement, he cannot get his agenda—if he has one—enacted because he is in the minority and all analysts say that his party will continue to be in the minority after this election and, because of the way the district lines are drawn, may remain in the minority until at least 2022 when Faleomavaega would be 79 years old.  Moreover, his health is such that he will need to be near kidney dialysis machines for the rest of his life, so that will limit the time he can be away and where he can go.

For now, every day he is away, every important event and funeral he skips and every campaign opportunity he misses, including TV appearances and candidate debates, people are getting more and more irritated.  Whether he actually will return “in the next couple of weeks” remains to be seen.

Faleomavaega Rips Obama, Kerry Over PRIMNM Announcement

A clearly frustrated Faleomavaega has lashed out at President Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry over Obama’s decision to sign an Executive Order creating a Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument (PRIMNM).  While expressing his appreciation that  the conservation zone expansion would only involve Wake Island, Jarvis Island and Johnston Atoll, he said “I am displeased that the White House rushed this decision just so Secretary Kerry could have a sound bite at the United Nations.”

“Given the seriousness of the issue, I believe the Administration should have been more thoughtful about this process,” argued the delegate, “[because t]his decision affects the economies of Hawaii, American Samoa, CNMI and Guam, and every stakeholder among us deserved to be heard.”  Reflecting disappointment that he was crowded out of the decision-making process, he continued: “[I]t is unfortunate that the White House and State Department really didn’t engage in a meaningful discussion with local leaders or Congress about this initiative.”

Pointing to stalled negotiations for foreign fishing rights in the Pacific, Faleomavaega again accused Kerry of rushing for a sound bite while “the Administration may have failed to consider that its expansion just might spell trouble later for the American tuna industry in light of an un-negotiated South Pacific Tuna Treaty.   An un-negotiated treaty,” he warned, ”means less fishing grounds for our tuna boats and, environmentally, may lead to overfishing if Pacific Island nations open up fishing grounds to the highest bidders and if Asian and European vessels are given the green-light to do as they please. . . . In consideration of these facts, I believe if the Administration is truly serious about conservation, then it would have made the renewal of the South Pacific Tuna Treaty a higher priority than the expansion of PRIMNM.”

He gamely tried to reclaim his relevance by saying that he had been told by White House aides on September 24 of the President’s intentions to sign the Executive Order but was asked not to say anything until Kerry announced it in New York at a follow up meeting to his June Our Ocean Conference.  Faleomavaega did not attend the Apia meeting and while it is unclear if he also were not at the follow on gathering, judging from his news release that makes no mention of it, he was not.

It had to be annoying to him that by not announcing the White House decision, his thunder was stolen because the lead story in the September 25 Samoa News was based on a press release issued late in the afternoon of the 24th by the Western Pacific Fishery Management Council, which apparently was not under the same embargo, ignored it or was faster on the draw, leaving Faleomavaega relegated to saying “me, too.”   Wednesday afternoon National Geographic also published a story on Kerry’s Wednesday morning announcement, so it seems more likely that the delegate’s crack press staff, which long has been accustomed to dictating what and when off-island news is reported locally, was caught napping.  

It is curious that Obama has given Faleomavaega such back-handed treatment considering the delegate went out of his way to take a gamble and endorse the president’s first bid for the White House in 2007 when the Illinois senator was still considered a long shot.  Both men were raised and schooled in Hawaii and Faleomavaega apparently felt a kinship with him.  In fact the relationship was considered so close that some conspiracy theorists charged that during the campaign on one of the delegate’s frequent trips to Indonesia, he was asked to negotiate with Jakarta authorities to get Obama’s childhood school records sealed.  

However, the latest attack on Obama and Kerry is another sign that he is distancing himself with the soon-to-be lame duck president and secretary of State as he tries to tries to mend fences with Kerry’s predecessor Hillary Clinton, the frontrunner for the 2016 Democratic Party nomination for president.  That break was underscored when he also said he would cross party lines to back legislation by a Republican in the upper house.  Referring to his objection to the PRIMNM order, he said: “This is why I stand with Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska who has introduced legislation to change the law so that no President will ever have the power to lock up millions of acres of public lands and waters without Congressional approval.”  A dramatic move for a man who just three-and-a-half years ago was chairman of the subcommittee that had jurisdiction over the global environment.

With virtually every member of the House, except those not running for re-election, having left Washington for home for the critical final weeks of the campaign, it is curious that Faleomavaega is still there.  There was a Washington dateline on September 25 press release, which Samoa News buried in a larger story recounting the reactions of a number of organizations to the conservation zone.  Having missed the Small Island Developing States (SIDS) summit in Apia, it seemed possible that Faleomavaega might have wanted to recoup by attending the U.N. Secretary General’s Climate Change summit in New York just ahead of this year’s General Assembly speeches but there is no evidence he traveled to New York for that gathering of even for Indian Prime Minister Modi’s meeting with Members of Congress.

Indeed, the only evidence of Faleomavaega activity was a press release pathetically announcing he participated in the annual White House picnic for Members of Congress.  Since this event is held every year, is open to all Members of the House and Senate and their families regardless of party and is not meant for conducting business, it is hardly newsworthy and only the Samoa Post ran a story.  Neither Samoa News nor Radio KHJ-FM found it newsworthy.  As with the annual Easter Egg roll and the White House Christmas party, this event is purely for socializing and photographs. 

In addition to the usual pictures with Obama and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D), Faleomavaega made a point of mentioning (and providing the press a photo with) “my good friend, Chairman Frank Lucas of the House Committee on Agriculture, which has responsibility over American Samoa’s food stamp and voucher programs that I have worked on all these years to keep in place and increase our funding.” 
 
Why single out Lucas?  Perhaps because one of his election opponents also had a photo taken with Lucas when the chairman passed through Pago Pago in August as part of a Natural Resources Committee-led Congressional Delegation on which the second most senior Democrat, Faleomavaega, was noticeably absent.  And so it goes.

