By William M. Esposo
Sunday, November 9, 2008
Momentous ascendancies to power like the rise of Barack Obama in the US and Cory Aquino in the Philippines in 1986 are created by the monumental failures of the regimes they succeeded.
The failures and excesses of the Marcos dictatorship created the conditions that promoted the rise of Cory Aquino. The arrogance, failures and unilateralism of the George W. Bush administration in the US pushed the American voters to vote for Barack Obama, the first African-American US President.
Without Ferdinand Marcos and George W. Bush, it would have been imponderable to even imagine the ascendancies of Cory Aquino and Barack Obama.
No woman, especially one without any government and political experience like Cory Aquino, was hitherto ever elected president in the Philippines. However, Marcos created extraordinary conditions that made Filipinos consider extraordinary solutions.
Two years ago, if you are a betting man, you would see better odds in Ateneo Blue Eagle Chris Tiu making it to the first five of the Boston Celtics than in Barack Obama being elected US president. However, George W. Bush also created extraordinary conditions that made Americans consider an extraordinary solution — an African-American president.
In February 3, 2003, The Philippine STAR published an article I wrote where I shared my intuition that the crash of the Space Shuttle Columbia could be an omen of the fall of the American Empire. My article (“Maybe Bush will listen to the omen”) enumerated the many uncanny coincidences that seemed like a bad omen for the US.
Columbia was the original name of America and the visible trail of the Space Shuttle crashing from the sky depicted the ominous comet that is known to presage tragic major world events like a world war.
Also rather ominous is that the bulk of the Columbia debris fell in Texas (which is the home State of the US president) in a town named Palestine (which is the name of a potential Middle East flashpoint). It is not inconceivable that a world war, which could even be a nuclear war, could be triggered by events in the Middle East.
“The American president will not heed the counsel of allies. The appeal of the Pope (the late Pope John Paul II) meant nothing to him. He ignores the lessons of history. Maybe, now he will heed the warnings of what appears to be the omen.” I said in that article regarding the US invasion of Iraq.
Five years after the Iraq invasion, who will now argue that indeed the crash of the Space Shuttle Columbia was a dire omen? More than anything else, the Iraq invasion destroyed American goodwill in the world. US inability to successfully conclude their Iraq engagement reinforced US weaknesses and limitations that the US defeat in Vietnam exposed.
At its height, the US spent an average of $40 billion a month in maintaining their armed force in Iraq. The Iraq War is easily the single biggest cause of the US budget deficit that grew beyond tolerable proportions from the Clinton era to the present Bush regime.
By repeating Hitler’s mistake of fighting two fronts, the US got stuck in two wars — one in Iraq and another in Afghanistan — which created the single biggest stimulus for the clamor for change that culminated in the election of Barack Obama. Obama wisely rejected the Iraq misadventure even when other Democrats approved the Iraq invasion.
Barack Obama enters the White House with the overwhelming support and well-wishes of Americans as well as other nationals who are hoping that he will rectify the mistakes of George W. Bush and restore American standing and goodwill in the world.
The arrogant George W. Bush will leave the White House with most of his people and other peoples of the world wishing that he never took residence there at all. Nothing could be more devastating for an outgoing US President than the thought that many of your own people are wishing that you never became president at all.
For us Filipinos, we should wish that President-elect Barack Obama will take stock of the abuses against democracy that are happening in our country and that he will use US influence to help us correct these abuses. Another US President from the Democratic Party — Jimmy Carter — was just about the only US president who took action against the Marcos dictatorship.
In his acceptance speech, President-elect Barack Obama said: “And to all those watching tonight from beyond our shores, from parliaments and palaces to those who are huddled around radios in the forgotten corners of our world — our stories are singular, but our destiny is shared, and a new dawn of American leadership is at hand. To those who would tear this world down — we will defeat you. To those who seek peace and security — we support you. And to all those who have wondered if America’s beacon still burns as bright — tonight we proved once more that the true strength of our nation comes not from the might of our arms or the scale of our wealth, but from the enduring power of our ideals: democracy, liberty, opportunity, and unyielding hope.”??
It is on those American ideals that President-elect Obama mentioned that we Filipinos should pin our hopes that the US that promoted the Marcos dictatorship will revert back to the US that is a champion of freedom and democracy.
Past US administrations have adopted the detested ‘Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde’ character of US foreign policy that is willing to support a son-of-a-bitch if he happens to be their son-of-a-bitch. That is the Mr. Hyde character of US foreign policy that supported many dictatorships and tyrants so long as they serve US geopolitical interests.
If he will be true to his ideals, Barack Obama will be betraying his defined mission if he will be indifferent to the virtual dictatorship governing this country.
Americans like to think that they taught Filipinos democracy. Well, democracy is being raped in this country. Unarmed Filipino activists are being murdered. Freedom of the press is under constant assault. A new Constitution is being proposed in order to perpetuate the virtual dictatorship. What will President Barack Obama do about these?
The US is seen as the promoter of a Moro State in Mindanao which will result in the dismemberment of the Republic. What will President Barack Obama do about this?
The Filipino-American relationship has been largely one-sided and the US has been less than fair and honest. Will President Barack Obama correct the historical mistakes and deal with the Philippines as befits a loyal ally?
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Chair Wrecker e-mail and web-site: macesposo@yahoo.com and www. chairwrecker.com
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