In defense of Mocha Uson
By Joe AmericaMocha Uson at fake news hearing, Oct 2017. [Photo by Angie de Silva, Rappler]
A reader recently expressed concern that I resisted his call to eradicate Mocha Uson and other propagandists who undermine Philippine democracy. I explained that, as an alien, I don’t do active resistance, and this is not a partisan blog. Any presumption of yellowness is in the mind of the beholder.
It crossed my mind that the complaining reader would gain some perspective if he were asked by a hypothetical professor to write a blog in defense of Mocha Uson. The harsh politicization of Philippine politics is emotionalizing all sides, I think, and that does not lead to the best reasoning.
Well, what is good for the reader is good for the blog editor, so I decided to challenge myself to write the aforesaid defense of Mocha Uson.
You can be the professor who grades my work. Or you can be the advocate who shoots down my arguments, as long as you do it in a reasoned, unemotional way.
_________________
w
In defense of Mocha Uson
It is possible to judge Mocha Uson as doing admirable work in two ways. Her work is being done within a context, and it is important to be clear about it.
Case #1
The pro-democracy ‘yellows’ are buying into a dysfunctional, ineffective, hypocritical Christian Western morality that sees equality and fairness to be frames of reference that inspire or limit their acts. Mocha Uson does not operate under that value system, nor do her employers and colleagues in the Duterte government. They work within an Eastern value set that sees acts as the frame of reference that define equality and fairness.
In the Western mindset, the means are most important and define the ends. In the Uson mindset, the ends are most important define the means.
Not surprisingly, China and Uson think the same. Their job is to mandate order and obedience to the State, for doing that ensures an efficient, effective march toward goals. Democracy, after all, is inherently chaotic and inefficient. It promotes a lot of hypocrisy, frequent changes in policy and direction (it’s unreliable), and a lot of fake or divisive political posturings. If the goal is to generate wealth, and then distribute wealth broadly, a single-minded authoritarian efficiency will get there faster than a lot of bickering politicians promoting themselves instead of doing the State’s work.
Under that authoritarian mindset, if anyone is in the way, he needs to be removed. If the Constitution is in the way, it needs to be set aside. If truth is a danger, lies are perfectly acceptable to stay on track.
Mocha Uson is highly skilled at working within this context. She helps keep the people informed, amused, and satisfied. She has the authority of a star in a star-struck land. She helps keep the President charmed and satisfied.
Kudos to Mocha Uson.
Case #2
We have another context to consider, and it does not depend on whether the working framework is democratic or authoritarian. It is the same framework that guides armies around the world. Or attorneys.
A soldier must do his duty. That’s in the employment contract, and Mocha Uson is one of the government’s soldiers. If the general gives the order “charge the hill”, it is not the soldier’s job to argue (“Sir, there are fuckin’ machine gun bunkers all over that hill!”) or complain (“We’re all gonna die!”) and weaken his unit. His job is to charge the hill. Failure to do so is considered cowardly and grounds for being jailed or, in some countries, being executed.
Mocha Uson is charging the hill. Courageously, in the face of venemous criticism. She shoots with the utmost venom herself, a terror to the opposing army. Inspiring to her troops. If every army had that kind of on-the-ground leader, it would lose few battles.
Kudos to Mocha Uson.
The Society of Honor by Joe America 
Reposted from Facebook:
Brian Enriquez This is a good discussion to raise as it helps us understand the thought process in their heads.
However, case #1 raises the question of the Filipino identity. Do we want to become a democratic country (western way) or a benevolent dictatorship (good luck on this one)?
Perhaps the good thing about this administration is that it will show people that there are political operators who will always game the system to their benefit regardless of the form of government or leader in place.
Re Case 2: she was already doing her misinformation campaign even before becoming ASec in what has been reported to be a seemingly organized campaign. That doesn’t make her a soldier, it makes her a mercenary. She may genuinely believe her cause but it also looks like she did it for money or ambition.
This is excellent red-teaming, Joe. Putting yourself in the opposite side’s shoes and figuring out how they think.
Strong takeaway from your exercise: in both cases, moral judgments are excluded. And that’s where all the trouble starts.
The soldiers of the SS were doing their duty and working towards a stable Third Reich. Good if you were Aryan, but if not…
Thanks, andrew. Yes. It is a choice. A moral world, or an amoral one.
In related news, Archbishop Villegas urges the Catholic flock not to let their children watch President Duterte on TV:
http://phnewspride.blogspot.com/2018/02/socrates-villegas-duterte-kids-tv.html
It is a terrible mistake for some to ridicule her as stupid, for she just managed to learn most if not all the tricks of the trade on how to sway a populace, sell them an idea, or start a pogrom. It’s no longer just displaying the body or the legs, but rather capitalizing on her writing and opinions.
In addition, I have read that she believes in her own propaganda, as no amount of convincing will sway her from stopping, she’s completely locked into this mindset that she’s doing the right thing to avenge her father, to help create this “perfect world” by any means necessary, even if it would involve cruelty and prejudice.
Yes, I believe she does live in her personal other reality. Her internal furies must be mighty.
Very insightful way to put it; as I speculated before cases like hers and the VACC’s involve an unquenchable thirst for vengeance for their murdered kin.
