# The State of Hawaii is \*not\* "an island in the Pacific" **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 21, 2017, 8:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-state-of-hawaii-is-not-an-island-in-the-pacific/784900 "2017-04-21T08:07:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2017, 8:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-state-of-hawaii-is-not-an-island-in-the-pacific/784900/1 "2017-04-21T08:07:16Z")
From [this link](http://time.com/4749244/jeff-sessions-hawaii-island-pacific/): > [@](#): > > Hawaiian lawmakers are criticizing Attorney General Jeff Sessions for calling Hawaii “an island in the Pacific” while criticizing a federal judge’s blocking of President Trump’s revised travel ban. > > The comments came in an appearance on “The Mark Levin Show” Wednesday evening, according to CNN. Asked about judicial appointments, Sessions said he had gained new perspective from Trump’s legal battles over his executive orders. > > “This is a huge matter," he said. “I really am amazed that a judge sitting on an island in the Pacific can issue an order that stops the President of the United States from what appears to be clearly his statutory and Constitutional power.” > > In March, U.S. District Judge Derrick Watson issued a nationwide temporary restraining order to Trump’s travel ban, and then extended the order, prompting the president to file an appeal. Perhaps that’s the best we can hope for from an attorney from “a state in the South.” But I also have a beef with the subsequent clarification by the Justice Department (bolding mine): > [@](#): > > Asked for a response from Sessions, Ian Prior, a spokesman for the Justice Department, said in an email: “ **Hawaii is, in fact, an island in the Pacific** — a beautiful one where the attorney general’s granddaughter was born. The point, however, is that there is a problem when a flawed opinion by a single judge can block the president’s lawful exercise of authority to keep the entire country safe.” Um, no, I don’t think so. Derrick Watson is from the State of Hawaii, and it’s a pretty safe bet that when Sessions and Prior said “Hawaii” they were referring to the State - which isn’t an island, it’s many islands. There is indeed an island called Hawaii (we call it the Big Island to avoid confusion), but it is not synonymous with the State, and I’ll hazard a guess that the AG’s granddaughter wasn’t born on it (most likely she was born on the island of Oahu, but I can’t find anything that says). Eh, she was probably really born in Kenya anyway. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2017, 10:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-state-of-hawaii-is-not-an-island-in-the-pacific/784900/2 "2017-04-21T10:00:03Z")
Well, the judge is sitting on an island in the Pacific, so Sessions wasn’t wrong. What I find objectionable was his belittling of the judiciary, as Trump did with his “so-called judge” comment last time around. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2017, 10:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-state-of-hawaii-is-not-an-island-in-the-pacific/784900/3 "2017-04-21T10:12:00Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > Well, the judge is sitting on an island in the Pacific, so Sessions wasn’t wrong. What I find objectionable was his belittling of the judiciary, as Trump did with his “so-called judge” comment last time around. It’s a “so-called” island. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2017, 10:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-state-of-hawaii-is-not-an-island-in-the-pacific/784900/4 "2017-04-21T10:28:07Z")
> [@Musicat](#): > > It’s a “so-called” island. And a so-called state! ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2017, 11:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-state-of-hawaii-is-not-an-island-in-the-pacific/784900/5 "2017-04-21T11:34:47Z")
I live on a ‘so-called’ island. Pretty much a ‘so-called’ state too, but we do have a governor and senators just like the real states. ---
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2017, 11:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-state-of-hawaii-is-not-an-island-in-the-pacific/784900/6 "2017-04-21T11:47:02Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > Well, the judge is sitting on an island in the Pacific, so Sessions wasn’t wrong. What I find objectionable was his belittling of the judiciary, as Trump did with his “so-called judge” comment last time around. Agreed, the Sessions comment was technically correct from a geographic perspective. It’s the Prior post that is most suggestive of an ignorance of geography. The belittling of the judiciary, belittling of Hawaii, and geographic ignorance are all bad things. As a part-time-soon-to-be-fulltime resident of the Big Island, I choose to direct my ire in this particular instance to the geography issue. But I’m just having fun in MPSIMS. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2017, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-state-of-hawaii-is-not-an-island-in-the-pacific/784900/7 "2017-04-21T12:26:26Z")
Hawaii became a state in 1959. Sessions was only 12 years old at the time. Sure, he remembers when Hawaii wasn’t a state. But he’s had 58 years to get used to the idea that it’s part of the Union. ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2017, 12:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-state-of-hawaii-is-not-an-island-in-the-pacific/784900/8 "2017-04-21T12:29:52Z")
