 Good morning, afternoon whatever you want to call it. Thank you all for joining us. We have with us today retired judge Sandra Sims, fabulous criminal defense attorney, and in that sense also a civil rights attorney because you can't really separate those two. We'll get into that. Bill Harrison and an amazing, amazing Renaissance young woman, reading who is going to share with us what youth brings to the table to us forever young, but not so visibly young folks. Okay, so I pre-warrant you folks. I'm going to start you off the little softball question in selection time. What's at stake? Well, let me start off. I think that question should be what isn't at stake? We're in unprecedented times. Look about what's going on in the news. We've got this obviously COVID pandemic that's just creating havoc in our elderly and in our lives in general with medical issues, emergency issues. We have demonstrations all across the country. We've got federal police officers quelling demonstrations. Our businesses are in ruins, specifically in Hawaii. We don't have a industry other than tourism which is just beginning again. So what's at stake? Everything's at stake. We need leaders that can address all of these issues and we haven't had at this point. And so we're hopeful that this election will produce real leaders that are going to take over, grab these issues by the horns and address them in a proper manner so that we can as a society continue to prosper. And we're not prospering now, both emotionally, culturally, financially and otherwise. And I think that's a really brilliant insight, Bill, because if you're really thinking about it as a voter and you're really giving it time, you would literally have to have a laundry list of every major sector, health and healthcare, housing, education, employment, income, the economy, business, every aspect, every sector of our society. And just ask yourself, of the choices, who gives you more peace to have in charge? Yeah, I was thinking about another aspect of that question as well. Good point that you raised about who's in charge. I think we granted that it's hard to not pay attention to what's happening on the national level and the lack of leadership thereof. But what is also important, I think for us as we're going forward, is those issues that Bill referenced, things with the businesses, with our education, with our healthcare, with all of those issues are at the local and state government levels. And it's at the community levels. And those races and those folks who are involved at that level, not just here in Hawaii, but around the country, that's where the biggest impacts are going to be for just regular folks, in terms of whether the schools are going to be opening or not opening. That's going to be a local decision, looking at us right here, that's happening here. What's happening with our businesses, how are we supporting them? And then the same thing with healthcare, because we're around the country. I mean, all three of its different ways of addressing health issues, disparities in our healthcare system are just so broad and range from folks having to cover everything to those having things at their access. So it's really hard to kind of, there's not a national system about that. It's very, very local. I had a recent experience. I came back from Michigan and just the other day. And so I came back at the time that you had to have the COVID test before you can board. So I'm there trying to figure out because how does this work? You hear things about what are the costs and who pays and all this. So I'm at my daughter, she's more savvy on these issues than most. And I was able to go set up an appointment to go to a Walgreens in Ypsilanti, Michigan. I pulled in there, they gave you an appointment in a time to come and you just pulled in. They swapped me and sent me on my way. I got back to her house. I had the results by the time I got back to the house. It cost me nothing. And I'm sitting here going like, wait a minute, what is all this about the $250 you're paying over here and this you're paying over there? And they're like, just went right through and took all of three minutes. And by the time I got back to her house, we had the results. So you're looking at all these kind of disparities and how these not just the COVID testing, but other issues as well. So all of that just all over the place. They've managed to figure out how to do that to fit Hawaii's requirements because that's what the test I took was for was to fit Hawaii's requirements. A Walgreens in Ypsilanti, Michigan knew what to do. What is that? I think that's a really important point, Sandra, because it's leadership at all levels. And you're right. For the people, the leadership at the local levels has to be the first recourse, the one that works for them. But in order for that to work, the big fight in D.C. for the last two months has been, we got to have the resources to be able to administer to our people. And the huge fight has been Mitch McConnell and Lindsey Graham want to jam through a pretty far right Supreme Court justice and will not even consider any kind of coronavirus relief at all, economic help anything. And especially they won't consider any assistance or relief for state and local needs. What does that tell you? Who the heck do you think they are dishonoring and disrespecting when they do that? I really like what everybody said and I agree. And I think the big answer for me is the fabric of our democracy is at stake. And I think about one of the threads to that is what I'm most concerned about is a lot of the division that's happening in this country among our citizens, among our government, among our leaders. I think even whatever the outcome of the elections are, I am really waiting with anticipation to see how this divisiveness is going to be healed. Because I think if it continues to go down the road that we've been going down, then we're in deep trouble as a nation. And they say a house is divided from within. And for me the thought is very scary. And then to see a lot of the law and order sort of policies and practices that have been taking place is very concerning. Very concerning. I feel like we're more in an era of dictatorship than we are of democracy. I personally don't want to go down that road to being part of a dictatorship. Absolutely. And I think your points are really good. The sense I get is there's two kinds of energies. There's a very negative energy. People are exhausted for exactly the reasons that you've just described. They are just so tired of all the anger, all of the maliciousness, the vindictiveness, the personal attacks. But at least now they're offered a choice. True. Yeah. That is not true of both sides. This is not a war of nasty, triolic opponents. Right. That's very true. I do think