Without intervention, something snaps in their mind pretty much like a victim of child abuse becoming an abuser himself.
CASE #3
1. Rice is our staple. No main meal is complete without rice.
2. But rice alone does not suffice. We need ulam. And rice with ulam goes down very well indeed.
3. But rice and ulam do not suffice. We need a drink, a glass or two of water.
4. But rice, ulam, and a glass of water do not suffice. In sufficient quantities, these will fill our tummies, give us energy, and enable us to work, play, and sleep.
5. What, then, is lacking?
6. Well, we need flavor to add taste to the ulam and water. Without flavor, the rice, ulam, and water will be fulfilling… but, ultimately, distasteful and even unsatisfying.
7. So we need to add salt, pepper, and spices to our ulam, and taste enhancers to our water. Could be tea, coffee, fruit juice, or chocolate. Or substitute beer or wine. Hmm, wouldn’t that be something?
8. Mocha is a choice variety of coffee, at times an infusion of coffee and chocolate.
9. Ayeee! Mocha is a choice variety… and variety is the spice of life.
10. This is why Mocha is necessary — she flavors life.
*****
Interesting view. It does presume the coffee or the grounds are not being thrown into the machinery to gum it up, and we can just be entertained. So there might be a slight flaw to your reasoning.
This is the best location to express my thanks to Joe for the good read — we should have more of this: looking at the view from the other side (but not too much) — and edgar’s extension: Case 3: if we don’t have MU, we may have to invent her for the spice of life in PH.
The above said, I wonder — notwithstanding her official designation is not of a cabinet rank — if it is inappropriate to label MU as the Joseph Goebbels of Duterte. Because of the passion for her work, will she, if the Boss decides to end it all if besieged, if she will likewise immolate herself just as JG did in that Berlin Bunker? Or will she act like Nikita Khrushchev the way he did after Stalin’s death? I am of the belief that a lot of the cohorts will do a Nikita.
Did you watch “The Death of Stalin” movie? It was grandiose, with Steve Buscemi playing the sly politician Krushchev perfectly. There is one character I can clearly identify with a character in the present Philippine situation – Stalin’s designated successor Malenkov, who is so weak that he reminds me of Koko Pimentel. One of the final scenes in the movie is Krushchev telling Molotov – “can you trust a weak man”? Another extreme character is Marshall Zhukov, whose vanity is a mix of that of McArthur (Zhukov defeated Germany, so he has that war hero thing about him) and General Bato – an officer and a caveman, not a gentleman. All of course are opportunists, only Stalin’s children have a hard time finally.
I did not see the film, but I read the review of the film when it came out. The 2.5-minute Youtube film clip gives a nice flavor. Thanks.
Nice note on the local parallels.
I think she is not yet that capable of managing the propaganda program. People behind the scenes are the evil geniuses who set out to brainwash a nation.
This “Mocha Uson” that draws such visceral reactions from both devotees and detractors is a construct that has been kept afloat these 2-3 by a small army of administration minders, PR advisers, ghost writers, message drafters, stylists and attendants, trolls and bots. It is they who are “highly skilled.” Although some of these duties may have been taken over taxpayer-paid staff.
She believes in her own propaganda because, well, it’s expensive, so it must be real, right? She’s grown well into her role, as any capable, professional courtesan would.
As more evidence is revealed of the shady links between Facebook-Cambridge Analytica-SCL-Team Duterte–as well as the possibility of introductions between all parties having been initiated by sleazy-operative-on-behalf-of-dictators Paul Manafort (remember that Marcos was his first high-profile “global” client), one assumes that the machinery behind the “Mocha” people love to love or hate will come to light as well.
That said, she is useful as a sort of litmus test of the dynamic between democratic values (whether these are perceived as imported or homegrown) and the tribal identity politics that has bedeviled us since Katipunan days. Which will prevail as well? The breathtaking shamelessness of Duterte administration shenanigans are useful in that way as well.Bullying/corruption/killing etc have always been around. It just never bloomed so obviously or in such as a damning fashion as now, holding up a clear mirror to the Filipino collective psyche.
Well described, Vicara. The propaganda effort is an institution, maturing, multi-faceted. Corruptive.
Heuristics works whether for evil (amoral context) or for good (moral context), I say. Intuitively speaking for now since there is no pushback as organized as MU’s and company; they have the effective and well-oiled machinery.
Offtopic: Rep. Baguilat may embroil rest of LP party who visited Germany, especially while visiting a Memorial to the Holocaust and not using “appropriate solemn behavior” as he took pictures of the group among the stone blocks.
Including Vice President Robredo. And the criticism will be much more intense than for any of Duterte’s rape jokes, because he is fitting into a strong image by being a ‘bad boy’, whereas they are proving that their assumed ‘eliteness’ and goodness is a dirty trick on the people.
Truth is, not many of us are fully aware of the Holocaust monuments and the strict solemnity they demand upon the visitor. We’re also a people who want to memorialize almost everything while traveling by taking pictures with smartphones, given that we have difficulty trying to explain the places and things that aren’t seen by many.
I saw the picture before Teddy Baguilat took it down. I didn’t share it on my FB page because of the nature of the place – THE Holocaust Monument in Berlin, which is like a huge cemetery of unnamed stones. BUT a lot of tourists do simply take pictures over there. The picture does not look as if they are fooling around, does not have the same character as schoolgirls and cops having their pictures taken in front of the HK bus in 2010, for example.