FALEOMAVAEGA ADMITS HE WAS NOT INVITED TO WHITE HOUSE MEETING

On August 21 Faleomavaega's office issued a press release headlined “Faleomavaega and Governor Lolo Make American Samoa Top Priority in Discussions on Pacific Marine National Monument.”  His release included the text of a letter he sent to President Obama July 21 objecting to the President's proposal for a Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument (PRIMNM) and a letter to Governor Lolo in which he said “the White House immediately assured my office that President Obama is committed to receiving input and comments from all stakeholders before any decision is finalized, and I take the President at his word.”  He continued that “because of the importance of the possible expansion of the PRI Monument to American Samoa, I continue to make this a top priority." (emphasis added)

Yet, between his initial press release ­ on the matter on June 19 and his September 15 admission he was left out of the key meeting held to discuss the proposal, he had not one word to say about the issue, even though he promised “I will keep the people of American Samoa updated as the matter progresses.”  Perhaps he had nothing to say because he had made no progress but in his September 15 release, headlined “White House Aides Hold Meeting with West Pac Regarding PRIMNM,” he tried to downplay the importance of the meeting by using the term “White House Aides.” He may have fooled our local media, which gave the story short shrift, and the average reader would not know if it were not explained that these White House “aides” included two of the most senior and powerful men in the Obama administration: Counselor to the President John Podesta, one of the top three assistants to the President, and Council on Environmental Quality Acting Chairman Michael Boots. The director of Interior Department's Fish and Wildlife Service also participated.

Faleomavaega made it sound as if this meeting were some sort of gathering with junior people beneath his station as a delegate to Congress when, in fact, short of the President himself, this is as high as one can go in the administration on this issue. Yes, as he pointed out, none of the Pacific members of Congress or staff was included but he, after all, is the senior member of all seven congressmen and women from Hawaii and the territories and represents the jurisdiction most directly affected by the proposal.  Moreover, Faleomavaega was one of Obama's earliest supporters in 2007.  Not to include him in this meeting, now that he has announced he has recovered from his illness, is to humiliate him.

If it were Western Pacific Fishery Management Council (WPFMC) Executive Director Kitty Simonds who was able to broker this meeting, then kudos to her. It is reasonable to assume that she or whoever arranged this meeting also bypassed Faleomavaega in so doing, otherwise there is no question that his pushy enforcer, Lisa Williams, would have insisted her office if not her boss himself be part of the discussions. However, just as every organization who submitted written comments to the White House bypassed Faleomavaega, it is likely a conscious decision was made to bypass him on this matter as well, since it has become increasingly clear that he cannot deliver. This was true even before his unexplained illness almost a year ago but is even more true now.

It is just as likely that Faleomavaega did not want to push himself into the lead if he sensed he were not going to be able to get any concessions from the White House, which also might explain why he was silent on the issue publicly between his August 17 and September 15 news releases. Since he has announced to the people he has recovered from his illness and, now that Congress has recessed until after the November 4 election, it would be expected that he would be anxious to return home to launch his reelection bid as soon as possible. Questions about his ineffectiveness on the PRIMNM controversy would not be welcomed.  If there were to be public debates this year, a moderator would be remiss not to ask the delegate why he said this issue would be his top priority but has not reported on what steps he has taken to get the White House to modify its proposal and what success has he had.

Meanwhile, his press staff must to be congratulating themselves once again because the local media have not pressed about his absence from this meeting any more than they did about his absence from a key congressional delegation visit to the island in August. The White House meeting was September 9 but even though WPFMC issued a post-meeting statement the following day that was well covered all over the region, Faleomavaega had nothing to say and likely never was asked for comments. However, on September 12 his office issued a release headlined “Congressman Faleomavaega Meets with StarKist President and CEO Sam Hwi Lee.” Although StarKist is vehemently opposed to PRIMNM, if the matter were discussed between the two men, it was not mentioned at all in the release. Not a single word.

Samoa News ran that story on September 15, the same day they also published a story about why WPFMC believes PRIMNM is a bad idea. Even though both stories were written by Samoa News chief political correspondent Fili Sagapolutele, who also is the territory's AP stringer, there was no attempt to synthesize the news.  In reviewing the stories for publication, there apparently was no effort by the editors to show any correlation between the Faleomavaega meeting with StarKist and the ongoing controversy with RPIMNM. Once again, Faleomavaega got away with it. Next time Editor-in-Chief Rhonda Annesley writes one of her Gong Show editorials, she needs to gong Sagapolutele and also the editor who did not ask him to synthesize the stories, which the dictionary says means “to combine two or more things to produce a new, more complex product.”

Readers deserve better.

FALEOMAVAEGA OUT IN THE COLD AGAIN AS PATTERN CONTINUES

Although he issued a press release nearly a month ago (and nothing since) about President Obama’s proposed Pacific conservation zone, saying he “and Governor Lolo have made American Samoa a top priority in discussions regarding the Pacific Remote Island (PRI) Marine National Monument,” the first important discussion at the White House was held this week and, while Governor Lolo was represented by a member of his cabinet, Faleomavaega was nowhere to be found.

It is not a matter of him continuing to be ill.  He has run full page color ads (using a pre-illness photo--see below) in Samoa News this week headlined “THANK YOU AMERICANS AMOA” [sic] announcing “I have recovered and am ready to serve the people of American Samoa again, God willing.”  It is not a matter of him being here; he isn’t.  Since Congress is in session, he is in Washington, as he suggested he will continue to be when he issued a statement last week through 93KHJ-FM’s Washington correspondent Matt Kaye saying “In the coming weeks, I will be working closely with [Kaye and the station] to make future announcements."

Even though he is the Ranking Member of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Asia and Pacific Affairs, a panel that also had jurisdiction over ‘the global environment” during the four years he chaired it until 2011 and is the senior Democrat on the House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Fish, Wildlife, Oceans and Insular Affairs, because it is part of a pattern it comes as no surprise Faleomavaega was excluded from this important White House meeting with the very powerful Counselor to the President John Podesta and the acting chairman of the Council on Environmental Quality. 

