Monday, October 04, 2004
Zen
I was channel-surfing late last night when I caught the whole US Presidential Debate on C-Span (I had only seen clips and read transcripts until then).It was the first time I saw either candidate speak (relatively) extemporaneously, and I was quite surprised. I was surprised by how well John Kerry spoke and how well he articulated his ideas, especially since I had followed the Democratic primaries and I always found Kerry to be rather unexciting (his running mate, John Edwards, was the best speaker in the bunch, not to mention the most handsome; if Filipinos were voting, I bet he would have won).
I was also surprised with Bush's performance, and I realized just how dead-on Will Ferrell's impression of him was. Seriously, while he was speaking, I was half-expecting him to throw, "Don't mess with Texas" out there, and I wouldn't have been surprised if he closed the debate with, "Live, from New York, it's Saturday Night!"
Watching the video of the debate, I realized that the Bush people's strategy for the night involved calling Kerry a flip-flopper as much as he could. The label has unfortunately stuck, which is a testament to the power of the right-wing American media, and ironic as well, since Bush has done much more flip-flopping on issues.
In fact, I distinctly remember a Daily Show special segment where Jon Stewart moderated a debate between President George W. Bush, and the only man tough enough to stand up to him: Texas Gov. George W. Bush. They showed clips of Dubya as president and as a presidential candidate making opposite statements, highlighting the differences between what Bush was saying as a candidate, and what he actually did as President.
And on that note, in honor of Jon Stewart, I leave you with this week's Filipino Moment of Zen courtesy of the Hon. Senator Lito Lapid:
[Sen. Lapid was explaining] the reason why testimonies of escort girls identifying their alleged legislator-clients behind closed doors or in "executive" session should not be disclosed.
Sen. Lito Lapid reasoned out: "Kung meron man, huwag na sana banggitin pangalan dahil siyempre kung nagbayad naman, wala naman silang kasalanan. Nagbayad naman."
[ from William Esposo, INQ7.net Online Columnist ]