The thing is that the troll brigade was trying to find fault in everything about the trip – starting with the funding (VP Leni made it clear that the Liberal Naumann Foundation paid the trip), with the presence of a certain QC Rep. whom they all are linking to Leni (showbiz style) etc. Probably they were frustrated that the location of the trip was kept low-key until it was nearly done, so they were not able to organize any demonstrations like in London or like recently in the Hague in front of the ICC. Came across some other photos of Berlin BTW:
Seems they didn’t hear about last years “Yolocaust” project… but then again they just took pictures among the stones, no fooling around or whatever.. which a lot of people do 😦
https://www.demilked.com/holocaust-memorial-selfies-yolocaust-shahak-shapira/
Israeli artist Shahak Shapira has seen enough of these disrespectful selfies taken in the absolute worst places for them. So he launched an art project called “Yolocaust” in hopes to shame the selfie-takers from the Holocaust Memorial in Berlin.
“Over the last years, I noticed an interesting phenomenon at the Holocaust memorial in Berlin: people were using it as a scenery for selfies. So I took those selfies and combined them with footage from Nazi extermination camps,” Shapira wrote. He gathered the selfies from the social media sites like Facebook, Instagram, Tinder, and Grindr, and then combined them with the hard-to-watch real footage from concentration camps. The artist was shocked by just how distanced from the actual meaning of the monument its visitors were, which is illustrated with the comments, hashtags and “likes” that were posted with the selfies.
This is what Shapira makes out of really stupid tourist selfies like the one above..
What I do miss among the fotos of the LP group is one in front of Rizal’s former apartment where he wrote the Noli – it is practically somewhere between Brandenburg Gate and Checkpoint Charlie, and even has a commemorative plaque..
Irineo, we have the expression, “dancing on another man’s grave,” but that last photo-montage is gross. It does put Shapira’s point across, if nothing will.
True. I’ve moved on already. I’m confident they all will learn from the mistake, and no insult was intended.
Their so-called sensibilities are as fake as the news they are peddling
If Mocha is a soldier, she is likely the type that will lead the troops into My Lai gleefully.
Boom! Yes.
Older videos of Mocha show a browner face (probably the reason for the nickname) and a much friendlier general impression. Of course a lot of her appeal – and Duterte’s – is about breaking certain conventions. The Philippines is a far cry from the conservative place it was before, for sure.
And of course she channels certain angers a lot of people have, the basic principle of populism. Much of Filipino friendliness – especially among the lower classes – is about having to be friendly. The entitled usually are only friendly as long you don’t cross them, and then be very very careful.
A lot of Filipinos from poorer backgrounds shed their friendliness as soon as they have made it abroad, I noticed. Might be some Filipinos are where American blacks were when you noticed that all their popular musicians no longer smiled. Smiling had the touch of being a bit of an Uncle Tom.
Also interesting – Mocha’s opinion that Leni is “plastic” – meaning fake. What she probably doesn’t realize is that Bicol has a more solidly middle class society – not so many rich and poor – than the rest of the Philippines. Over there, smiles are usually not a sign of condescension or subservience.
But then again, Mocha didn’t even know where the Mayon volcano really is. But there is also an element of envy toward Leni. Mocha might be seeing Leni as what she could have become if her father had not been killed. Both are daughters of judges. I wonder, because the hatred is too real.
Irineo, this is not to put credence on Mocha’s criticism about VP Leni Robredo, but I am sometimes a bit put off with the VP’s perennial smile even when she is talking about a deadly serious subject. This is probably uncharitable of me — there are habits we cannot put off easily, especially since smiling is not one of those bad habits.
Same goes for Pnoy.
Yes.
There is a difference if a woman smiles a lot or a man smiles too much, I think. And then there is also the perceived social rank of the person. That is why PNoy and Mar come across condescending, because of the perception of them as plantation owners.
There is of course the “habitus” or the entire set of behaviors one has – ip and me discussed this recently. The middle class habitus of Leni – plus a certain modesty shaped by years of tsinelas social work – make her smile not look arrogant but possibly too nice. But then again, if she had the “Queen-like” and unblinking habitus of Korina Sanchez or Karen Davila, there would be others who dislike her because of exactly that. And of course, the habitus of a taxi driver or holdupper helps Duterte. A stripper habitus like that of Mocha embodies the kind of person a maid in Saudi or Italy will trust more easily than “one of the masters”. Even if some more conservative ones may be turned off and prefer “mabait” Leni I think. Very complex.
*******
If there is cognitive dissonance, there is also demeanor dissonance.
I would rather have PNoy smiling than Duterte laughing.
*****
Off topic
To the credit of the US, by and large, its democratic institutions work. It will test that when and if Trump fires one or both special counsel Robert Mueller or Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein.
I find this editorial of The New York Times very well written and addresses the issue.
I am not fond of Mocha, I can not even joke about defending or cheering for her.
But things could change, before I did not like Nancy Binay, maybe if she becomes a Senator she could improve, but seeing the likes of Paquiao and Sotto she maybe a hopeless case.