Ironically, the more seniority he has acquired, the less influence he seems to have.  Whether the White House called this meeting or it came at the initiative of Pacific fishing interests, he was bypassed, just has he was when a number of groups, organizations and governments filed written objections with the White House this summer over the proposed exclusion zone.  Even in American Samoa, the governor, the Fono, the Chamber of Commerce and his own Democratic party sent their statements directly to the White House rather than to Faleomavaega for transmittal, which had been the usual protocol in the past.

Since his “I’m not sick any more” announcement came only this week, maybe people felt he was still recovering, but he was healthy when his own Democratic Party colleagues declined to make him Ranking Member of the full Committee on Foreign Affairs last year despite his top seniority and when the Asia Pacific caucus passed over him for chairman in favor of a freshman from California despite the fact he was vice chairman at the time and in line to advance because the post traditionally had alternated between the Mainland and the islands over the years. 

Moreover, Faleomavaega was passed over by then-speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) when she took a 21-member House delegation to a UN environmental conference in Copenhagen at a time when he was chairman of the subcommittee on Asia, Pacific and the Global Environment!  So, it hardly could be said this latest humiliation comes as a shock.  Even though apparently no other Pacific congressional offices were represented either, if there were to have been one person there it should have been Faleomavaega, because he is the most senior Pacific Member of Congress since the passing of U.S. Senator Daniel K, Inouye (D-HI) and, because of American Samoa’s tuna canning industry, he represents the jurisdiction with the most at stake in the President’s plan.

There is one possible explanation, however.  Perhaps knowing the White House plans to move forward despite island objections, maybe he wanted to distance himself from this meeting to give himself political cover for when he faces the voters in November.  That is plausible since a post-meeting press release from the Western Pacific Fishery Management Council said that despite all the objections raised by Pacific participants in the hour long session, "[U.S.]government officials reaffirmed their support for the Monument’s expansion, however, they did not explain their rationale or expound upon any supporting facts,” and went on to say “Mr. Podesta expressed his opinion that large marine protected areas are valuable to the nation’s conservation objectives.”

If the governor’s representative, Port Director Taimalelagi Claire Poumele, even dropped by Faleomavaega’s office to brief him, just say hello or be part of one of his infamous staged “photos ops,” no mention of that was made in the September 12 Samoa News story, although the article noted that Faleomavaega sent Obama a letter of objection on July 18.  The story of the White House meeting ran on the editorial page next to Editor-in-Chief  Rhonda Annesley’s latest installment of her “Gong Show” editorials.   While she has taken on Faleomavaega’s absence in earlier Gong Show editorials, in what may be the biggest irony of all she missed the opportunity to use the side-by-side placement of the meeting story and her column to make note of his absence at the White House meeting.  We’ll give her a double gong for that.

Faleomavaega did put out a September 12 press release publicizing a meeting with the President of StarKist “to discuss federal issues affecting cannery operations in American Samoa including extension of 30A and minimum wage.”  He said “With competition from Thailand, where workers are paid about 75 cents per hour, and with the prospect of other companies like Bumble Bee opening operations in Apia, we must continue to work together to ensure that our canneries can remain competitive.”   Given the amount of money company executives have pumped into his reelection campaign, he could hardly have turned him down but despite the potential impact of the proposed conservation zone, this release incredibly said not one word about it or the White House meeting. 

The Samoa News webmaster recently assured an on-line commenter they would not be running any of Eni’s “BS” propaganda, which this press release clearly is.  So we shall be watching closely to see if Samoa News ignores this release, runs it as is or uses it as additional material for a story about how Eni missing the crucial White House meeting and has said nothing to the public about it.  No doubt Faleomavaega’s press staff is hoping to use this StarKist meeting release to divert attention away from his absence at the White House meeting, just as they successfully diverted press attention from his absence on the August Congressional Delegation that came here. 

With an election less than eight weeks away, this is information the public needs to have.  Whatever the newspaper chooses to do, they should use the photo of Faleomavaega and the StarKist president because it clearly shows the current physical appearance of the delegate, which is not flattering.  He barely resembles the smiling man in the campaign ad that appeals to voters: “And so it is with this renewed health and refreshing spirit that I humbly seek re-election as your representative in the United States Congress.” 

As Rhonda Annesley might put it: GONGGG.

Truth in Advertising?   The photo on the left is the one being used in Faleomavaega's Samoa News advertisements this week.  It is several years old.  The photo in the middle is an undated talanei.com

file photo that has been run with stories about him in the past several weeks.  The photo on the right is a cropped head shot from a photo taken with the president of StarKist in a meeting in his office that accomplanied a September 12 press release from his office.  In addition, the top photo on the right hand side of this blog is the one his office website uses as its "official website photo."  It is at least 30 years old.  The photo below it was captured from a video he released at Christmas, 2013.  

Perhaps most startling is the contrast between the Christmas photo and the April 12 photo because it appears that his physical condition has deteriorated or at least that he has lost additional weight in the past eight months.      

FALEOMAVAEGA SLOW ON THE DRAW

Since it cannot be as a result of his travels, it must be a result of his lingering illness and the inattention of his chief enforcer, Lisa Williams, that resulted in over a month’s delay in his formally filing with President Obama his objections to the expansion of a Pacific conservation zone by presidential fiat.  In Washington style, it is formally known as the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument or, by its unpronounceable acronym, PRIMNM (prim nim?).

Obama’s announcement was made on June 17 at Secretary of State John Kerry’s Our Ocean Conference, which Faleomavaega did not attend but was prompt enough to respond in a July 19 press release expressing his concern at having had no prior consultation or warning of Obama’s proposal.  Being left out of the loop must have come as a bitter disappointment to the delegate, who was one of Obama’s earliest and strongest supporters but who does not seem to have derived any benefits from his loyalty over the past five years.  He has a score of photographs with the president but every member of Congress, regardless of party, gets those by standing in line to greet the president at the annual Christmas party, barbecue or other standard White House function held annually.

To get additional face time with presidents, Faleomavaega for years—until he took ill—has been among the small group of House members who arrive at the chamber hours before the annual State of the Union address to grab a seat at the aisle that the President uses to walk to the podium.   The Washington Post reported on this well known practice last year.