a lot has been anchored. And I think the hostility is going to have to be healed one way or another. And even if we have a representative who has the content of character that we need to bring peace, I think there's a fairly long road ahead. And I don't see that maliciousness necessarily going away immediately. I was watching something with Brian Schatz last week. And Brian is one of the smartest young politicians I have ever come across. He was actually my daughter's classmate. I don't know. I didn't know and then have gotten to know him some sense. And he's extremely insightful and he's very candid. Well, one of the things he said which really struck home with me is everybody who knows Joe Biden, who has known him for decades, agrees, you can't hate this guy. He's not that kind of a person. And so the things that they were able to use against Hillary Clinton who did engender a lot of resentment, a lot of hostility, there were maybe as many votes against her as there were for Trump back in 2016. That was the margin. But we don't have that now. I think my big concern is on the ground. The organized factions that are happening in groups among our citizens. And I think that's going to be there and we're going to have to learn. We're going to have to figure out how to deal with that. And I'm not trying to be a pessimist. I'm actually optimistic. I just feel like a lot of the division has been anchored in a way that I've never seen before. And that has filtered into policy and practice and a part of our culture as a nation. And so having that healed is going to take some effort. And definitely the leadership is the right leadership is needed to make that happen. But I don't see it immediately going away. Let me ask you folks, how big a factor will it be? Whether the other dishonest rule-breaking manipulative get what I want no matter what it takes person, Mitch McConnell, is no longer in leadership of the Senate. What kind of difference might that make? Well, obviously, we're talking about an individual who wields a lot of power, being in a position in the Senate and has a leadership role, has a following that really will count how to whatever position that person puts forth. So you want to eliminate if you can take that person out of that position and get someone there who is obviously in terms of his perspective more just, more open, more considerate of the community at large, then you change the outlook and you change the culture in the Senate by doing that. So it's really important. And just to follow up on what Brigitte said earlier, I'm concerned about that as well. Whoever wins and loses here, you have a group of folks out there who are really upset and angry no matter which way it goes. And you worry about what's going to happen in the streets when the decisions made as to who our new leader is. And so I'm also concerned and I'm generally an optimist and I have to be a little bit pessimistic when it comes to that issue too. So I'm concerned as to the fallout of this election as well. I'm obviously concerned as to who we elect, but I also concern as to the fallout. Yeah, I agree. That's the concern of mine as well. We've seen some very, very, very disturbing things on the streets, not even here in Hawaii, we've seen it. And that is just totally unprecedented here. The ranker and the ways in which we address and treat each other. I've not ever seen that. And I got worked in the criminal justice system and we didn't see that kind of thing. So I guess the question is how to do that and how we address that. I think I'm not sure exactly how we do that because like Bill says, whoever, whatever the outcome is, we still have to address those questions and we still have to prepare for a future for our children and the families in which there is this recognition and an understanding of us having empathy and support for one another. We're losing that in some places. It's completely lost. I also would like to just say that I think now is the time more than ever that we really can't have a collective of ones. We just can't have that leader here and that leader there. It has to be, it really does have to be more than a collective of ones. And I think one of the things Brian Schatz also talked about when I was listening to him last week is he said, you know, nobody paying attention to this, but Joe Biden has assembled the most brilliant leadership team he has seen in all of his years in Washington. He's got a climate change program that's the most progressive that's been seen. So one of the questions, then is if you remove from that extremely angry, hostile energy that's part of the division, both the inflammation and triggering of it and the rewards for it that the current leadership has been able to wield, does that change the playing field? I hope so. Because now, even though they're a minority of 40% give or take, they know that because Trump wields the power he does and McConnell wields the power he does, that they can do things and get away with things that are extremely destructive and punitive to the people that they like to consider their enemies, their opposition. Hey, and I think you're exactly right. It is exactly that artificial division that us against them, style of leadership, philosophy of leadership, attitudes and behaviors. That's the choice. That's what's at stake at all levels. If it's not only not encouraged anymore, but it's not rewarded anymore, then maybe over time, not instantly, not within a day or a week or a month or maybe even a year, but over time, maybe it burns itself out because it doesn't have anything more to feed on. I think you're right, Chuck. I would like to throw in, today's my devil's advocate day, I think, but I would just like to throw in the thought that I agree with you at the same time systems of power have a way of becoming corrupt, even with the best intentions, and so there needs to be some parameters set within whatever is to come if there's new leadership. I just think that the integrity of leadership is lost and that that really needs to be the foundation on which we start to rebuild. I think that's a brilliant insight, Radine, because it redirects our attention to the behind the scenes leadership, whether you call it dark money or the 1% or whatever you call it, but there is a wealth sector, a very small one here, that has been driving this society toward a culture of inequality for decades. They're not about to let go of that just because they lose one election. Exactly. Recently, I read an article and it was a very enlightening article in The Christian Post where there were a number of pro-life evangelists who are, a lot of them were very much Trump supporters and they have changed direction. They have indicated that they will be voting for Biden because, and obviously as a pro-life