I don’t think she knows how laws work, and I don’t think she has what I would call perceptive reading ability, which is the capability to define problems based on contexts and a range of solutions and risks. I’d say about 90 percent of the Senate lacks that capability, too, so she would not bring it down far. They just noodle around, propose a lot of nonsense to look good, and maybe get one bill authored if they can find someone to write it for them. There is no master plan, no principles, no vision of how to correct problems. She’d at least be entertaining (thinking of her photo with handsome Senator Trillanes at the first fake news hearing).
That is what she will do.
Binay signs draft report recommending charges vs ex-President Aquino
Read more: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/982759/dengvaxia-nancy-binay-benigno-aquino-iii#ixzz5CpSJAokr
Follow us: @inquirerdotnet on Twitter | inquirerdotnet on Facebook
Okay, I am back to not liking Binay, and I take back what I said.
Me, too. I don’t get it.
I think she is trying to position herself as an alternative between Yellows and Dutertians.
Going against Mocha, then going against Aquino to not get “yellow-tagged”. It is smarter than Poe’s constant side-switching but whether it succeeds remains to be seen.
*******
Karl, you might like Nancy again. She has lept to the defense of the Australian nun being deported.
http://globalnation.inquirer.net/165794/news-bureau-of-immigration-patricia-fox-nancy-binay-australia-human-rights
*****
Yes. Kudos to Sen Binay. She provides argument about the good that the 71-year old Australian nun Sister Patricia Fox has done — stayed in PH for 27 years — against the ineffective work of the BI against the Chinese drug syndicates.
Now, why can’t a Poe, Villar or a Legarda say such a thing?
I like her decision on this one, but her agreement to sign Gordon’s draft indictment of President Aquino on dengvaxia reflects the work of a political gameplayer, not a humanitarian.
I might.
Putting yourself in somebody else’s shoes generally is a good thing to try to do, at least when your aim is understanding the other position. The ability to do it is also called empathy. Being an alien here in the Philippines myself, I more than once had a hard time to understand the Filipino mindset (if there’s such a thing?). From time to time I wonder and ask myself whether my western mindset (again if there is such a thing?) could be biassed? Already quite some time ago, when I had read the books of Kishore Mahbubani, I came to undertand how many Asians perceive western arrogance and to what extent western wealth rests upon the (often conveniently forgotten) colonial past of especially European countries. The Philippines is one of the many countries in the southern and eastern hemisphere that suffered from occupation by foreign nations. The heritage is still visible. Would the country be Christian if it were not because of the Spanish? Would there be a Senate and House of Representatives if it were not because of the Americans? I know, it’s all history and we cannot change it. But I believe it’s necessary to keep these roots it in mind when I try to understand where we are going.
What I also noticed is that democracies all over the world are having hard times. Maybe globalization for many people has gone too fast. They are insecure, fear for their jobs and income, become more nationalistic and protective in their views. And most of all, many people have lost confidence in their politicians and the establishment. That is how Trump and Duterte ( and others) won elections. The main problem in the Philippines is certainly not drugs, it is poverty, inequality and corruption. Furthermore the Philippines is a relatively young democracy. In fact it only made a start after the ousting of Marcos in 1986. But the people power revolutions of 1986 and 2001 didn’t bring forward the by many desired outcome. Marcos jr. returned in the Senate and ran for the Vice-Presidency, his mother is a member of the House of Representatives, his sister is a governor, Estrada is the incumbent mayor of Manila. So there’s probably a lot of frustration playing its part. And let me be clear on this, to me democracy is only a means to an end and surely not the only one. Many democracies are only democracies in name. In my view they are more oligarchies topped with a democratic sauce.
One of the characteristics of politics in the Philippines I would say is opportunism. There are no strong political parties with clear programs on how to bring the country forward. It’s all about different (groups of) dynasties defending their power and the wealth coming with it. Look at what happened in the Senate and the House after the 2016 elections. A coalition based on opportunism and not on any principled position was formed. No opposition worth mentioning. No checks and balances. No seperation of powers. It simply is a zero sum game, the winner takes it all and if you are not with the winner you are against him or her and you run the risk of being bullied or even jailed. Divisiveness all over. No dialogue, no discussion. The ‘Befehl ist Befehl’-mentality. If you want a piece of the cake, you better join the power. That is what Mocha does, that is what Alan Peter Cayetano (there was a time when I admired this young lawyer fiercly questioning Binay’s corruption) does, that is what Harry Roque does, that is what many OFW’s do. No backbones, no principles, just go with the flow. No, these people are no soldiers. Soldiers are supposed to defend their country, its constitution and people, not its government. They never can dive away from there own individual responsibility. The recent move to abandon the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court is no more than another indication that impunity for the obedient followers has become the new rule and individual responsibility is no longer desired. But I am sure the day will come when the children and younsters of today will ask: Where did you stand in those days? What did you do to make this our country a better place for all its citizens?
Well said.
I am struck by this line: One of the characteristics of politics in the Philippines I would say is opportunism.
Opportunism is a range, I believe. By its nature, politics thrives on that. But the Philippines is on the extreme end of the range.