It is puzzling why it took nearly a month for the ailing delegate to file a formal letter with Obama pleading with him not to take any action that would harm American Samoa’s economy and culture.  It is quite possible that he misjudged the strength of the negative reaction of the American Samoa business community, the tuna industry, other island governments and regional fishing organizations.  In other words, even if, as a former subcommittee chairman whose jurisdiction included the “global environment,” his heart were with his fellow left-leaning environmentalists, the politics of the situation forced him in the other direction.  It is an election year, after all, and sometimes your constiuency has to come first.

As the September 2 election filing deadline rapidly approaches, Faleomavaega finally has made public his letter to Obama, which he had kept secret, he said, as “a courtesy to the President and to give him an opportunity to respond.”  More likely he was hoping to keep the letter secret to save him the embarrassment of having the public learn that yet again he has been ignored.  Predictably, Obama indeed has ignored him and with the governor now also weighing in with a letter to the president, the pressure to answer both allies and critics alike as to why he was remaining silent must have been too much to bear.

Clearly, courtesy to the president is a lame excuse since he dispensed with such courtesy earlier this year  when he blasted Obama, Kerry and Kerry’s predecessor Hillary Clinton (not the smartest move) for U.S. policy towards India, which he believes is misguided.  In this instance, he most likely was under particular pressure from various elements of the tuna industry, whose executives and boat owners already have contributed heavily to his re-election campaign.  They must believe he has some magic power and influence in Washington because many of their contributions were made in the first quarter of 2014 at a time it was unclear if Faleomavaega even would recover from his illness--with some believing he might even have been in a coma--let alone run for another term.

The list of his major donors, including some who have given the very maximum amount allowable, $2,600 per person, reads like a Who’s Who of the industry: executives from StarKist, TriMarine and Bumble Bee, plus owners of the vessels that deliver the fish to the canneries.  All of them must believe Faleomavaega has the clout to help their industry.  Well, if that were their motivation, as Obama’s PRIMNM initiative shows, they have been sadly mistaken and have wasted their money.  The truth is, from all the statements and letters we have seen filed with the White House to protest creation of PRIMNM, his is the weakest. 

The biggest waste of a campaign contribution may have been the $1,500 donation made by Bumble Bee executive James Hines.  Since Bumble Bee has no operations in American Samoa and Faleomavaega has been critical of the company’s human rights practices, perhaps Hines was hoping he would tone it down.  No such luck.  Faleomavaega will do his own thing, regardless who contributes to him.   In his letter to Obama he expressed “my disappointment that Bumble Bee was singled out and publicly recognized by Secretary Kerry during the Our Ocean Conference.  While it may be true that Bumble Bee advocates for ocean policy, we cannot and must not turn a blind eye to Bumble Bee’s human rights abuses.  Bumble Bee is well-known for using suppliers in Thailand that employ child labor to clean tuna.  Bumble Bee even owns a stake in one of those companies where Asian children and other exploited workers are paid about $0.75 cents an hour to manually cut off the head, fins and tail, and scrape off the skin of a tuna.”  Perhaps when the next campaign finance reports are filed, we will see that environmental interests have made contributions in order to buy his acquiescence.   

Even though he was in town and working “limited office hours” in June, he skipped Kerry’s Our Ocean Conference.  However, he gets another bite at the apple at the Small Island Developing States Conference that opens in Apia on September 1.  It is unclear if he would have an opportunity to address the conference and it is unclear if he would be part of any delegation.  He was not includes in the State Department’s announcement of the U.S. delegation although Samoa News reported that the governor had been invited to be a member of the U.S. delegation.  Nor is Faleomavaega on the list of the American Samoa delegation issued by the governor’s office.   Subsequently, Talanei.com reported  that the governor has decided not to go since, as a member of the U.S. delegation, he would not have a speaking role.  The same might be true for Faleomavaega.

The deadline now has passed for public comments on the President’s proposed PRIMNM.  If he does reverse course or make modifications, it will not be because of Faleomavaega’s weak objections.  Indeed, Obama has pressures from his allies in the environmental community to stay the course.  In an interview with Radio KHJ-FM,  Michael Gravitz of the non-profit Marine Conservation Institute dismissed the concerns of the opponents of the president’s proposal.  

Curiously, there has been no press release at all on Faleomavaega’s website since his August 21 release making public his letter to Obama.  So nothing formal has been said about his travel even though Radio KHJ-FM News Director Monica Miller has reported that she has been told by his office that he would be home at the end of the month and would stay until after the election.  If he were coming down here to file his candidacy papers personally on Tuesday, it is difficult to imagine he would not also be attending much of the SIDS conference as well and if were coming down for SIDS, it is difficult to imagine he would not be here Tuesday to file his papers.

Soon the mystery should be over.

[Note to readers:  You have until Tuesday to vote in our preliminary poll asking who should replace Faleomavaega in Congress.  Once the Election Office releases the names of those who have qualified for the ballot, we will pull down this list of speculated candidates and replace it with a list of those who will be on the November 4 ballot.]

LEGITIMACY OF FALEOMAVAEGA CANDIDACY QUESTIONED; Dem. Party, Fono and Others Working Around Him

In the first commentary since the departure of the Congressional delegation last Sunday, Samoa News Editor-in-Chief Rhonda Annesley, in an August 15 signed editorial questioned whether Faleomavaega legally can run for re-election this November without setting foot in American Samoa in over a year.

“I have a simple question:” asked Annesley, “Can Faleomavaega Eni Hunkin legally run for office, without having to step on American Samoa soil?” 

Since only Congress can establish the eligibility of its members, the answer would seem to be yes, he can, but the question certainly is reasonable since, until recently, even prospective voters—including those serving abroad in the military or attending school—could register to vote only in person in American Samoa and only during the period the election office has the rolls open.  The cost of coming back to the island was a severe hardship for scholarship students who might have turned 18 only while away at school and virtual impossible for members of the armed forces—especially those deployed in combat zones.  A change in federal rules to ease overseas voting forced American Samoa to loosen its requirement.

