Tuesday, May 04, 2010

Gang Green

It's almost 2 a.m. and I feel like writing


a customer case study for one of our clients.

And in an attempt to counter this dorkiness, I closed Microsoft Outlook and logged on to Blogger instead. Here I am, staring at an almost blank white space which isn't so blank anymore because I managed to type a number of words to convey that I'm staring at an almost blank white space which isn't so blank anymore.

My life in the past couple of weeks has been really colorful. It's a frenzy of work, work, work, and also balanced by late nights with friends and family get togethers on weekends. I'm not sure why but since my birthday week, I've been busier in everything. At work, it always feels like I'm chasing something bust most of the nights after work, I get to reward myself for getting through the day (with a drink, a movie, something new).

Similar to the state of the nation now – we are swimming in the colors of the rainbow, more prominently in yellow, orange, green, red and blue. About four months ago, I decided on my presidential bet. I chose to go green. The turning point was when I caught a debate on TV which was participated in by most of the presidential candidates. I took notice of this guy, perhaps one of the youngest candidates, holding out his own against the more known names. A viewer questioned his affiliation to the president and while it is a drawback, he defended it quite well in saying that he won’t turn his back on the person who gave him the opportunity work in the government at such a young age. He wouldn’t turn his back on the person who saw his potential and trusted in his capability to handle the Dept. of National Defense, but he won’t stand in the way of justice should the soon former president find herself under prosecution in the court of law.

I’ve been impressed by this candidate who was relatively unknown until he decided to run under the administration party. Amid all the mudslinging and the negative vibe that emanates from the two more popular presidentiables, my president is promoting positive campaigning. Very few are the instances when he’d throw a jab at a fellow candidate. He isn’t part of the senseless arguments in presidential debates. He doesn’t even have a powerful legion of celebrities proclaiming support for him. To a certain extent, this is all working in his favor for most of the people who place their bets on him (at least most of the ones I know) are his true believers. People who actually see the feasibility of his plans and believe in his platform. These are the people who thought long and hard about the next president, and eventually decided to overlook his association with the incumbent administration based on the merit of his platform.

I am perhaps one of the few who do not see this current administration as a total failure. I actually think that a couple of years from now, people will get to appreciate what has been done in the past six years. It’s just that the politicking was too much that our current president wasn’t given the chance to lead properly.

I feel that the clamor for one presidential candidate to run was nothing more than an outpouring of emotion – love and gratitude for his parents who did so much for the country. It’s almost some kind of blind fanaticism that people fail to realize there’s so much more to the presidency than just lineage. He has done nothing. Unfortunately, it looks like he has the greatest chance of winning in this elections.

I remember a scene in Iron Man 2 where a news commentary was being aired on CNN regarding Pepper’s appointment as the CEO of Stark Industries. They said she was nothing more than Tony Stark’s assistant, what does she know about running one of the most powerful conglomerates in the world? BUT Pepper was Tony’s assistant. Pepper did the ground work while Tony was busy with Iron Man. Pepper worked behind the scenes and laid everything out for Tony Stark the CEO, which is different from his hat as Tony Stark inside the Iron Man suit. And because of this exposure, Pepper knew the ins and outs and has familiarized herself with the business, which makes her qualified to lead the multinational company.

Can we say the same for the Yellow Ranger? What has he done again? The yellow ranger didn’t play a big role in his mother’s time. He didn’t do anything remarkable during his tenure as a senator. His platform is a rehashed version of his mother’s. A lot of other people are more qualified for this role and the voters must realize this. May 10 is more than just putting that yellow ribbon to wherever.

On a separate note, I have a strong feeling that our Green ranger stands a good chance on this one. As we get closer to Dday, those undecided are no longer undecided. More people are coming out to support him. If he doesn’t win this, I think he’ll end up higher than fourth because we shouldn’t trust those surveys. Note that Fidel Ramos did not top the surveys but still went on to win the presidency.

I can feel Alanis Morissette when she lamented the no smoking sign on her cigarette break, the ten thousand spooons when all she needed was a knife... I carefully thought about who to vote for, participated in disucussions and debates with my friends, set-out to change the minds of my relatives to vote for Green instead of Yellow and Orange, only to find out last month that I would be out of the country on election day. Hahahaha.  I also realize that there's a good chance that these dirty, filthy politicians will work to influence the outcome of the elections so I won't really lose anything by not being able to vote. I will, in fact, gain another stamp on my passport and get to see another country, enter another continent and push on with my Thirsty Traveler series. The Philippines will always be the Philippines. I'll only be bummed if Gibo loses by just one vote, which is highly unlikely.

Just FYI. Hindi rin ako natanong sa survey.