giggling gloria, blundering bush

someone should tell gma to STOP with the happy press releases trumpetting US aid and investment prospects etc. and to STOP with the videos showing her giddy and giggling and pa-cute while conferencing with her disaster officials.because back home here where death and destruction reign, we’re in no mood for such sophomoric shows of “success” and gaiety.

i just saw a woman ranting (justifiably) on tv news, demanding na tulungan sila, gusto nilang mahanap ang mga katawan ng mga pamilya nilang nadisgrasya ng sulpicio, ang nanay niya, dalawang anak niya, kapatid niya, gusto niyang mailibing man lang sila nang maayos, wag naman ilibing na lang kung saansaan ang mga bangkay… she started out dry-eyed, then became teary-eyed, and by the time she was cut off, i was in tears too.

ang sakit ng kalingkingan ay sakit ng buong katawan. whether or not acknowledged by the whole, the pain of the poor and the oppressed is the pain of all. nagluluksa ang bayan. kung hindi ka nasasaktan sa nangyari, ibig sabihin hindi ka totoong bahagi ng katawan -borloloy ka lang, singsing o sinturon o silicone.

~~~

on blundering bush, read fil-am benjamin pimentel. how disconcerting indeed that george w. it would seem knows no filipino in the u.s. other than the white house chef. and knows no philippine-american history other than the part where they “liberated” us from spain.

I want to tell you how proud I am to be the President of a nation that — in which there’s a lot of Philippine-Americans,” Bush told President Gloria Arroyo during her recent visit to the White House, where the head chef, Cristeta Comerford, is Filipino.

“They love America and they love their heritage. . . . I am reminded of the great talent of the — of our Philippine-Americans when I eat dinner at the White House.”

“And the chef is a great person and a really good cook, by the way, Madam President.”

… “America is proud of its part in the great story of the Filipino people,” he said.

But it quickly became pretty clear that he didn’t really completely get that story.

For Bush also declared before his Filipino hosts that the United States “liberated the Philippines from colonial rule” — conveniently forgetting that our homeland was once an American colony.

ONCE an american colony? more like, STILL an american colony, which would explain giggling gloria’s “special” relationship with the white house, AND why there are thousands of american troops in mindanao, AND why the u.s. government, according to ambassador kristie kenny herself, is building two airports in sulu and tawi-tawi, construction to begin before the year is out, “to encourage commerce and development in the two provinces.” kuno.

more like, to serve the anti-terrorist, anti-russia, anti-china purposes of the u.s. armed forces in this corner of southeast asia, a la subic and clark, never mind the constitution, never mind the muslims.