However, Annesley shared our lament in our earlier post that he might campaign for re-election as an absentee candidate, rhetorically asking: “Can he run a “talofae” [sympathy] campaign — ‘I have served you faithfully for 28 years, I am recovering… please… vote for me one more time?’”  Sarcastically viewing it as a bad idea, she concluded: “Hey, I’ll vote for him… if he’s running… I’m all about ‘talofae’… GONGGGG!” [Gong meaning not]

The impact of having an ailing delegate continues to be felt.  Had he been a member of the Natural Resources Committee-led visit here last weekend, there should have been no question that American Samoa would have been more than just a refueling stop.  Or, perhaps, despite his very high seniority, he simply lacked the clout with the Committee to get them to stay longer, calculating that it would be better to stay off the delegation and not telegraph his inability to get a longer, substantive stop than to hope the delegation would get in and out of the territory with little public notice.  So far, it appears he has succeeded since only this blog has made much ado about his absence and we do not believe we are read much at the village level.  We cannot substitute for local media coverage.

In her editorial, Annesley revealed that she had been away ill herself for the past two weeks, so she gets a pass for her paper under-reporting the significance of the visit and what might have been accomplished—especially with the Obama conservation zone expansion. Perhaps she will make up for that in the week to come.  Be that as it may, however, if Faleomavaega’s condition has proven one thing, it is that we need more than him in Washington to look after our interests.

Local Democrats Bypass Delegate on Conservation Zone Issue

Indeed, the delegate’s political weakness in Washington was further demonstrated by a Saturday story in Samoa News about the local Democratic Party writing a letter to President Obama to appeal for a reversal of his decision to expand the Pacific conservation zone.   A letter from a political party to a President is unusual and such a letter written while one of its members is a sitting member of Congress is even more unusual if not unprecedented.  Clearly, even though his party has endorsed him for reelection, they clearly have lost confidence that Faleomavaega on his own--whether because of physical weakness of political weakness--can get Obama to turn around on a major decision threatening to negatively impact the territory. 

It was perhaps sensing just how uninfluential Faleomavaega is in Washington that prompted the local Democrats to weigh in with a letter bypassing him and instead going directly to Obama.  Protocol in the past has been to write to Faleomavaega and ask him to convey concerns to Executive Branch.  But there is so much at stake and clearly Faleomavaega is not firing on all cylinders that a typical approach through his office is too much of a risk.

The story of the letter, written by party chairman Ali’imau JR Scanlan, inexplicably appears buried in the paper’s sports section rather than somewhere in the “A” (news) section, if not on page one, where all previous stories related to this issue appeared this week.  Possibly the editors were embarrassed to be publishing an article written by Faleomavaega’s sister-in-law, who is not only an editor and writer for the paper but the territory’s Democratic National Committeewoman.  Of course, the paper carried no disclaimer of those facts.  Perhaps the editor, if not the writer, was aware that such an article would embarrass the delegate by telegraphing that the party was working around him, not following standard protocol of going through him.  It looks like the writer put party over family ties on this one.

Fono, Tuna Community, Chamber Also Bypassing Faleomavaega 

It is not lost on the American Samoa Democrats and other groups who are appealing directly to the White House, including the Fono, the American Tunaboat Association and the American Samoa Chamber of Commerce that compounding the problem of Faleomavaega’s continuing incapacitation, his usual allies in Congress are gone or going.  Sen. Danny Akaka (D-HI) has retired, former Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Howard Berman (D-CA) was defeated, Rep. George Miller (D-CA), the closest member to former Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA) are retiring after November and Sen. Dan Inouye (D-HI), who years ago was bestowed with an honorary matai title for his help on our issues, has passed away.

Speaking of Inouye, the primary defeat on Saturday of Rep. Colleen Hanabusa (D-HI), an Inouye protégé, to fill Inouye’s unexpired term, has thrown the Hawaii Democratic Party into disarray, which also further weakens Faleomavaega politically because he has fewer and fewer long term allies in that state on whom he can depend to move his issues.  Moreover, there is not a single impartial national political analyst who believes the Democrats have any chance of regaining control of the House this year and many believe the way current district lines are drawn, Democrats probably cannot return to power until 2022 following the redrawing of lines after the next census.  If he were still alive and in office, Faleomavaega would be almost 80 years old.

Faleomavaega and Sablan

Contrast Faleomavaega, if you will, with his colleague from the Northern Marianas, Gregorio “Kilili” Sablan (I-MP).  Sablan is on the trip and, as we speculated in an earlier post, the Northern Marianas are getting more than refueling stop treatment.  They have not even arrived yet but already there is one newspaper story about the dinner the governor is hosting for the group on Sunday evening.  Then on Monday morning, the delegation will be special guests at the opening of the permanent Garapan public market.

Had he been given the opportunity, Governor Lolo certainly would have done the same and no doubt a ribbon cutting or other special event could have been whipped up as well.  The Northern Mariana Islands are almost a twin to American Samoa:

• both attained self-government through an elected governor the same year (1977);
• both territories are similar in population size;
• both have a substantial foreign-born population;
• both are still very dependent on federal assistance;
• both also have non-voting delegates in the U.S. House of Representatives who are members of the Democratic caucus;
• both delegates are members of the House Natural Resources Committee. 

The differences?  CNMI’s delegate is healthy and on the job full time.  Moreover, he concentrates on issues of direct relevance to CNMI and as his second committee serves on Education and the Workforce, not foreign affairs.  His travel has been limited largely to returning to his islands, which he does frequently according to his website; he is not distracted from his focus by adventures into such things as Asian politics, Hawaiian sovereignty or the nickname of Washington, D.C.’s National Football League team.  Only in his third term, Sablan already has substantive legislative achievements (Faleomavaega has none) and is the Ranking Member of the Natural Resources Insular subcommittee, which means he would be in line to become chairman if the Democrats took back control of the House.

So, as the CODEL works its way through its visit to CNMI, gently guided by Delegate Sablan, we shall see what our leaders, our media and the candidates for Faleomavaega’s job have to say.  Frankly, our politicians should be enraged and offended that our territory has gotten such short shrift by such an important and influential group of House members.  There are ways to express this without blaming the delegation.  It is the fault of our delegate. If he is not up to the job and his staff cannot get his job done for him, he needs to quit hanging on.

