Saturday, February 16, 2013

Angry Maude Rips Two Senator Ladies

Guest Article
By Maude Garrison

Insecurity is a beast. It eats at one's innards like acid, gnawing away at one's sense of self and the ability to see things objectively. Envy is its partner in crime.

Insecurity appears to reside in the Philippine Senate. Amongst the brightest and best schooled and most capable minds in the nation. It's spawn, envy, appears deeply held by certain members of that esteemed body, and I'm sorry to say they both wear skirts.

I noticed that Jojo last week endorsed Senator Legarda as a friend of President Aquino. I ran around hiding news articles from him to keep him from blowing his stack and switching to Nancy Binay. Then he found out anyway. Fortunately, he did not switch to Binay. He just shook his head in disgust.

So I have to deal double the grief on this blog, one helping for me and one for Jojo.

I'm dismayed . . . no, let me be truthful here, as ladies are occasionally inclined to be . . . I'm incensed to see Senator Legarda sucking up to voters at the expense of my homeland and at the expense of Philippine security. She is either doing crass politicking or she has she has joined Senator Santiago in the ranks of the apparently insecure and envy riddled legislators who are raising a "sovereignty" stink regarding an American ship stuck on a reef.

What a horrible threat to the sovereignty of the Philippines, eh? A boat accidentally ran into a reef!  Man the battle stations. Arm the cutter. Get those jets in the air as soon as they get here from Korea. Tell Japan quick quick to give us the 10 boats they promised.

After all, this horrid intrusion into our national ego is AMERICAN. It is military. It smacks of imperialistic hubris. The nerve, running into the reef by mistake. AN APOLOGY IS NOT ENOUGH. NO, WE WANT BLOOD. WE WANT . . . WE WANT . . . WE WANT . . well, I don't know, but money is not enough, apology is not enough.

Oh, yes. WE WANT A HEARING, A LYNCH MOB.  AN EMOTION STOKED SHOWCASE OF AMERICAN NEGLIGENCE AND ARROGANCE. THAT'S WHAT WE WANT. Our sovereignty is under attack! The nation is collapsing! The sky is falling!

Oh my God! The humiliation, THE HUMILIATION to the Philippines!

How can we ever recover?

No wonder men don't take we girls seriously. Men are overloaded on testosterone and we get hysteria.

Meanwhile let us duck our eyes from those Chinese camped intentionally on Philippine rocks right over there. 

We don't need no stinkin' hearing on that, or apology from them.

Well, for the Lady Legarda, it is election season, and so waving the "I'll stand up to America" placard is great for votes. Yeah, it smacks a little of prostitution, I admit, selling your friends down the river for a few votes. But these are politicians, I suppose we can't expect much better than that from them. I certainly don't expect better of my US congressmen who trek the treason line about every committee meeting.

But one is certainly inclined to ask, which is REALLY the bigger threat to sovereignty? A boat that accidentally runs into a reef or a senator who disparages and undermines an important defensive alliance protecting Philippine territory and autonomy?

Now Senator Santiago, perhaps we have come to expect this from her, a role model for my own occasionally indignant outbursts. But Senator Legarda? 

Senator Santiago is re-visiting the burr that has been under her saddle since the US spirited Private Smith from the Philippines before he could be lynched and Nicole embarrassed Filipinos by trekking off to American to find her sunshine there. "The humiliation! The humiliation!" Senator Santiago shrieked at the time, regarding the imbalanced imprisonment clause in the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA). So her personal credibility is staked to having that document shredded. A Singaporean shipping company, working on a contract for the US Navy, dumps sewerage into Manila Bay and it becomes a reason to attack the VFA. Not toss the shipping company from the Philippines.

Rationality, to the insecure, takes on a whole new dimension. It is slathered in envy and self-pity. And when it gets beyond civil, it is called hysteria. 

What is it with this bristling anti-Americanism that arises every day in some way in the Philippines? Big ways, little ways. What is it about this emotional neediness that has the Philippines always trying to appear taller by bringing America down?

You say I am sensitive, perhaps? Overly defensive?

Yes. Yes, I am. One can only take so much of this ridiculous immature schtick. And it is relentless.

So what do you lady Senators want from America? You want Americans to die to protect the Philippines, right? That's your agenda if China invades Palawan?

Or do you discount those deaths because "its really for America's interest"?

