News people aren't exactly on the short list of folks Cayetano considers to be his friends. If he really thought there was a chance we would be shot, I suspect he would have sent buses to take more of us out there.
More likely, the governor barred news coverage of the evictions because he didn't want you - the voting public - to see his little army pushing around Hawaiian squatters. He was afraid you might not like what you saw.
Cayetano didn't want the squatters demonstrating in front of the cameras and possibly winning public sympathy. He wanted to make sure only his side of the story got out.
The idea that news organizations need "protection" from government is outrageous. And history shows that Cayetano's self-serving concern for our "safety" was unprecedented.
Other governors have faced similar confrontations over Hawaiian rights at Makapuu, Waiahole-Waikane, Maunawili, Halawa Valley, Iolani Palace and other places. No other governor has tried to duck public scrutiny of his handling of the situation by barring news coverage.
World War II certainly was more dangerous for reporters than the Makua evictions. Yet Franklin Delano Roosevelt didn't try to bar news organizations from providing first-hand coverage of the most deadly battles.
Lyndon Johnson and Richard Nixon, two of the most manipulative politicians in American history, didn't keep reporters away from the action in Vietnam.
Presidents Reagan, Bush and Clinton worked with news organization to arrange for coverage of military actions in Grenada, Panama, Kuwait, Haiti and Bosnia. Reporters in Kuwait transmitted their stories and photos while wearing gas masks and dodging Scud missiles.
We have an important job that we take very seriously: to provide first-hand, objective news reports of government actions. If the people don't know what government is doing, it can't be a government of the people, by the people and for the people.
Our job gets dangerous sometimes, but it's our decision - not the governor's - to determine when it's too dangerous. We are professionals. We know how to do our jobs without threatening public safety or getting in the way of law enforcement officers.
The governor's troops didn't only keep journalists away from Makua; they threatened to arrest them. "This is a government operation," sniffed state spokesman Gregg Takayama.
Wrong island, guys. It's Cuba where they arrest journalists for covering the news. Here, we actually encourage the public and the press to take an interest in government operations.
I admire Cayetano for his decisive style and willingness to tackle tough issues head on. But to be a great governor, he needs to understand the difference between decisiveness and overstepping his authority.
It's ironic that the day of the Makua raid, the Star-Bulletin published a collection of the best photos taken by our late photographer Terry Luke, who died Sunday. Two of the most striking shots were of dramatic land-use conflicts at Sand Island and Waiahole-Waikane.
If governors at the time had been as small-minded, those historic pictures wouldn't exist.
When elected officials think they're doing something good, they're all over us with press releases and photo opportunities. When they try to stop us from seeing what they're doing, it's a good bet they're up to no good.