Joe Am I think you have embarked on a very unpopular task: LAWYERING for the defense of whatever; like lawyers who would have nobly taken the oath. You have done it well I think. But as you have asked a wannabe Professor (will take may be 2 lifetimes to achieved the rank of full professor, 6 lifetimes to affix the word fake emeritus after my name) I will give you a grade of incomplete to be completed only after you have written a counter piece; like lawyering for the prosecution. Primary prosecutory data abounds in TSoH treasure chest of socio-political criticism. If that is not done I will weigh the consequence of giving you a grade of 4 which is not a fail grade for eternity in your transcript. I don’t know the stats. Do artists like painters, poets and writers later take up law later as profession/occupation? Do lawyers after an epiphany become artists? If not so many who’s done it, then WHY?
Okay, okay to say something about Mocha Uson being the subject at bar, being the creature on the docks. There’s a thin OR great divide that separate for and against Mocha. Sad, as President Trump might say that Lady Justice has a thick and opaque blindfold making sure that she will not SEE the heavier OR lighter side of the scale. NO, rendering justice or injustice is not really a guessing game. The judge or magistrate have six senses which interact with the brain to make sense of the case at bar. And of course there’s compensation and incentives for doing GOOD JOB.
Yes, yes, not forgetting about Mocha. It is what she was/is. What she has done or is doing. It is not about choice between the singer and or the song; the messenger and or the message. The value of what matters is the impact the matter creates and renders to a purpose. For what Mocha has done or failed to do for the country or her people; for what she has done or is doing for her Boss and Patron. Has she taken an oath as employee of the government paid for by tax payers money? Is she honestly earning her pay for what she has vowed to do?
Sometimes one need not go to specifics to nit pick and split hairs to distinguish coyness and diffidence from attraction and seduction.
Indeed, I think you have written my paper for me, and I would be happy to sign it. 🙂 Beyond that, the prosecution of her would get me steamed, the defense was a cerebral affair, my effort at being an amoral technician like Atty Mac, and I am quite done with Mocha Uson already. I am past the stage of applying for a job and so my resume is quite complete filled with empty lines that represent snoozes in the noodle factory, or beach.
Ah, I hope you have not started a trend here — using the amoral mindset of a lawyer. If I comment and find strong winds in the reply, I may say that like Mac and Joe, I was arguing like a lawyer in behalf of a client. 🙂
🙂 Well, I’m glad people recognized the intent, to provoke thinking about our values and ways, not that I had switched my own values. I was a little worried about that. I rather think it is more fun to be moral.
Tipsy from the allure and urgings
of my amoral musings to decipher
plasticity from beauty I unsheathed
my sword of bitchy words and ended
up scratching my head for not knowing
the impact of what I said.
I am rich with words but
dire poor with meanings when
feminine wiles comes to mind.
Never mind if it’s about Adam’s Eve, or
Troy’s Helen, or Anthony’s Cleopatra or
Romeo’s Juliet, or Samson’s Delilah,
Tristan’s Isolde, Orpheus’ Eurydice, Rizal’s and
Napoleon’s Josephines, or Ellen’s Portia.
All who walk in beauty throughout history
Unlike TSoH guys’ MRI machismo
I just always fail to get it.
Maybe the best description of Mocha would be: THE ANTI-CORY.
Her opposite in nearly every way except the province of origin.
And in the historical parade let us not forget Adam’s Lilith.
Put and said in hard laborious form:
Joe Am I think you have embarked on
a very unpopular task: LAWYERING
pro bono for the defense of whatever;
like lawyers who would
have nobly taken the oath.
You have done it well I think. But
as you have asked a wannabe Professor
(who will take may be 2 lifetimes to
achieved the rank of full professor,
6 lifetimes to affix the word
fake emeritus after his name)
you will be given a grade of incomplete
to be completed only after you have written
a counter piece; like lawyering
for the prosecution.
Primary prosecutory data abounds
in TSoH’s surgical ward of socio-political criticism.
If that is not done I will weigh the consequence
of giving you a grade of 4 which is not a fail grade
for eternity in your transcript.
I don’t know the stats. Do artists like painters,
poets and writers later take up law
later as profession/occupation? Do lawyers after
an epiphany become artists? If not so many
who’s done it, then WHY?
Okay, okay to say something about Mocha Uson
being the subject at bar, being the creature on the docks.
There’s a thin OR great divide that separate for
and against Mocha. Sad, as President Trump might say
that Lady Justice has a thick and opaque blindfold
making sure that she will not SEE the heavier
OR lighter side of the scale.
NO, rendering justice or injustice
is not really a guessing game. The judge or
magistrate have six senses which interact
with the brain to make sense of the case at bar.
And of course there’s compensation and
incentives for doing a GOOD JOB.
Yes, yes, not forgetting about Mocha.
It is what she was/is.
What she has done or is doing.
It is not about choice between
the singer and or the song;
the messenger and or the message.
The value of what matters is
the impact the matter creates and
renders to a purpose.
For what Mocha has done or
failed to do for the country or her people;
for what she has done or is doing
for her Boss and Patron.
Has she taken an oath as employee
of the government paid for by tax payers money?
Is she honestly earning her pay
for what she is being paid has vowed to do?
Sometimes one need not go to specifics
to nit pick and split hairs to distinguish
coyness and diffidence
from attraction and seduction.
