Friday, July 25, 2008

REPUBLICAN PARTY'S SKELETONS


I found no record of McCain speaking out against the now repulsive idea of America endorsing a tyrant like Marcos, but in a speech in 2006 -- 20 years after his downfall – Senator McCain spoke of the importance of promoting human rights abroad, recalling how in 1986, "the United States condemned Ferdinand Marcos' sham reelection, we earned the abiding gratitude of the Philippine people, who promptly threw out the dictator."

That's not exactly the complete story as he conveniently left out the part about Reagan and the Washington establishment praising and bankrolling the Marcos regime even as it rigged elections, threw opponents in jail, tortured them and looted the Philippine treasury. (And how could he forget Imelda's shoes and shopping sprees?)

Nearly 20 years after Marcos died in Hawaii, however, McCain has unexpectedly had to deal with the despised dictator's ghost.

In an embarrassing twist, it turned out that Charlie Black, one of McCain's closest advisers, once ran a lobbying firm that represented brutal dictators, including Mobutu Sese Seko of Zaire and – you guessed it – Ferdinand Marcos. Black resigned from the firm, BKSH & Associates, and is still with McCain (although he got him in trouble again recently by saying that another terrorist attack against the US would surely help boost his candidate’s chances in November.)

For Full Analysis

emphasis mine

I become nauseous every time Ronald Reagan is presented as "champion of democracy" because of his stand against USSR in the 80s. His tear down this wall speech only evoked a "whatever" response from me. The guy never stopped acting even when he was President.



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2 comments:

sonofaditch said...

I remembered George Bush Sr. when he was still Vice-President -- I think VP of Reagan, when he toasted Marcos saying that the US ADMIRES MARCOS' ADHERENCE TO THE PRINCIPLES OF DEMOCRACY. hahahahahahaha medyo may pinagmanahan si GW Bush.

More recently, the Spanish monarch Juan Carlos I also made analogous remarks -- but this time about GMA -- and El Rey de Espana was mocked by The Inquirer hahaha

Your comments on Reagan reminded me of his "partner-in-crime", Margaret (Iron Maiden-este-Lady pala) Thatcher, often praised but in actuality vehemently hated by the liberals in England. I've read that the graphic novel "V for Vendetta" was a sort of rebuke of Thatcher's administration. The "Irish Troubles" intensified during her administration...baka pati puso naging bakal na rin. hehe

Oresama Baganihan said...

as the Teodoro Locsin Sr of the Philippine Free Press once said "if only George Bush (Sr) had a taste of those democratic processes..."