What ungrateful . . . can I use the word "wenches"?

Sorry, ladies. But it is my nephew you are talking about sending out to die. A seven tour Iraq veteran, father of three beautiful children. That is my friends from high school whose names are etched in gold letters in a black marble wall in Washington D.C. that you hold so cheaply. That you disparage so easily for personal political gain.

You want to know how to get an American angry? Demean his or her soldiers. Not the generals or their political bosses. Demean away. But lay off the working stiffs out on a boat on the other side of the planet from home who got a wrong map or read a map wrong and plowed into a reef. The working stiffs whose job it is to die for you and your family.

Yes. Yes, I am defensive when you senators rip into American troops and call them a threat to Philippine sovereignty. What kind of load are you consigning to them, the need to both defend the Philippines and carry your insecure, envious baggage, too?

It's a little thing when a blog commenter fires off a "go home to America" taunt at Jojo. Hey, consider the source.  It is a big thing when a senator of the Philippines loses her grace and dignity and undermines a critical alliance, causing the Chinese to roll doubled up in laughter at how easy it is to manipulate these running dog alliances. That is a threat both to the Philippines and the sailors on the boat because it encourages the brash Chinese to be even more brash.

Oh, senator ladies, you say this animostity toward the US is historical, this resentment of things American? Right, right, like those racist Americans from 114 years ago.

Nothing has changed in the Philippines in 114 years, so you figure nothing has changed in the US, either? Check again to see who is President these days and tell me the US is the same racist nation it was in 1898.

Or you mention those WWII American heathens who  were so brutal in Manila on the way to preserving Tagalog as the national language of the Philippines instead of Japanese, and who prevented the ladies of the Philippines from becoming career comfort women.

Well, I have a book for you historical resenters. It is called "The Power of Now" by Eckhart Tolle. He lets us in on a marvelous secret. The past is done. Over. Gone. It doesn't exist. People who live there are dysfunctional at best and crazy at worst. 

Senator Legarda wants to hold a hearing about the Reef accident. Here's a quote from her as reported in the Inquirer:

  • “We’re soft. We appear soft. And we should not be soft because this is a test of how we value our sovereignty and how we value what is ours.  Because if they can just step this way and say ‘aray’ (ouch), then move on, then we will not be respected by other countries.” 

You are not soft Senator. It's worse than that. You are disloyal to an ally for political expediency. You undermine an important defensive alliance for votes.

Trust me, that laughing dog China is not respecting you either. They are laughing.

You get tough with a vital ally that accidentally rams a boat into a hidden reef at 2 am in the night.

You meanwhile avert your eyes from the nation that  - - - coldly, calculatingly . . . wants to steal your wealth, the oil in Philippine territory. In broad daylight. And screw any reefs in the neighborhood, or turtles, or fish. This particular nation has ships blocking an atoll and is tossing Philippine fisherman seeking shelter there back out into the rough seas. An atoll that is 124 nautical miles from Luzon, inside the 200 nautical mile Exclusive Economic Zone that is PHILIPPINE TERRITORY.

Where's your hearing on that?

Hide your eyes. Duck and cover. China is a big authoritative bully, not that patsy America who is a fat and lazy friend, easy for ragging on. What is the term for someone who avoids the bully but beats up on the vulnerable guy? I'd look it up but I lost my Thesaurus and besides I'm on a roll here.

Here are some words from Senator Santiago (same source) as she dissed the U.S. Ambassador's apology as fake and manipulative:

  • “I am concerned that the American offer of compensation is made to appear, not as a dictate of legal obligation under international law, but as an indulgence in American magnanimity.”

  • “International law is clear that whether or not there was negligence or fault on the part of the US warship, under the principle of state responsibility, the US government is responsible for the partial destruction of Tubbataha Reef, which some say will need 250 years to be fully restored,”

What part of "protecting your own interests" does the good Senator expect the U.S. to abrogate. And what part of "insult" to an AMBASSADOR does the undiplomatic lady not grasp. And where, Senator Santiago, is the outrage that Tubbataha is the ONLY AND LAST preserved reef in the vast ecological wonderland surrounding the Philippines? What have senators been doing all these years as this precious coral that takes 250 years to grow has been dynamited, hacked to pieces, smuggled, and ground up to pave driveways?