Faleomavaega and Gabbard

Finally, if you want further contrast in Washington, compare Faleomavaega to U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI):

• both have Samoan and palagi (Hunkin; Gabbard) blood;
• both were born in American Samoa;
• both were raised and spent their formative years in Hawaii;
• neither has built a personal famly home here;
• neither has spent substantial time here over the years;
• both have served in the U.S. Army in combat zones (Faleomavaega-Vietnam; Gabbard-Iraq);
• both are Democrats and are members of the House Democratic caucus;
• both are on the House Committee on Foreign Affairs and its subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific (AP);
• Faleomavaega is Ranking Member of the AP subcommittee and, while he was incapacitated, Gabbard (despite serving 12 fewer terms than Faleomavaega) was next in line and in his absence did fill that role at hearings;
• both have interest in issues involving India and serve on the Congressional India caucus; when the new prime minister was elected, Faleomavaega sent a congratulatory message; Gabbard got him on the telephone;
• both are members of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus (CAPAC).

Unlike Faleomavaega, who remains largely unknown in Washington after almost 13 terms, Gabbard, who is almost 40 years younger, has taken the town by storm.  Before even being sworn in, she was appointed as a vice chairman of the Democratic National Committee; Faleomavaega once ran for a seat on the DNC from American Samoa but was defeated; if Faleomavaega wanted to take some solace from Gabbard’s achievement, it came at the expense of  U.S. Rep. Mike Honda (D-CA).  Honda, who was dumped in facor of Gabbard for the DNC’s A-P vice chairmanship, was behind elevating then-freshman U.S. Rep. Judy Chu (D-CA) to succeed him as CAPAC chairman over Faleomavaega, who had loyally served as vice chairman to Honda for seven years. 

The selection of Chu also broke with past precedent of alternating the chairmanship between Mainland members and island members.  When Faleomavaega left the vice chairmanship after this humiliation, CAPAC gave the number two slot to Guam Del. Madeleine Bordallo (D).  Bordallo's predecessor in the House, then-Rep. Robert Underwood (D-GU), served as CAPAC chairman in only his third term; Faleomavaega never has.

Gabbard, who also serves on the Armed Services Committee (a natural choice, given the huge military presence in Hawaii) also has been in high demand by the national media, particularly on military and veterans’ issues.  When the VA health scandal broke recently, Gabbard was on numerous national news shows.  As Iraq comes back into the news, Gabbard—who is on of only two Members of Congress with combat service in Iraq—also can be seen frequently on numerous national talk shows.  She even has been on in connection with the two hurricanes that recently passed through Hawaii.   As far as we can tell from our research, Faleomavaega never has been on a national news show--not even during his four years as AP subcommittee chairman--except for the Comedy Channel's Colbert Report.  [With apologies to Rhonda Annesley--GONG].

So, while Eni limps around, if he is moving much at all, Tulsi Gabbard has more than taken up the slack and lack of Samoan visibility in Washington while the American Samoa Democratic Party, the Foono, ATA and the Chamber all have gotten into the act, this time bypassing the delegate rather than shoring him up.

So, yes, he can run again even if he does not come home before the election.  But why would he want to?  And why would we re-elect him? 

INDIA: Faleomavaega Rips Obama, Clinton, Kerry Policies; Gabbard Upstages Him; Hindu PAC Ignores Him

Following the victory of Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi as leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party in the recent Indian national elections, American Samoa Delegate Eni Faleomavaega lashed out at President Obama's policies in a news release containing remarks his office had inserted into the Congressional Record on May 19 congratulating the sub-continent's new prime minister.

Suggesting that Modi had scored a "resounding victory despite the U.S. using every recourse it could to disrupt his destiny," without naming them Faleomavaega made it clear he felt Obama, Clinton and her successor John Kerry had made a mistake in not restoring a visa that first had been revoked in 2005 for his alleged role in riots in Gujarat in 2002, when he was chief minister at the time.

“Nonetheless, despite the United States getting it wrong with India,” continued the delegate,who had pleaded with Obama, Clinton and Kerry without success (and once again underscoring his lack of influence) to build a friendship with Modi, “Narendra Modi is looking ahead . . . (a)nd he is the key player for improved relations between the U.S. and India.” No kidding! 

Almost as if to stick his thumbs in the eyes of the White House and State Department, he made certain it was noted for the Record that “As a token of friendship and in commemoration of the fulfillment of his destiny . . . a flag was flown over the United States Capitol at my request in honor of him on April 7, 2014, to mark victory’s dawn.” Preliminary results indicating a BHJ victory were not announced until May 16.

Faleomavaega also made it known that “I have personally met with Shri (the Sanskrit equivalent of “Mr.”) Modi as far back as 2010 and I know him to be a sincere man who stands against corruption and for inclusive growth and development.” Yet, even as the ailing, 13-term delegate was having his statement inserted into the Congressional Record, freshman U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI) was upstaging him in her own reaction to her fellow Hindu's victory.

Three days before Faleomavaega's statement, as Modi's victory was becoming evident, Gabbard, who is younger than Faleomavaega's children and has a long, bright future in politics, released her own statement, which said: “I recently spoke with Narendra Modi by phone and congratulated him and the Bharatiya Janata Party for winning a majority vote in India’s Lok Sabha [Congress]. This election was an extraordinary achievement for the 550 million Indians who voted over the course of six weeks in some 930,000 polling locations. I look forward to working with Mr. Modi and other members of the Indian government toward our mutual goals of peace, stability, and economic growth in the Asia-Pacific region. A partnership between the world's two largest and greatest democracies is necessary for us to successfully address the many global challenges we face, including economic growth, bilateral trade, the environment, terrorism, and security." 
 
