Masochists

I was particularly amused when I read an online article about George W. Bush. Apparently, his popularity is at an all time low, and now majority of Americans disapprove of the war against Iraq. It’s easy to understand why now, the Iraq war has been met with disapproval; thousands of American troops are coming home in coffins (some don’t even get to come home at all), civilians are being killed, mutilated, and displaced from their homes, and the money that should be used for education, medicine, and aid for the victims of the recent hurricane Katrina is squandered on munitions.

Well, I wish I can say that I don’t blame the Americans who once supported the war for their current disapproval of Bush. But I do blame them. After the 9/11 attacks, everyone seemed to be jumping on the bandwagon of Bush’s “War against terror.” Everyone was applauding when Bush blurted out that phrase “You are either with me or against me.” Everyone seemed to believe Bush when he said that weapons of mass destruction are hidden in Iraq, and so the most rational thing to do was wage war there and kill thousands of innocent civilians just to get Saddam Hussein. One doesn’t need to be a genius to figure out that Bush shouldn’t be going for Saddam Hussein but for Osama Bin Laden. But I guess everybody forgot to tell him that.

It shouldn’t come as a surprise that now, everything seems to be backfiring for Dubya. He has brought it upon himself, and now he is reaping all the “benefits.”
Now that it has dawned on the American people that they have been screwed, Bush should be trying hard now to win back their support. But it seems that he isn’t about to change his tack, so he can’t expect to get their sympathy. The sympathy of Donald Rumsfeld and Tony Blair wouldn’t be enough.

But alas, this is where we differ from the United States.

While the Americans are voicing their protest for being f**ked up by Bush, we enjoy being screwed by Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. We know that iniquity after iniquity is being committed but we keep mum amid all these. We know that GMA is taking us for fools and that our current cynicism just emboldens her to f**k us even more, but we don’t do anything about it. Instead, we relish every injustice that the government wreaks on us.

We dismiss as masochists those penitents from Pampanga who flagellate themselves and get crucified every Good Friday.

Ah, but this is a case of the pot calling the kettle black.