LA Unrest Saddens Us

By Alex P. Vidal 

“We live in an age, in an era where there is so much negativity, there is so much violence in the world, there is so much unrest and people are at war, that I wanted to promote the word love and red signifies love.” – Elton John

IF the senators in the Philippines were composed of Hilario Davide Jr., Rene Saguisag, Raul Roco, Raul Manglapus, Eva Estrada-Kalaw, Jovito Salonga, Wigberto Tanada, Heherson Alvarez, Edgardo Angara, Alberto Romulo, Blas Ople, Miriam Defensor-Santiago, Franklin Drilon, Ernesto Maceda, Neptali Gonzales, to name a few good men and women, when the impeachment trial against Vice President Sara Duterte-Carpio came, the trial would have started months ago—or is already about to end.

But because times have changed and most of the senators today don’t have the moral scruples and are grossly incompetents, what has transpired, so far, were political theatrics and moldy exhibitionism instead of formal and uninterrupted impeachment proceedings.

Decency and delicadeza are dead in today’s Philippine senate. Dignified and substantive debates have been replaced by mediocrity, opportunism, and hooliganism.

Many Filipinos responsible for electing these good-for-nothing politicians are ashamed that they have these imprudent national leaders.

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What is happening in our beloved Los Angeles or L.A., the City of Angels, in California has saddened us Filipinos living in the East Coast.

As of this writing, unrest was entering on the fifth night as curfew took effect in Downtown L.A.

We can’t believe that the situation has “necessitated” the use of extreme force when the White House approved the sending of National Guards to deal with a not-so-violent tension that escalated in protest of the ICE raids and arrests of “illegal immigrants.”

Analyst Aaron Blake thinks “President Donald Trump is nothing if not skilled at crafting alternate realities and using them to benefit himself politically. But his messaging around the Los Angeles protests has taken it to another level.”

He pointed out, “You could be forgiven for thinking Trump wants to create the illusion of a federal crackdown on protesters without everything that comes with the real deal. That’s not to say Trump is bluffing about a hands-on response — but there’s also value in creating perceptions.”

Trump’s decisions to send in the National Guard and mobilize the Marines are controversial for a whole host of reasons, Blake observed.

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But for now, he stressed, the guard and the Marines aren’t actually allowed to conduct law enforcement. The guard has had little engagement with protestors.

He further explained: “Trump invokes the Insurrection Act, the guard is restricted to protecting federal property and personnel. That translates to mostly guarding an immigration detention center and possibly assisting the Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids that set off the protests. The Marines have done even less so far – the commandant, Gen. Eric Smith, said Tuesday that the Marines, while mobilized, haven’t yet been called in to respond.”

As CNN’s Josh Campbell reports, the bulk of the 4,000 National Guardsmen and 700 Marines that have been mobilized actually remain out of public view and likely won’t even be seen publicly. And CNN’s Haley Britzky and Natasha Bertrand reported Tuesday that the Marines have not received official tasks or orders yet and many are undergoing additional training before they potentially assist with the protests, citing US officials.

But to hear Trump tell it, his decision to call in the troops has made all the difference in putting down violent demonstrations.

“We made a great decision in sending the National Guard to deal with the violent, instigated riots in California,” Trump said Tuesday in a social media post. “If we had not done so, Los Angeles would have been completely obliterated.”

He added later: “If I didn’t ‘SEND IN THE TROOPS’ to Los Angeles the last three nights, that once beautiful and great City would be burning to the ground right now.”

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Trump’s comments gloss over the fact that the protests and violence are actually confined to a small portion of Los Angeles, with the vast majority of the city and Los Angeles County going about its regular business.

But they also imply a much bigger role for the troops than we’ve actually seen.

Trump made similar comments at a White House event later in the day.

He said “we ended” the violence, and: “Los Angeles was under siege until we got there. The police were unable to handle it.”

“Last night, they had total control,” Trump said. “If we didn’t have the military in there, the National Guard – and then we also sent in some Marines,” he added before trailing off.

Trump made similar comments on Monday, saying the guard had arrived “just in time.”

Talking about possibly sending in the Marines, Trump said, “I mean, I think we have it very well under control. I think it would have been a very bad situation.” Shortly after, despite those comments, the Pentagon went on to mobilize 2,000 more National Guard troops and the 700 Marines who are standing by.

The increased military presence could be acting as a deterrent to some violence. CNN’s Kyung Lah, who is on the ground in Los Angeles covering the protests, told me the guard’s biggest impact is as a “show of force” and a target for people’s ire, rather than engaging with protesters or rioters.

(The author, who is now based in New York City, used to be the editor-in-chief of two leading daily newspapers in Iloilo, Philippines.)