How about a hearing on THAT, dear hysterical ladies. Who was not doing their preservation job, senators?

How about a hearing on why words of "treason" were thrown around between Senators Enrile and Trillanes and FA Secretary Del Rosario about the China back door fiasco. What about Senators who divulge state secrets in a public hissy fit on the floor of the Senate. Does THAT not undermine Philippine sovereignty? Where is the Senate hearing on THAT, apparently negligent, lazy, insecure and envious lady senators?

No, no. Let's go after the Americans. Loudly. Front page stuff. 

Insecurity drives envy. Envy drives anger. Anger causes you to cut off your nose to spite your face. It's an American expression, although Sancho Panza probably used it, too. Another one is tossing the baby out with the bath water.

From the bamboo huts that my neighbors live in to the halls of the hallowed Senate, the modus operandi is the same. Piss on the people who can help you and ignore the thieves and miscreants in your midst.

It is soooooo  sooooooo  . . . where's the flicking thesaurus?

Forgetabout it. Use your own words.

I'm outta here.

Screw the kickapoo. I need skotch.

18 comments:

  1. Well written article! No one is perfect but the stupidity of some Filipino politicians is special!
    I just can not figure it out why the USA is still want to be there.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Why thank you Attila the Honey,

      Joe says the US should just rip up the VFA and base boats in Guam or that friendly Australia. I think you two think a lot the same.

      Delete
  2. “I am concerned that the American offer of compensation is made to appear, not as a dictate of legal obligation under international law, but as an indulgence in American magnanimity.” - MERIAM SANTIAGO


    MANILA, Philippines — Petron Corp. announced on Thursday night a P1.80 per kilo rollback on its liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) brands “Gasul” and “Fiesta Gas.”

    The oil giant firm, in a text advisory, said that the price cut would take effect at 12:01 a.m. Friday, February 1. - FROM MANILA BULLETIN RUN BY U.P. Ateneo and La Salle Journlism Graduates

    Philippine Press make it appear that PETRON IS MAGNANIMOUS, too !!!

    Meriam must have thought Americans are like Philippine Press.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Mariano, you wild man you, I do fear your daggers are sharper than mine and you strike right at the heart of things. How good sense escapes the high-minded words of Senator Santiago.

      Delete
  3. Never a dull moment in the Philippines.

    Filipinos are ripping Americans apart while the Chinese are tuna-fishing in Philippine seas.

    Filipinos must think that Americans are weak and Chinese are strong.

    See, people? Filipinos find weakness om Amercan-style diplomacy. Chinese gun-boat diplomacy is strength.

    I SO LOVE FILIPINOS. THEY MAKE ME MORE INTELLIGENT.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Actually, I think Filipinos are reasonable and smart and polite and funny except when envy turns them into slavering green monsters. And the mention of America seems to act like a light switch from some, summoning forth rabid illogic. By the way, you should see my new boyfriend. Whooo hooo. Laboring class, but sharp as a tack and muscles all over the place if you catch my drift. He is so laid back that . . . well, nevermind all that . . .

      Delete
  4. 1. Oh, the burn! I can feel the heat from here (Brisbane), which is 5817.78 klicks from Manila.

    2. Wench: 1. Informal term for a (young) woman. 2. [archaic] A woman who engages in sexual intercourse for money.

    2.1 I am insufficiently a gentleman for thinking that the lady senators do not meet the first definition. And I am sufficiently a gentleman to concede that they do not meet the second definition.

    2.2 If anybody can work out the meaning of what I said there, let me know.

    3. I have said all I have to say on this matter in the previous blog. My 16 February at 4:44 AM post “nicely summarizes” – so concedes JoeAm and so methinks - my view on the matter. Items 2 and 3.2 express my verdict on Senator Santiago, and I extend that verdict to Senator Legarda.

    4. The latest “Present Moment Reminder” from Tolle in my inbox states: “Acknowledging the good that is already in your life is the foundation for all abundance. (Oneness With All Life)”.

    4.1 It is easy to paraphrase that and say to the lady senators, “Acknowledging the good that is already in the alliance is the foundation for all harmony”.

    5. Did someone say “Skotch”? Quick, pour me a double! ¡Salud!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Eddie Sweetie, a tip of the tippler to ye.