No smirking, no reference to success or failures of U.S. policy, just looking to the future. In the ailing Faleomavaega's absence, Gabbard has on occasion served as Ranking Member of the House Asia-Pacific Subcommittee, a position it took Faleomavaega years to achieve. Whether or not Faleomavaega also tried to telephone Modi but without success is not known. Perhaps the fragility of his health would not permit such an attempt. Although he publicly welcomed the election of the first Samoan as a voting Member of Congress, it has to be grating on him how fast Gabbard has risen in stardom within their shared Democratic Party.  She has already appeared on more national televison news programs in a year and a half than he has in 25 years.

Whatever Faleomavaega'a relationship with Modi, it is clear that on May 31 the Hindu American Political Action Committee (HAPAC)  announced its endorsements for 2014 congressional primary elections. In its statement releasing the names of candidates it is backing, HAPAC said it is supporting them “because of their strong track record of work for the Hindu American community. HAPAC looks forward to supporting others candidates for political office.”

It should come as no surprise that Gabbard topped the list followed by U.S. Rep. Ed Royce (R-CA), the chairman of the full House Foreign Affairs Committee. Two California Democrats, Reps. Brad Sherman and Ami Bera, the latter the only Asian Indian currently in Congress, were next, followed by House India and Indian American Caucus Co-Chairman Joe Crowley (D-NY) and caucus member Eric Swallwell (D-CA). Rounding out the list, the PAC also announced it was financially assisting state Senate Majority Leader Ellen Corbett (D-CA), who is running against Swallwell, and two other Hindus running for Congress: Dr. Manan Trivedi (D-PA), and Swati Dandekar (D-IA).

Because Congressional Asia Pacific Caucus Chairman-emeritus Rep. Mike Honda (D-CA) has been very helpful to Hindu Americans, the PAC is not contributing to either of his Hindu opponents, Ro Khanna (D) and Dr. Vanilla Singh (R), urging voters to vote their conscience. This despite the fact that Honda In 2012 signed onto a letter to the U.S Department of State asking it to continue denying a visa to Modi.

Although incumbents such as Gabbard and Royce face little or no competition for renomination or reelection, HAPAC stressed that this was funding for primaries,. It is quite possible, however, that they are stressing that this is primary funding so they can come back and make additional contributions to the same candidates for the general election. In one case where they have two favored candidates contesting a seat, they are giving money to both, in another case to neither.

Curiously missing from this initial list, of course, is Faleomavaega, even though the aging Samoan is already facing four announced challengers with several more thought to be standing in the wings. Maybe HAPAC is waiting to see if due to his lingering illness Faleomavaega decides to retire.  For now, not even a nod to his existence.

It will be interesting to see if another Indian PAC, USINPAC, makes a contribution to Faleomavaega, as it has in the past.  Included in his statement for the Congressional Record congratulating and praising Modi, Faleomavaega made it a point to insert this sentence: “I also commend Mr. Sanjay Puri, Founder and President of USINPAC, for championing the cause and work of Shri Narendra Modi early on in the U.S. Congress when India’s next Prime Minister was Chief Minister of Gujarat.”  

Whether that was a payoff for past support or a down payment on future contributions remains to be seen. His statement was silent about HAPAC. USINPAC has donated at least $22,000 to the delegate's reelection campaigns in chunks from $2,000 to $5,000 going back as far as 2002 and there is no reason to expect they will abandon him this year, regardless of what HAPAC does.

Faleomavaega's statement got major play in the Indian media but not in American Samoa. It could be the local media did not consider it newsworthy. On the other hand, perhaps Samoa News, where Faleomavaega's sister-in-law, the territory's Democratic National Committeewoman, is on the editorial staff, spiked the story to save the delegate embarrassment for not gaining HAPAC funding or even an endorsement for re-election after all the fuss he has made about Modi, a Hindu. As much attention as his statement garnered in India and in the Indian American community, the snub hardly seems an oversight. 
 
Of course, all this is public information available on the Internet and one need not be in Washington to put two and two together. But our local media seems to be incapable of gathering and analyzing facts. Meanwhile, as expected, former governor Togiola Tulafono has tossed hat into the ring, becoming the fourth announced candidate for Congress. Other than emphasizing he wanted to work to restore a good working relationship between the delegate and local leaders, saying “my feeling is, we need to refocus cooperation” between the Office of the Delegate and territorial leaders and that the Delegate “must serve the supporting role” of the leaders, in serving the territory and her people” he kept his announcement on a positive note. “refocusing cooperation is a thinly veiled code phrase for pointing out that Faleomavaega has a fierce independent streak that has put him at odds with a succession of governors, including or perhaps especially Togiola. The two men do not like each other but Togiola did not take the bait offered by Samoa News to question Faleomavaega's health.

Faleomavaega on Hillary’s Hit List?

It recently has been revealed that former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has been keeping a score card or “hit list” of those who did or did not endorse her in her first run for the presidency in 2008 against Barack Obama.  Please read this PoliticoMagazine story for greater details about the list.

It is no secret that Faleomavaega was one of Obama’s earliest backers while then Gov. Togiola Tulafono endorsed then-Sen. Clinton.  When she came through here as Secretary a few years ago, we all watched carefully as Faleomavaega used his precious time with her on the ground to plead for debt relief for Cambodia while Togiola asked that American Samoa be allowed to seek official observer status at the Pacific Islands Forum—a dream that had eluded several governors before him but was always denied by State.

It also did not go unnoticed on the island that when Mrs. Clinton returned to Washington, nothing further was done on Cambodian debt relief but she did announce that State would change its long-standing policy and allow its Pacific territories to participate at the Forum as observers.

With the odds high that Mrs. Clinton will be the Democratic Party’s nominee in 30 months time, the local Democratic party would do well to hustle Faleomavaega into retirement as quickly as possible so that American Samoa is not disadvantaged under a Clinton presidency.  It could be a lose/lose situation for us: Hillary wins and we get punished because Eni is on her hit list; Hillary loses and we get punished because Republicans control the White House as well as the House.

