By Andrew W. Griffin

Red Dirt Report, editor

Posted: July 1, 2012

reddirtreporter@gmail.com

HONOLULU, Hawaii – It’s looking to be another beautiful day here on the island of Oahu. Yeah, I don’t get free WiFi, but this the sort of place where they ticket you for parking at the zoo and not automatically realizing it’s PAID parking. Of course they call the H1 highway an “interstate.” Figure that one out. Must be a federal funding deal.

I know a lot of my regular readers are concerned about the 5-4 SCOTUS ruling over Obamacare. Yeah, on the surface it looks pretty grim. But we just came across a quick-and-easy-to-read analysis by columnist Kevin McCullough titled “Why John Roberts is Mitt Romney’s Secret Weapon.” He goes over four key points as to why Roberts little Ali-esque “rope-a-dope” ruling will ultimately work in conservatives’ favor. It should give people hope that this obscene health care “tax” (paging Maxine Waters!) is about to be D.O.A., particularly if Romney wins - which we expect he will. Check out Wayne Allyn Root's column on the odds of Romney soundly defeating Obama come November. It's pretty clear.

So, they are calling that wicked storm over the eastern seaboard a “land hurricane,” eh? Okies know all about such wild weather, it’s just that folks out there aren’t used to such brutal beatings from Mother Nature. People have died and millions without power in what is now heat wave conditions? We are sorry to hear about this disaster. We read that in Sand Springs, Okla. some clever pizza slinger cooked a pizza inside his car, it was so hot. That's steamy! Again, the temps here in Honolulu are certainly warm, but that tropical ocean breeze does take the edge off – that and a few cocktails – not to rub it in. We'll be back covering the news this week. 

We know time is marching on and we are getting ever closer to the Republican National Convention in Tampa. The situation at RDR has changed since we last noted it and things are – as they say – “up in the air” as to whether we’ll be making it to Tampa to provide coverage. Just getting a hotel room near the convention center was a brutal task back  in March. We’ll keep you posted about that.

That recent pop hit from Coldplay, the one that goes “para, para, paradise,” has been running through my head as I look out over the blue Pacific. It truly is a paradise here. People are truly friendly to visitors and they really like it that you are here. Hope to come back some day.

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