‘As a Filipino observing the US elections from a safe distance, I am saddened and amused that this is the type of campaign being waged
in the US today.’
YES, Kamala Harris cheated during the last presidential debate. Not only did she get the questions ahead of time, but she was also wearing special earrings, one that doubled as earphones that allowed her husband, Doug, to whisper the answers to her.
Shame!
And yes, the Haitians flooding Springfield, Ohio are feasting on the beloved pets of the city residents. “Who Let the Dogs Out” is the new anthem of pet lovers all over Springfield who want to keep their pets safe from an inglorious death.
Shame!
And yes, the description of Kamala as a communist and fascist at the same time and in the same breadth is totally accurate. She does want to become a dictator to take away the freedoms of all American schoolchildren who will go to school one day, go home a few weeks later, and realize that someone had operated on their bodies to switch them from male to female or vice versa.
Shame!
The above are some of the charges flying from the mouths of Donald Trump, his running mate JD Vance, and their MAGA talking heads as they race to the finish line of the heavily contested presidential race. From my perspective, they should be laughable — except that millions of Americans take them seriously and put so many others at risk and in harm’s way. For example, the Governor of the State of Ohio and the Mayor of Springfield have time and again stated that the “eating the pets” claim is totally false and that the Haitians in their city are legal immigrants. And they’ve asked that a stop be put on the effort to spread those scurrilous claims. Both the Governor and the Mayor are members of the Republican Party.
As a Filipino observing the US elections from a safe distance, I am saddened and amused that this is the type of campaign being waged in the US today. Amused, well because the buffoonery on display for all to see is uniquely American. The claim, for example, that the Haitians have come from Haitia reminds me of a then vice president (also a Republican) who said something to the effect that he had to brush up on his Latin because he was going on a tour of Latin America.
I am also even more amused because there is an audience that laps it up. For example, years back Donald Trump was hitting then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat from California, claiming that “she destroyed San Francisco.” Fast forward a decade or so and now Trump claims that Kamala Harris “destroyed San Francisco.” Makes me suspect that in the future, when Trump tries again and finds himself running against Gavin Newsome, Trump will again claim that Newsome “destroyed San Francisco.”
Either none of his devoted followers have noticed that it’s the same old song being played over and over again with just the names changed, or they have noticed but just don’t care.
And that’s where the sadness comes in. When the voting public seems to have no minimum standards against which they hold their public officials, then the public gets the leaders they deserve.
And this is true not just of America but also of the Philippines. As scandal after scandal is exposed which happens to you when you fall from power and are now naked and unprotected by the power and influence — even fear — that you used to wield. This is what politics in the Philippines has always been — a cycle of corruption and exposes that never ends because “weather-weather lang ‘yan” never ends, too.
Alice Guo is just the latest, with some of the more noteworthy big ones being Quirino’s golden “inidoro” (toilet bowl) to Macapagal’s Harry Stonehill connection to the Marcos years and the Cory years and PEA-Amari and BW and Pharmally.
I am not sure if there will be a new generation of Americans who will wake up. I am not sure if there will be a new generation of Filipinos who will wake up. In my six decades, I’ve seen stirrings that have been easily snuffed out. So I am not sure if I am still hopeful.
Alice Guo does not represent the rot that has eaten away at the decency of the Philippine political elite. Kamala cheated. The Haitians from Haitia eat the dogs and cats.
This is the state of politics in 2024. Shame!