Here is why the time right for Faleomavaega to put in his retirement papers:

•  he supported Obama over Hillary in 2008 (and as far as we can tell, has gotten nothing for it) and is probably on her hit list described in the Politico article;  

•  he is suffering severe health problems and is no longer up to the job;  even if he were not ill, he now is over 70 years old and while age and wisdom are valued in our culture, not so in Washington; there are few members of the House over 70;  

•  he no longer has Senator Inouye on whom to rely in a tight legislative spot; had the Senator still been alive and been in charge of appropriations on the Senate side, the reduction of Buy America for tuna never would have been in the final appropriations bill and Eni was not around to try to stop it himself;

• the retirements of allies Reps. George Miller and Henry Waxman take away two people on whom he could rely for help in the House (although it was Miller who sandbagged him and continues to sandbag him on minimum wage);

• even if he were healthy, he served on a committee, Foreign Affairs, of little value to us and we have seen no evidence that his service as the senior Democrat on the Asia-Pacific subcommittee has brought us any benefits; he is in and out of places like Seoul and Bangkok all the time but there is no evidence that StarKist or Chicken of the Sea are influenced by him at all;

• he never will serve in the Majority again--ever;  Democrats already pretty much are conceding control of the House this fall, with even the DNC chairman saying so; the earliest that Democrats might return to power in the House is 2022 after the next redistricting; were he still alive and in office, Eni would be approaching 80;  we need someone new to start building seniority now; if you aren't in the Majority, you are nothing; if you are a non-voting delegate in the Minority, you are less than nothing, particularly if you have a worthless committee assignment;

Over the years, Faleomavaega has been one of those who has taken the time to stake out his ground on the House floor so as to be seen on television.  We watched very carefully this year and while we saw the Guam and Virgin Islands delegates well positioned to greet the President as he strode past them on the way to the dais, Faleomavaega was nowhere to be seen.  Even though his office continues to furiously pump out news releases (including one commenting on Obama’s speech), and our local media continue to use them (especially Samoa News, where his sister-in-law is on the editorial staff) as if he were back in his office, we have no evidence to suggest he is in Washington at all.

We have not yet called for his early retirement but if this Buy America problem does not get resolved, then maybe he needs to reconsider.  It is clear that representing American Samoa by press release and letters issued from bed is not doing the job.  It may be time to go.

Faleomavaega Cover Up Continues Despite Local Media Denials

In a December 17 interview with Radio Australia, Radio KHJ-FM news director Monica Miller said "I think maybe western media would know that or not know that the resources that we have, especially when things are happening off island or overseas that we have access to are very limited. But there was no cover-up, I am saying that with sincerity and that's the truth." In a December 12 page one story Samoa News indicated much the same thing, saying they have "asked similar questions of the Congressman’s office, however, there has been no reply."

In its headline for that story, Samoa News inaccurately said we "accused" the local media of a cover up when we did no such thing. Our headline asked if there were a coverup underway and said in the post that because local media provided so little information on his condition or whereabouts, "it could be construed that the local media is participating in a coverup." Construed means interpreted. That is not an accusation. That is a conclusion that could be drawn by readers and listeners based on the evidence available. Both Samoa News and Radio KHJ-FM deny they are involved in any cover up in Faleomavaega's condition.

This Blog is not seeking to be republished elsewhere nor even to be seen as a credible primary source for news. Our biases are well established as outlined in our statement of purpose and we do no original reporting ourselves. Mrs. Miller decries her lack of resources to do more extensive reporting off-island but we have even fewer resources than does Radio KHJ-FM, talalei.com or Samoa News, the last of which is a subscriber to the Associated Press. But we do have the an ability which seems in short supply in the legitimate or mainstream local press: the ability to synthesize disparate facts and come up with an analysis.

Now that it is established that both Samoa News and Radio KHJ are aware of the questions that this blog has posed--based on the concerns voiced by their listeners and readers--and have suggested remedies, this blog must go on to say that both media organizations from here on now appear to be complicit in a cover up of Faleomavaega's condition whenever they makes inquiries about his condition and whereabouts but do not report their findings, even if they have nothing more to say than the delegate's office did not respond or refused to say. They are also complicit in a cover up if they publish or air stories concerning the delegate that are based on press handouts from his office without carrying some sort of disclaimer that they are unable to verify if Faleomavaega actually said or did what the releases claim contemporary to the release.

News comes from the word "new." If he is well enough to direct his staff to issue releases with his quotes, then, given what is known about his health, he should be well enough to have a brief conversation with reporters or even a single pool reporter to verify the veracity of the releases. To publish or air this information without such disclaimers amounts to being complicit in a cover up. To publish old photos with stories without identifying them as file photos also is misleading and just bad journalism. Our prescription is simple: Samoa News and Radio KHJ should insist on verification before publishing or airing any story that suggests Faleomavaega is conducting normal business as if he were a well man unless that were the case.

Their ability to deny coverage is powerful. It is no different than what is happening right now at the White House, which has placed restrictions on press photographers. In protest, several major newspaper groups have announced they no longer will publish official photos supplied to news organizations by the White House. In turn, the White House is now having to rethink its policy and likely will come to some sort of compromise with the photographers. If Faleomavaega's staff either by direction or on their own is making the decision to stonewall the press, they are making a horrendous blunder.

We may think the territory would do better with someone else in Congress but by no means do we want to see him sick or dead. To the contrary, we hope he retires in full health to enjoy his remaining years with his wife, children and grandchildren. He deserves that and his family deserves that. If his office would just tell the public the truth about what is going on--as Monica Miller says: "I always say that the constituents have a right to know how their leaders are doing, in good health and in ill health and I hope that things will change"--I think they would find a very sympathetic public ready to rally around him and pray for his full recovery. They are doing a grave disservice pretending things are normal if they are not--and our local media should go along with it.

Mrs. Miller, don't just hope things will change. You can do something about it. This blog will continue to monitor the local media and if they continue to cover Faleomavaega the way they have been doing it, we will continue to speak out. We may have only 16 "followers" but that is only because so many people are afraid their anonymity would be compromised and that there would be reprisals. As Samoa News acknowledged, this blog is republished by the Hawai’i Free Press online, which then distribute[s] it locally and off island. Still others redistribute the same blog write-up to their friends and relatives." The website host provides us daily with statistics on the number of people who read the blog and, although few readers make comments on each blog post (again fear), our email address provides another avenue for us to hear from them--and we do.