      Wench, eh. You are right. 1. Doesn't work at all, no matter how many skin scrubs Legarda has had. By the way, Senator Miriam was quite a babe in her younger thinner less angry days. I'll se if Jojo can post a picture over in the right column. And 2. Doesn't fit either. Maybe I should just say inconsiderate ladies.

      I read your previous comments on Joe's blog. Your typewriter runs at the lip like my mouth, I fear. But at least you are orderly.

      I found Tolle's book profound but oh so tedius. He said the same thing over and over again, that can be said in one crisp sentence. "The past does not exist." That is shockingly important to realize and I suppose he wanted to make sure we had a good grasp of it. I like the quote you provide.

      4. is what ought to be done by both allies.

      5. Salud! Double.

      Delete
    2. I may have found the proper term for these ladies. Instead of wenches, there is baggage. From the Free Dictionary or WordReference:

      Baggage: Irish informal: a cantankerous old woman

      Cantankerous: quarrelsome; irascible

      Irascible: easily angered; irritable

      Delete
    3. Great, Edgar. I love that.

      "Maude, you are baggage."

      Ahahahaha. I'll try it on her later today. I wonder if I can type with a concussion.

      Irascable is great, too.

      Delete
  5. Where is the like button on this blog? And the forward button to mail it to all friends?

    Seldom I agree with Americans, but this analysis is sharp and to the point, inflate a mouse until it looks like an elephant and then misuse it for political boasting.

    (But by the way, how can the inventors of Google Map blame a wrong map? And do the military have nothing even better and more accurate than Google Earth or can that only be uses for nukes? Teach your boys to read a PROPER map before you send them to die for an ally!)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi, Jose Joseph, your words are better than a hundred like buttons sweetie. Thank you for them.

      Jojo is too cheap and technologically deficient to figure out how to do Wordpress or fancy stuff. He celebrated for two days when he figured out how to do photo banners at the top. The best is to copy the link and paste it everywhere known to man and woman.

      "Inflate a mouse until it looks like an elephant and then misuse it . . ." That is great, very visual.

      I agree the handling of the situation from the US Navy has been less than helpful. I suppose it is a military secret that they bought their maps second hand from China maybe, and, well, they work like Chinese goods often do. I'd rather they simply report what went wrong. The secrecy only creates suspicion.

      Delete
    2. @Josephivo, Maude is sipping too much kickapoo. There are share buttons at the bottom of each blog article. They are rather small and gray, but they are there. You can also e-mail the article to a friend with one click. That is a new edition, as of today. Maude does not know that I am a skilled fortran programmer.

      Delete
  6. Oh you know what, if the US Senate or the US Congress will announce to the whole world that they would like to invite Asian lawmakers to go to the US. I am sure that these two lady senators will be the first to present themselves that they are available. If they are not chosen, I am sure they will continue to rant and rave.

    Well, what do we expect ... they will do and say anything just to get votes from the Filipino people. Getting elected is their number one concern and they will do it by hope or by crook.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ah, yes, it is the manipulative behavior that you point out that drives me nuts. Legarda is showboating for votes. And, yes, have Obama invite her to Washington and her ego would fly so high she'd cancel her hearings. Because the hearings have no foundation to them. Threat to sovereignty indeed . . .

      Crass manipulation of a friendship.

      Thanks for your comments.

      Delete
    2. Yes, that is the term "manipulative behavior", they will twist everything in their power to attract the vote that they like. Now, how can we solve that problem, how can we point to the voters that most of the politicians, like these two lady senators are just manipulating events so they will look good and sound good to voters?

      Delete
  7. Wow. I thought that Julie Metz was right when she said that "Hypocrisy has its own elegant symmetry", I can see the symmetry but what the two lady senators have shown is far from elegant.

    Glad you're back.
    >Eric

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ahh, the inimitable Eric, a hottie who slips in now and then with a particularly insightful comment. Jule Metz would go nutz in the Philippines on some days. On those days, I've taken to dragging down some coconuts from up the hill, a few pesos and the cutters give them to me. The handiman slices off the end, I pour in about a half-gallon of rum, jam in a long straw, and the world starts to slip back into a wonderful oozy dissymmetry. Problem is, staring up at those gorgeous white, thick Philippine clouds, I am reminded of the puffy orations of a certain senator blowing smoke, also white and fluffy.

      But then, I don't really care after a while. ;>

      Stay hot, young fellow.

      Maude

      Delete

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