This attempt to make prose
sounds like poetry affirms
what a humble economist told me
He agrees with JFK who wrote
against dregs and dirt in a society
poetry cleanses.
Poetry is prose with a beat, and rhyme adds violins.
*******
Ex-FBI chief James Comey: “Trump is morally unfit to be president.”
That’s times 30 for DU30.
*****
https://www.rappler.com/thought-leaders/200196-rodrigo-duterte-donald-trump-dirty-old-men-afraid-strong-women?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=thought-leaders
..Sexual reprobates like their women weak and submissive to hide their impending impotence but, more importantly, because they want to conceal what they are terrified of: strong women. They reserve their venom on those women because these women’s ability, intelligence, standing, and grace bring into stark contrast these scalawags’ ignorance, pettiness, narcissism, and their paranoia.
Hilary Clinton may be arrogant, but there is no question who the better states-person regarding knowledge of American policy and its relations to global politics is. Trump cannot even pronounce the names of the Latvian president, Tanzania, and even Beyoncé! Stormy Daniels is not just any run-in-the-mill porn star. She is a professional sex worker who knows the value of her expertise and has gotten relatively rich because of it. On 60 Minutes, she exuded street-smart intelligence, poise, and coherence. Put her interview alongside Trump’s back-and-forth with the New York Times, and you know who is much smarter.
Listen to the speeches of Senator Risa Hontiveros and interviews of Agnes Callamard and Maria Lourdes Sereno, and then eavesdrop on Digong’s rambling on sexual politics and rants against drugs, and, hands down, the women win. And women who are reticent about expressing their views show their contempt through their smirks and ho-hums when Duterte bragged about condoms and mistresses.
Even the American women supporters of Trump had become “troubled” by Trump’s out-of-script exaggerations and lies.
Don and Dig always lash out against media (“Fake news!”) they reserve their bile when women challenge them. The nastier they become, however, the more they are exposed for what they are: emperors with no clothes and flaccid presidential members. – Rappler.com
Patricio N. Abinales is lunghay Ozamiznon now working abroad.
An EU parliamentarian was sent back recently, an Australian nun will soon be deported.. and..
Are we political activists by contributing to this blog?
Yes.
Activism consists of efforts to promote, impede, or direct social, political, economic, or environmental reform or stasis with the desire to make improvements in society. … Daily acts of protest such as not buying clothes from a certain clothing company because they exploit workers is another form of activism.
Scary, so this means that to avoid deportation I have to avoid everything that can smell political and expresses a desire to improve?
I got the italicized paragraph online. Waiting for Joe and others to comment.
May be if you just whisper to your friends, it may not result in deportation. 🙂
It is a cloudy area that is untested in court, as far as I know. Certainly, foreigners are vulnerable because they are just thrown out, and although some say they are entitled to protections under the Bill of Rights, it is hard to do that if you have been ejected. I try to draw lines between free speech and advocacy, and avoid the latter. So I don’t join protests, don’t press ‘like’ if someone has a #resist tag, and don’t belong to groups. I refrain from being hostile toward the President or name-calling him, and I express and act with loyalty to the Philippines and Constitution.
All the precautions in the world don’t help much if an authoritarian wants to silence a foreigner. Failing to follow one’s heart and principles has a price as well, guilt, mainly. So going quiet to eliminate all risk is not that easy. Life’s a bitch sometimes, and everyone makes their own call.
The last paragraph: well said.
I note quite a few instances when you cautioned a contributor to TSH, that you can’t endorse the contributor’s active political advocacy.
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I was going to say a repressive regime defines what constitutes political activism but, yes, that last paragraph says it all. The existential dilemma of living in precarious times. (And when isn’t it precarious?)
Politically, we are on a razor edge.
That last sentence is not original. It’s an example from Google’s definition of the term “razor edge.”
The Tagalog idiom “kapit sa patalim” expresses the core of the dilemma.
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I’ve taken to using the term “oppressive” lately to characterize the effect of some of the goings on. Oppressive is rather like the threat of repression, to me. I do think the work done here at the blog would be hard to take as any kind of activism, and the record is out there for people to review. It is also of note that trolls pretty much leave the blog alone, and also my on-line postings. I did get a rather intimidating tweet from Paul Farol, whom I’ve corresponded with (argued with) over the years in this discussion forum or that. He is close to the Admin (paid by?) and mentioned checking to see if I had been deported yet. I also know that several attempts have been made to phish the Society e-mail. I don’t get into speculations about why this is. I have a total social media following north of 10,000, so it is not inconsequential. I wonder if PCOO would give me credentials so I can see what is going on at Boracay . . .
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A look-see at Boracay? That would be fair.
As fair as inviting Mocha to comment on our defense of her.
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She is always welcome, and would be accorded the respect any visitor should receive as long as they are also dealing in respect. Sometimes real people are like the deeper characters of novels, having legitimacy for the path they have traveled, and being interesting because it is so very different from ours.
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North of 10K? No, not inconsequential.
Your tweet is quoted in this article.
http://www.interaksyon.com/holocaust-apologia-in-the-duterte-robredo-era/
*****
Ah, thanks.
I might respectfully ask her what she thinks of the President’s remarks on condoms in the light of the increasing number of HIV cases in the Philippines. It would be fair as it is within two areas where she is knowledgeable: sex education matters and as a med-tech graduate.
