“THE success of Donald Trump has so defied the conventional wisdom of political punditry that a new genre of analysis has come into being. Call it Trumpology. It consists of reaching for exotic explanations from surprising sources. For example, Barton Swaim, who wrote ‘The Speechwriter: A Brief Education In Politics,’ hears magic in the Donald’s diction. Think word order. Think timing.”
Thus did American broadcast journalist Robert Siegel kick off a panel discussion on the mystique of Republican presidential aspirant and real estate mogul, Donald Trump, who currently leads the pack in the process of selecting the official GOP candidate in next year’s US presidential elections.
Participating in the discussion were PR specialist Mark McKinnon, vice-chair of Hill & Knowlton; political speech writer Barton Swaim; Scott Adams, the creator and cartoonist of Dilbert; and Rosalind Wiseman, a prominent parenting educator and author.
The opinions came from left field, right field and center field, to use baseball idiom, but they all appear to arrive at the same conclusion: Trump represents the “anger” of American voters.
This has been exacerbated by the recent terrorist attacks, such as the one in Paris, which have made Americans feel vulnerable. The more impressionable are pining for a personification of Dirty Harry who will “make their day” by eliminating the threats to their security. Like a typical used car salesman, Trump has vowed to do that and a whole lot more.
We are witnessing a similar phenomenon in the person of former Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte, said to be leading in the recent public opinions polls among presidential aspirants.
Duterte’s promises are the kind that could come from the mouth of Clint Eastwood as the San Francisco cop who fought crime by being a criminal himself – to the cheers of the movie audience. If elected president, Duterte would give the funeral parlors a windfall by liquidating drug dealers and assorted criminals. He would literally make the Philippines peaceful by making them rest in peace.
Duterte is foul-mouthed, lacing his public remarks with vulgar invectives. But that simply marks him as an over-aged juvenile. What makes him particularly dangerous is his obsession with extra-judicial killings as a short cut to peace and order.
Like Trump, Duterte is exploiting the frustration of the Filipino people over everything that seems to be going wrong in the country, and the seeming incompetence and cluelessness of the current administration. And like Trump, Duterte has one simple solution. Get rid of the crooks, the criminals, the incompetents and everyone who gets in the way of Duterte’s vision of a progressive Philippines.
Apparently, Duterte considers the Law an obstacle to achieving peace and order. He may even suggest to the courts that the best way to clear the backlog of cases is to “shoot the suspects dead.” He hasn’t said it yet but Duterte, as president, may decide to convert the Philippine National Police into the Philippine National Death Squad.
It’s classic used car salesman talk and macho bluster, but even supposedly intelligent Metro Manilans are buying it. Of course, it also helps that the campaign team of Duterte and vice-presidential hopeful, Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano, has some hotshot communicators and creative minds – with skills that can make black look white and bad sound good.
Duterte’s fans do not seem to care that Duterte’s reputed success as mayor of Davao does not necessarily qualify him to lead a country of over a hundred million people, the majority of whom are wallowing in poverty – and a large percentage of whom may be on the verge of turning to criminality in order to survive (would Duterte liquidate all of them?).
A Duterte fan enumerated on FaceBook what he described as “Ten P—Inang Achievements of Duterte in Davao.” The list consisted of ordinances covering smoking in public places, public intoxication, peace and order, using the karaoke after hours, vendors taking over sidewalks, etc. Aside from the incremental benefits created by these ordinances, nothing was said about job generation, the economy, foreign affairs, national defense, social welfare, health care, education and similar urgent national needs. But this simple-minded Duterte fan appears convinced that his favorite local executive is ready for prime time.
Concerning peace and order, his fans do not seem to realize that Duterte’s promise to summarily liquidate criminals could one day see their own relatives and loved ones – even themselves – at the point of a gun, on mere suspicion.
Duterte has publicly boasted that he personally killed criminal suspects, including setting one on fire – and to hell with due process (it makes you wonder if Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales has been sleeping on the job or has not been reading the postings on social media – otherwise, shouldn’t she go after Duterte with her usual hammer and tongs?).
Now, where do Nardong Putik and Adolph Hitler come in?
I happen to have written the screenplay of the film about that notorious Cavite bandit for Ramon Revilla. To say that his acting career was washed up at the time would be an understatement. But Revilla saw a chance to resurrect it by starring in a biopic on Putik.
His gamble hit the jackpot. Nardong Putik, the movie, was the biggest boxoffice hit that year, in spite of opening in the middle of a raging typhoon and floods in Metro Manila. But what followed next will give you an idea of how our people tend to confuse screen heroes with their perception of a real life knight in shining armor.
Encouraged by the box office success of his movie, as well as his subsequent films, Revilla ran for senator. He lost because he made the mistake of using his real name, Jose Bautista, in his Certificate of Candidacy. In the succeeding senatorial election, he ran again, this time as Ramon Revilla. He won. And not only that, he bred a new political dynasty in Cavite, with family members winning provincial posts and his son, Ramon “Bong” Revilla, Jr., taking his seat in the Senate.
I could have used former President and now Manila Mayor Joseph Estrada as an example of the confused perceptions among our people, but the analogy of Nardong Putik, a killer, is more akin to the macho persona that Duterte has donned. Erap is regarded more as a womanizer and, in this department, Duterte’s boast that he has two wives and two girl friends pales in comparison. Erap is smooth. Duterte is crude.
And what about Adolph Hitler? Isn’t comparing Duterte with Hitler like matching the neighborhood basketball team with an NBA franchise?
That may be the case, but the fascination with Duterte is grounded on the same sense of frustration and hopelessness that catapulted Hitler and the Nazi Party to a position of leadership in Germany.
An online write-up entitled, “Why was Hitler’s Nazi party so appealing to Germans in the 1930’s?”, is very instructive:
“The 30s was in the great depression and the monarchy (was) seen to do nothing to alleviate the problems of no money and short food supply. The Nazi party offered nationalisation and work, building the autobahns and other national projects, giving Germans a sense of self achievement by completing such major constructions…The Nazi party preyed on the sense of German pride in their self-achievement, using a charismatic Hitler to tell them how good and how much better than the rest of the world the Germans were. And since the party had done such a great job of ending the depression, then maybe, just maybe, it would be better for the whole world if they too were helped by the Germans, ruling them for their ‘own good.’… Of course this was taken a little too far and the party was ruled by idiots, insane people and complete lunatics and megalomania (sic). In ‘39 when all the trouble started, the people went along for the ride, only to realise very shortly that they were on an unstoppable avalanche to hell.”
And as history tells us, it was hell, not just for six million Jews, but for all of Europe.
On social media, I cited the example of Hitler in an exchange of opinions about Duterte with some friends. Responded one of them, an advertising man, “If Duterte’s Jews are the rich, he’s my dude.”
I wouldn’t describe my friend as irresponsible. I think he is just getting carried away by the Nardong Putik, Trump and Hitler syndrome. I hope he realizes this before it’s too late (or his rich clients hear about it). ([email protected])