evangelist, you're in support and opposing abortion as one of the key features in your position. They were saying that the unfortunate thing is that more people die from prejudice, from lack of food, from global warming, from so many other areas that this president really has no concern for, that it almost becomes a lesser of two evils for them to choice to make. That's a really dangerous position to be in is to make choices based on your lesser of evils. It was very enlightening to me that you have people who very much were ardent Trump supporters who now have said, I can't do this anymore. I can't do this, even though electing a president may in fact be against some of my values. I think overall, I have to take a position that that value is outweighed by the destruction of this individual. That's what we're talking about here. We're talking about looking into making a change that clearly is going to be something that is going to obviously go beyond the person into what we need to look at and making overall change in our society and turning back this tide of destruction by this big money, this dark money, as you say, people who really have no desire to change because they are in the majority, they are the power brokers, they are the money holders. That article really to me solidified that belief that we really have to consider what's at stake here. What do you folks make of the phenomenon that an increasing majority of the highest ranking, most respected military and intelligence community leaders have virtually all come out publicly, not only against Trump, but supporting Biden? What does that tell us? I think that goes back to one of the points that Ray Dean had mentioned about this need to look at issues regarding integrity and leadership, something that we've not seen a lot of, unfortunately. I think those responses, which are quite honestly shockingly, in terms of standards that we've seen over the years for persons of those caliber to come out in the way that they have, is absolutely shocking and lets us really know how endangered our democracy is and it really calls for the re-acknowledgment of integrity as being some, having to have some place in the underpinnings of how we go as a society. We have to start there with some sense of integrity and I think at least I saw their responses as really an acknowledgement and recognition that in spite of dark money, big money, who's got power, whatever, at some point it's got to come back to your personal integrity and what you actually stand by. I try to be an optimistic person as well. These are some scary times, but I like to think and I still hold that in the end it's going to have to come down to that at some point. You've got to look at yourself in the mirror, you've got to get to sleep at night and it comes back to that sense of your personal integrity and so we're seeing more of that take place even in the corporate sector with the proclamation of doing a way with bias training within corporations and within government agencies where that for many businesses has been a core piece from not just a social standpoint but from a business standpoint. These big companies really need to have diverse management, diverse leadership, diverse directors because this is how our world is operating. They're not just operating just in this country. These are global organizations in which you have to have and you have to be responsive to the countries and to the communities in which you're doing business and you can't do that with just having a bunch of old white men in charge. You've got to address that and so you're even seeing that pushback is coming from within corporate America. It's like no, we're still going to do this. We're still going to look at how our practices and policies are preventing some of the most talented people in the world who happen to be black and female enough color from being a part of what we're doing. You're seeing that as well. I think that's a really, really important point, Sandra, because the economy gets a lot of priority in people's minds. Without, I would dare to say, without 90% of them having any idea of what it really is and what really makes it work and grow. Diversity is critical. If you look at the leading companies, they are all going in that direction and another friend who's really strong on the economy and financial stuff. Chuck, look at it. Biden has had a commanding lead in the polls for weeks and Wall Street is going crazy growing. If they were really worried about this economy tanking with a democratic win, you would have seen it. In fact, if anything, it reflects greater optimism. You're seeing right is the areas that are long-term factors. We're getting back to the point that Bill raised in the beginning, which is every single sector of society when you really look at what makes it work. It's diversity and collaboration. There's only one choice being offered that makes that even possible. Hopefully, people will have a sense that years ago, a psychiatrist friend who worked with terminally ill cancer kids gave me a piece of advice that I've taken to heart ever since. That is Chuck, he said, when you have your hardest decisions to make, try to make the decisions that will bring the most true peace. I think if our people can do that, and that's in all sectors, because take it right down to the street, take it into the home, every single sector of life. Then at least for a lot of us, doubt disappears. Last words in our last minute? Bill, Radee and Sandra? Part of the thoughts? I would just add another example to what this panel was talking about is we're seeing a lot of heavy-hitting republican strategists form projects like the Lincoln Project. That's important. I think more than seeing someone go against Trump or for Biden, for me, it gives me hope because it tells me that critical thinking is back, and that's really something that we really need. Critical thinking that goes beyond partisan politics. I've always worried that people will vote Democrat just because they're Democrat or Republican because they're Republican. I still think there needs to be some deep thought into who we choose, and it needs to be a holistic view and not just somebody votes this way, so I'm going to go with them. I like seeing the fact that people are really dissecting and analyzing this election in ways that uphold our values, just our basic values of being decent human beings. Yeah, and I would say that most importantly, go vote and follow me up what Regine just said. Vote with your head if you like to use a pure heart. Yes, nice. It's a great way to end our last pre-election session. We'll be back in two weeks. We'll see you all in two weeks. Hopefully, we'll get some of our returning panelists to rejoin us. Thank you all. Go vote. Pray for people. Go vote. Absolutely.