The article Edgar posted above says LP was “widely smiling” in the photo.. that is wrong..
It is up to everyone to judge whether good, bad or medium.
BTW I think Leni’s apology was perfect – prompt, concise, and no excuses..
Irineo, thanks for posting that apology of the VP and the note of Mandrilla. It puts this matter in perspective.
Life for a foreigner is very simple….All you have to do is the sing a ”different” tune every 4 year…Go with the presidential flow and you will never be deported….
the is to and 4 is 6……sorry… 🙂
Risk = seriousness x probability (x absence of any pre-warning)
Here the seriousness, deportation, is so high that stopping contributing seems the only sensible mitigation action :-(((
And if the final goal is to have only Europeans, Americans and Australians who sing open praises of the regime left in the country, and otherwise favor the Chinese all the way, even shutting up will not help you. Japanese may still be OK, Koreans are already pressured. Even accredited NGOs can be in danger if the status of their representatives is non-diplomatic. Putin had all Western NGOs registered as potential foreign spies and some reps spent months in prison as a warning. Scholars of Western NGOs were debriefed on return..
Off topic
Speaking of politics, I did not know, until now that Trump is truly “afraid” of Robert De Niro, one of my favorite actors. De Niro has a long history of calling Trump by name and hurling expletives on him, something which continued up to the recent weeks. But until now no tweets against De Niro from Trump?
https://edition.cnn.com/2018/04/15/opinions/trump-terrified-deniro-mueller-snl-obeidallah/index.html
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De Niro of Trump: “…to be silent in the face of such villainy is to be complicit.”
Another expression of the dilemma posted by Joe Am.
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Robert de Niro may or may not speak Italian, but he is not a foreigner, he is American..
Of course for many he is a sex symbol, unlike Trump.
The Italian they threw out of the Philippines can never be a sex symbol, unlike Duterte. 😀
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Irineo, thanks.
I was not speaking of the foreigner’s dilemma in particular but of the existential dilemma.
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To be or not to be.. (mamatay o mabuhay in Tinio’s translation, I have found out)
Hamlet’s dillema whether to oppose or remain silent – or just pretend to be loony.
(the Chinese speak of the darkened light of Prince Chi, a figure similar to Hamlet)
Loony has some attraction. Sometimes I feel like we are tilting at windmills.
Tinio’s translation of ‘to be or not to be’ show the specificity of our Malay regional languages. Could be the strength or limitation of the language, IMO.
A nation filled with reprobates in power, led by a quisling, mountebank, a blatherskite whose speeches are basal androcentrism, is getting sucked into a deep black hole. It is a path helped no less by acts of Mocha, and I make it very clear the use of the verb ‘sucked’ is not intentional as our way forward now requires of us a defense of her dignity.
As the highest power in the judiciary faces an already pre-determined fate of unconstitutional removal, we nonentities must surely be seriously considering the realities of deportation or other unfortunately fates on grounds of the slightest excuse of acts against the nation. Such as the fear of what constitutes activism.
For those who have been wronged, such as Delima, or EJK victims, the US offers an avenue of last recourse for justice. The Alien Tort Statute allows foreign citizens to bring a case before US courts for torts committed overseas. So far, it appears US courts accept jurisdiction mostly in human rights violation situations. The caveat is the plaintiff has to be in the US to file the case. Would love to hear the views of any inhouse legal experts.
The problem is Philippines courts will not accept the judgement of a foreign court. EG Marcos was damned guilty as hell in a Hawaii court, but the compensation cannot be extracted in Philippines.
This how to make WAKAWAKWAKS of mere WAKARANGS . . .
Gist News from THE ATLANTIC:
“Syria Strikes: When the U.S. military, aided by Britain and France, struck three government targets in Syria on Friday, President Trump declared the three Western nations had “marshaled their righteous power against barbarism and brutality.” Yet it’s not clear whether the retaliation against this month’s suspected chemical attack will prevent future atrocities—indeed, Eliot A. Cohen argues, it may have sent a worse message than doing nothing. Congress has not formally authorized the use of force against Syria. And Trump himself, David Frum worries, may be too distracted by his own legal troubles to navigate the tangled web of conflicts in Syria.”
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This how to make WAKAWAKWAKS of mere WAKARANGS and how nimble fingers dance the TWIST in a laptop’s keyboard . . .
President Trump declared the three Western nations had “marshaled their righteous power against barbarism and brutality.” The words to be understood by wakbokabo are “marshalled,
righteous power, barbarism and brutality” which needs elucidation for salience to reality.
Weigh those words against reason, before being followed by wakawakwak assertion like this: “Yet it’s not clear whether the retaliation against this month’s suspected chemical attack will prevent future atrocities—indeed . . . “It is wakarang not to (and fail to) understand from the venominous words (animals) of the POTUS about inflicting PUNISHMENT and not to “prevent future atrocities.”
Done twice already, it should be clear that what’s happening is this. It is saying like “Do this again and you will be punished worst. Do this again and again, and you will be punished again and again until you are no more.” That could be a presidential mental style of a raw interpretation of righteous power against believed barbarism and brutality.
More? “indeed, Eliot A. Cohen argues, it may have sent a worse message than doing nothing.”
