Comments on: The sound of silence: coverage of hearing

By: Marilyn

Marilyn — Sat, 07 Oct 2006 06:20:02 +0000

Wow!!! Good job. Could I take some of yours triks to build my own site?

By: foot voter

foot voter — Sun, 11 Sep 2005 20:17:03 +0000

yes, Carl, this really is a power play between several factions of the elite. in fact, i think that can be said of our ‘democracy’ in general. the only choice that the rest of us face (short of rebellion or emigration) is which faction of the elite to support. as i see it, there are three general groups: the hypocritical grab-power-at-all-costs-and-damn-the-country Marcos-Estrada-Poe coalition, the FVR-deVenecia-LakasCMD group in which Arroyo seems to be a reluctant member, and the civil society groups and remnants of the Cory Aquino forces. the first seems to me to be the most blatant in recruiting celebrities and running pseudo-populist campaigns. not surprising, since it is what sells these days. the third, i will grant for the sake of argument, probably have good intentions. but good intentions will not necessarily translate to good governance. i fear these people will either get swallowed alive or try to push the system too much and get themselves kicked out of power by the first group. politics after all is the art of the possible, and we all know what they say about good intentions (the road to hell and all…). as a thirtysomething, tax-paying middle-class citizen who would rather not emigrate, i think i’d rather place my bets on the second group i’ve mentioned. trapos they may be, but i think they realize the country is deteriorating, and that their continued legitimacy in leading the country is heavily dependent on improving the economic situation, or at the very least staunching further bleeding. their feet are to the fire, so to speak, and they have to deliver.

most of us who are quietly supporting the president don’t give a hoot about the ‘moral outrage’ over ’stolen elections’. her legitimacy ultimately rests on whether she is able to deliver economic growth. Marcos and Estrada were booted out precisely because their actions proved inimical to the economy. had it been otherwise, they probably would’ve remained in power and no one would’ve complained too much. all Ms. Arroyo has to do is refrain from doing something incredibly stupid that might cause economic meltdown. her ‘i am sorry’ speech came close to that, but thankfully she seems to have a much better political team in place now.

personally, i am sick and tired of this moro-moro the opposition is playing. the expenditures the administration has to put out for political survival is not exactly small change. but i dread even more the pillaging that will occur if the opposition succeeds in its gambit to oust Arroyo. the payoffs are sickening, really. they could have been used for more constructive purposes, housing or schools for instance. but the political alternatives they have staved off are far worse, and so they are a necessary expense.

i plan to make it a point next election to convince everyone i know not to vote Escudero, Custodio, Cayetano and their cohorts into the Senate, for which they seem to be campaigning even now. even better, i hope the next time elections come around, there won’t even be a Senate.

sorry about the rant, i just had to vent.

good blog, by the way.

cheers

(i tried to post this several days ago, but it was blocked by SpamKarma. this is the third attempt…)

By: a

Fri, 02 Sep 2005 15:27:40 +0000

By: Carl Cid S.M. Inting

Carl Cid S.M. Inting — Thu, 01 Sep 2005 13:16:36 +0000

wonder if this guy edmund reyes can be turned? can any one of these politicians be turned? – miron, what are you after? Of course this guy can’t be turned by normal perks. The family grew rich from sucking up to the Marcoses. This guy is angling for a Senate run in 2006. He’s one of the ambitious young politicians, like Chiz Escudero, et al. who don’t give a damn about what happens. These guys are after making a name for themselves. The impeachment complaint is only incidental. Never mind if it fails, as long as they get enough media milege to make a name for themselves. 2006 will really usher in a whole new kettle of fish. Good luck, Philippines! You’re gonna get more of the same of these budding trapos!

By: joey legarda

joey legarda — Thu, 01 Sep 2005 08:40:57 +0000

the minority “young guns” are really younger than they look!!!!they are like lil kids who just wanna get what they want via dramatics & theater! the bottom line is that they need to get those 79 votes!!! 1/3 is a lot less than 1/2 or 2/3. they must not keep on blaming the majority if they are not capable of convincing the others.much more they should be ashamed of them selves to be crusaders of some sort of good.
all they want is to impeached while they are being backed by red flags!!!!!!
dinky soliman is a dangerous character!!!!
on monday before the plenary in the pm, what will she “it occured to me” this time!!!!
anyone who has been a traitor to her boss is not to be trusted and that is dinky soliman!!!

By: miron

miron — Thu, 01 Sep 2005 08:36:53 +0000

i wonder if this guy edmund reyes can be turned? can any one of these politicians be turned? i’m still hoping there are fundamentally decent people out there we can collectively try to convert.

By: djuara

djuara — Thu, 01 Sep 2005 05:15:41 +0000

CRY FREEDOM!

By: manuelbuencamino

manuelbuencamino — Thu, 01 Sep 2005 04:14:24 +0000

They started out by screwing the minority and ended up playing with themselves

By: Carl Cid S.M. Inting

Carl Cid S.M. Inting — Wed, 31 Aug 2005 23:30:52 +0000

F said, “As for political theater, no one can top Manny Villarâ€™s show-stopping transmittal of the articles of impeachment. It was all form,the complaint was shoddy and the Speaker circumvented the rules, but he came out smelling like roses. To have criticized him then as an opportunist with no choice but to transmit the articles anyway (because Erap was set on unseating him in the first place) was blasphemy. Everyone equated his theatrics with heroism.”

That fits in with what Teddyboy Locsin said yesterday afternoon to David Celdran on ANC. He said he regrets having signed Erap’s impeachment because it was premised on a pack of lies. I was shocked when Teddyboy said that all those Chavit affidavits were falsehoods. So where does that bring us? Erap got a raw deal, do we turn back the clock? Well, Teddyboy says that he is now a sadder but wiser man. That is why he will be less impetous or impulsive, especially when politicians play on emotions.

By: holyfather

holyfather — Wed, 31 Aug 2005 19:48:25 +0000

malungkot na araw ito para sa ating Bayan. wala na yata talagang pag-asa. kakalimutan na lang ba natin na ibinastos tayong mga mamamayan ni gloria noong kinausap niya si garcillano? mahina talaga tayong mga Pilipino.