No island is an island. They all have at least an offshore rock you have to jump to, as a part of their circumscribed territory. “Island group” is what is meant when serious intelligent people use the word “island” and wish for the discourse to continue without needless interruptions. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2017, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-state-of-hawaii-is-not-an-island-in-the-pacific/784900/9 "2017-04-21T13:08:50Z")
The eloquence of Sessions is inversely proportional to his rudeness. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2017, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-state-of-hawaii-is-not-an-island-in-the-pacific/784900/10 "2017-04-21T13:22:22Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > I live on a ‘so-called’ island. And possibly a so-called plantation. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2017, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-state-of-hawaii-is-not-an-island-in-the-pacific/784900/11 "2017-04-21T13:35:37Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > But he’s had 58 years to get used to the idea that it’s part of the Union. He’s had many decades to get used to lots of ideas. But he hasn’t. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2017, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-state-of-hawaii-is-not-an-island-in-the-pacific/784900/12 "2017-04-21T13:51:23Z")
> [@CairoCarol](#): > > But I’m just having fun in MPSIMS. By complaining about the accuracy of a comment that is in fact accurate. Good times. My own reaction is: he’s right that Hawaii is an island in the Pacific, and apparently woefully uninformed about the role of judges in the federal judiciary. Alternative interpretation: he is well-informed on that subject, but chooses his words to play on the lack of information the reading public has. Either one is worthy of critique. But not, I grant, MPSIMS fodder. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2017, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-state-of-hawaii-is-not-an-island-in-the-pacific/784900/13 "2017-04-21T14:23:09Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > Hawaii became a state in 1959. Sessions was only 12 years old at the time. Sure, he remembers when Hawaii wasn’t a state. But he’s had 58 years to get used to the idea that it’s part of the Union. I don’t think Sessions is happy with the “Union” part at all. ---
**Author:** ![Knowed\_Out](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/knowed_out/32/7380_2.png) [@Knowed\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knowed_Out)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2017, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-state-of-hawaii-is-not-an-island-in-the-pacific/784900/14 "2017-04-21T14:46:08Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > Either one is worthy of critique. But not, I grant, MPSIMS fodder. Maybe not, but we’re exhausted from screaming about the Trump administration in the Pit. This gaffe ranks lower than the others by comparison. ---
**Author:** ![Crybaby\_Boobie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crybaby_boobie/32/545_2.png) [@Crybaby\_Boobie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crybaby_Boobie)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2017, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-state-of-hawaii-is-not-an-island-in-the-pacific/784900/15 "2017-04-21T14:57:11Z")
I can’t wait to see him dismiss any rulings he doesn’t like from the US district court in Manhattan as some island in the Atlantic. ---
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2017, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-state-of-hawaii-is-not-an-island-in-the-pacific/784900/16 "2017-04-21T15:03:42Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > By complaining about the accuracy of a comment that is in fact accurate. So Sessions’ granddaughter was born on the Big Island? Because that’s the only thing that makes Prior’s statement accurate. Do provide your evidence, please. I’m not saying you are definitely wrong, but I haven’t been able to find any information that you’re right, either. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2017, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-state-of-hawaii-is-not-an-island-in-the-pacific/784900/17 "2017-04-21T15:12:31Z")
So Hawaii isn’t one of the 57 states? Ignorance fought. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2017, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-state-of-hawaii-is-not-an-island-in-the-pacific/784900/18 "2017-04-21T15:15:24Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > So Hawaii isn’t one of the 57 states? Ignorance fought. > > Regards, > Shodan 1. You forgot Alaska and New Mexico were added the same year. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2017, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-state-of-hawaii-is-not-an-island-in-the-pacific/784900/19 "2017-04-21T15:18:04Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > So Hawaii isn’t one of the 57 states? Ignorance fought. A simple misstatement that is quickly corrected, compared to insulting both a state and the judiciary itself? Next time, try fighting _against_ ignorance. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2017, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-state-of-hawaii-is-not-an-island-in-the-pacific/784900/20 "2017-04-21T15:28:31Z")
> [@jtur88](#): > > No island is an island. What about Man? The Isle of Man is an island. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-state-of-hawaii-is-not-an-island-in-the-pacific/784900.md?page=2)