Doing nothing is a better message? What a wakawakwak, Eh.
“Congress has not formally authorized the use of force against Syria. And Trump himself, David Frum worries, may be too distracted by his own legal troubles to navigate the tangled web of conflicts in Syria.”
Now, now pray tell the Republicans who (the US PRESS?) who and which are really getting distracted by Trump’s “own legal troubles to navigate the tangled web of conflicts in Syria.”
Will lots of attention to those chemicalized in Syria bring more green bread to alleged purveyors of truth?
To think and believe that to punish
is the same as to stop wrongdoings
is not wakagen but wakarang thinking.
There’s more . . .
True. When members of the press
are the vanguards of press freedom but No.
When a President exercises the same power,
Members of the press might not like it
as stray bullets hit their butts for
a taste and feel of their own medicine.
There’s more
about military minds
and canalized thinking.
More about PRECISION
as armies march in unison
but not like drones
on a mission.
Popoy, pls lang. Could you include translations in plain English or Tagalog, of the ‘waka—-‘ words you use. I’m losing the wisdom of your other words in the comment. Peace.
okay no problem will do that. but you gave me an idea that if I have written 25 pages of wakawakwak I can explain that say in 40 pages and I will have a wakarang book of may be large print of 65 pages that I can donate to libraries of schools in the provinces. I just wrote a sample of my mindful verbosity. .
Thank you, Popoy. Just one occurrence per translation, ok na ako 🙂
That decision to visit and have touristic photos in the Berlin Holocaust Memorial
is not a wakawakwak but a light wakbokabo suggesting they know very little
of the details of the holocaust. Not even knowing enough to bring flowers
and offering prayers for the million victims of crude and gruesome microwaving.
Mga Wakarang.
As per request of Sup in translated Tagalog:
Yung pasiya ng tropa ni VP Leni na bumisita at palitrato sa Berlin Holocaust Memorial ay hindi naman kasuklam-suklam, para lang walang muwang (mga bobo eh) sa mga nakahihindik na nangyari noong holocaust, parang walang alam sa detalye ng nangyaring krimen. Kaya hindi sila nakaisip magdala ng bulaklak at korona at mag alay ng panalangin bilang pakikiramay at kapuso ng milyones na parang pinaslang sa pamamagitan ng bulok at hindi pa naiimbentong microwave.
Mga taong nalalabuan.
As per request to say it in clearer English language:
It seems ill-advised, precipitate and inappropriate the visit and photo-ops like tourists of VP Leni and Co, to the Berlin Holocaust Memorial. The event where I saw no flowers or prayers betrays their lack of deep knowledge of specific acts (human skin into wallets, human limbs into furniture legs) of inhumanity to a people, men women and children murdered in ways not done even to animals. A shame .. Naive and clueless they are.
SO, Please correct me, set me right IF I have posted inaccurate information, so I can in shame say good bye to writing here in TSoH.
THAT’S a mistake, Sup should be Sonny. Sorry Sup and Sonny for my being a Wakbokabo.
I forgive you Wakababa…
🙂
Bow while slowly stepping back as the curtain falls.
Wakababa is a word not in common usage or in any dictionary so I can not charge you with slander or libel, what ever your intention for calling me Ali Baba, este Wakababa. Heh, heh.
One comment of NHerrera caught my eye; as an oldie some distant memory effortlessly came to mind.
“Speaking of politics, I did not know, until now that Trump is truly “afraid” of Robert De Niro, one of my favorite actors. De Niro has a long history of calling Trump by name and hurling expletives on him, something which continued up to the recent weeks. But until now no tweets against De Niro from Trump?”
Distant memory of two gunslingers came to mind rushing vividly. Jack Palance before he got shot by Alan Ladd in Shane and Broderick Crawford before he was shot and got buried by Glenn Ford in the movie The Fastest Gun Alive. Jack and Broderick met in a Tombstone Bar. Broderick was bullying Jack. Jack was all smirk as Broderick keep insulting him and taunting him for a draw.
Broderick was boiling mad because Jack wasn’t saying anything as if Broderick was just a bedbug nobody. Jack wasn’t paying attention even after Broderick told the anxious crowd he gonna slap Jack’s face. The cowboys thought Jack was a coward and scared of Broderick because he was like as if Broderick was a non entity. The most serious insult one can dished out to a gunslinger is to give no notice of him.
The movie house suffered a black out and the movie ended in darkness. The enthusiasts audience just didn’t know how the movie ended and who really was scared of who. And that cowboy yarn is only distant memory because recall is really difficult for recent memory. .
Role Playing like Case Analysis is one training methodology which is used in training senior management executives. The Role is the dynamic aspect of status. Putting status into effect is to play a role.
Actors are experts in playing roles, varied and difficult roles of good guys and bad guys, normal and insane guys, of saints and killers, of soldiers and godfathers. Roles played could get internalized into the psychic of actors like when good screen lovers becomes expert real life lovers.
May be psychologists and pundits may guess the pattern of real life behaviour of actors to the kind of roles they repeatedly played in the movies. Aging Espanol actor Antonio Banderas got two recent movies playing good guy lawyer and army captain. By just Banderas’s filmography, can there be a hint of his behaviour in society? As in any case however, exceptions apply.