We are holding our own convention

Schizophrenia is a chronic mental disorder which inhibits sufferers from distinguishing between real and unreal events. It is difficult for them to think logically and they tend to have problems with normal behavior in social interactions.

Alas, Sen Sotto is not schizophrenic, at least not as far as the first sentence of the definition goes.  

But if he were, I can’t help wishing he were catatonic because then he wouldn’t say much, just stare into the distance, like I force myself to do when he starts lying. The alternative is to scream and shout and thus be carted off myself.

But, alas, he is not.

Could he be paranoid? I ask myself. Paranoid schizophrenia symptoms may include anxiety, anger or arguing, and false beliefs that others are trying to harm you or your loved ones. 

But even that last symptom would not necessarily be a false belief. After all, if part of our anger is directed at his daughter, Ciarra Anna, I guess you can hardly blame us, especially since in one of her tweets she herself invited such a response by saying:

“I take note. And I don’t forget, watch your backs.”

And lest I seem to be “inciting violence” let me quickly say that my hypothesis is that netizens will only harm Ciarra (if at all) with the intensity (or far less) that she attempts to harm us. After all, most netizens use their brains and sense of irony. Sticks and stones and all that.

In fact, methinkst he is the opposite of paranoid. Not only does he NOT have the false belief that everyone is trying to harm him, but he also has people who’ve got his back.  Not only his daughter, but his brother who cavalierly said something to the effect that anyone who criticizes Sotto is “naiinggit (envious)” I am sure the yes men he surrounds himself with probably also have his back, if only because if he falls, so do they, and it’s awfully difficult to get a job now.

Alas, all I can probably say with any degree of certainty is that at this point Sen Sotto is the opposite of paranoid. He has a fairly accurate idea of how ”the masa” will react. How else could he say, with no sense of irony on his part, that “If he wasn’t afraid of drug lords…[tayong netizens pa?”]

Not a single senator has said, at least not in public, anything along the lines of: Take it easy, or as Abe Lincoln said, “You can fool some of the people some of the time, but you can’t fool all of them all the time.”

Or, don’t insult their intelligence. And if you’re so full of hubris you can’t bring yourself to apologize, for God’s sake, stop plagiarizing! Please lang, Tito (or whatever it is frat brods call each other; for all I know it may be “Supreme being”) stop pushing your luck. 

Once you fall, these damn netizens will realize how strong they really are. Not just you, but all of us who make laws simply to suit ourselves, will be up sh*t’s creek without a paddle.

And if they said it in private, well, they weren’t all that convincing, were they? 

No, not everyone has seen him for what he is, at least at this point in space and time. But I am so hoping that changes. I am hoping in time for the next election, but maybe that is too soon.

We shall fight

But take heart. British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, when his country was on its knees during World War II, pummeled by the Germans with their superior power and evacuating its retreating troops from Dunkirk, said, “We shall fight them on the beaches, we shall fight them on the landing grounds, we shall fight them in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight them in the hills.” 

So we say to each other: “We (netizens and, alas, of mainly middle class sentiments) shall fight Sen Sotto, his daughter and all their cronies, on Facebook and Twitter. We shall fight them on the basis of rigorously researched data, quoting reliable sources, rather than the jokers he quotes. We shall fight by letting others know about the data he massaged to fit his prejudices. And we shall fight them on podcasts, cable TV, radio and the major TV networks. We shall fight them in broadsheets, magazines, and tabloids. We shall fight them in sari-sari stores, in blogs translating issues in our local dialects, in teach-ins with community workers who have shown the difference between campaigners with all their promises and people who want nothing more than to help them.”

During that same speech in the House of Commons on June 4, 1940 Churchill continued: “We shall never surrender, and even if, which I do not for a moment believe, this island or a large part of it were subjugated and starving, then our empire beyond the seas, armed and guarded by the British fleet, would carry on the struggle, until, in God’s good time, the New World, with all its power and might, steps forth to the rescue and the liberation of the Old.”

So we who believe in truth over falsehood, substance over form, can also paraphrase: “We, too, shall never surrender. And should we, which I am steeling myself for, find out the old guard with their old promises can once again seduce the masses with their superstar wives and with the slogans they pay advertising agents a fortune for, well, we shall watch each others’ backs and hope that our fellow Filipinos, OFWs, those who have settled on other shores but still have Filipino blood coursing through their veins, and our youth — too young to vote but old enough to present these issues in ways their parents understand — will continue carrying on the struggle until New Politics, with its admittedly fledgling power, wonder, inspiration and hope, steps forth to encourage us to liberate ourselves from the Old Politics of Senate presidents and Senate majority leaders who constantly insult us with their hubris” – and that’s just for starters.

Mabuhay po kayo, mabuhay tayong lahat. Bow. – Rappler.com