Funny how Filipino-Americans celebrated the “first Filipino American federal judge in U.S. history.” This is a woman who, by all intents and purposes, had grown up an American. As she had emphasized in her reportedly “unambiguous narrative”, Schofield insists that she “was an American Baby.”
Schofield conceded being raised an all-American girl. No speaking Tagalog at home, and eating potatoes while her mother ate rice. Hence, she acknowledged no real Filipino consciousness developed as she was growing up. She did not feel like a minority.
“I have a theory,” she said on why her mother raised her the way she did. “She was in college during the war. I read her transcript, and one of her years in college was interrupted. When the Americans came, she saw them as liberators and heroes. Since then, she wanted to become American, marry an American and have American children.” Her mother died when Schofield was 20.
US Federal Judge Lorna Schofield
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Americans, after all, are proud individualists. Something Filipino pridists need to get into their heads.
If we have achieved nothing collectively as a people, then how can there be pride in being a part of this collective? We need to at the very least feel a shared accountability for the overall character of Filipinos collectively. Individual achievement is easy because each one of us have direct control over our individual destinies. There are in fact thousands of examples of Filipinos that are individually successful. To have true, sustainable and natural pride in being Filipino the real challenge lies in pulling ourselves together to achieve as a people and not only as individuals. Our success as individuals is our own individual business and no one has the right to piggyback on any one’s individual achievement. The collective success of The Filipino, on the other hand, is our collective business.
Our star individual players — doctors, IT professionals, artists — are leaving in droves for a better life with the winning teams because they are tired of propping up (being heroes for) what essentially is the losing team. Lea Salonga, for example, is an achiever. But cascading her achievements to the rest of Filipino humanity is a stretch and nothing more than pure fantasy. To be proud to be Filipino because of the achievements of a handful of individuals is an underclass fantasy. Let’s instead be proud to be Filipino — but let us be proud for the right reasons. Our pride needs to be underpinned by an ethic of collective achievement. Collective achievement is achievement that cannot be attributed to any one person. For example, Japan’s achievement of recovering mightily from its World War II defeat is not because of the efforts any one Japanese hero or even small handful of them. Its success can be attributed primarily to the overall character of Japanese society.
This predisposition of Filipino Klingons to orbit ethnic Filipino success stories abroad is something that has been pointed out many times across many individuals, some of whom are just barely “Filipino”…
As is the case with Jessica, Lea Salonga, Manny Pacquiao, and Charice, to name a few, Filipinos have hailed the individual accomplishments of Filipino artists abroad and trumpeted them as collective accomplishments of the entire Filipino ethnic group. Whether or not you agree with me, I assert that this is a fallacious and utterly ridiculous and stupid thing to do. These people succeeded because they put in the hard work needed to succeed, and not because of their Filipino heritage.
The better principle to take hold of is so elegantly simple:
Be proud of them, not because of them.
It’s simple, really.
benign0 is the Webmaster of GetRealPhilippines.com.
Point excellently driven. My daughter, whose parents are both naturalized americans, does not want to be identified as a fil-am child. She’s born in USA, raised, and educated in USA and definitely, does not feel she is a minority. Alex is going to have her own practice because, as she has said before, she worked hard for it. She’s thankful she has a set of good parents and is happy about her heritage. But she will never, ever say she is Fil-Am, simply because, she is American and is proud of it.
yes she will be like her parents who abandoned their country
oca i`l bet my puwet, if US immig gives you greencard right now you`l abandon Pinas mabilis pa sa alas kwatro.
I’d abandon this God forsaken country if given the chance.
why do you worship america barbero? the nation that caused 500,000 “collateral damage” civilian deaths in iraq? thats your model country? why would i leave my fatherland for that
@oca: Another point to consider –
At least America never play victims and they always care for their own people.
Unlike the Philippines where everyone loves to play victim when everything goes wrong.
your funny oca.. what about millions of pinoys starving to death eating pagpag just to get by. is it lesser evil than what they did in Iraq? or what about accountant, engineer being exploited by pinoy employer receiving a measly 10K/month salary with height, fair complexion requirements? is that any lesser evil? hmm what about the ampatuan massacre?
nope i don’t idolize them and i don’t necessarily like the states as a place, except maybe manhattan. and i don’t see Joe Smith as more superior than i am (personally). but i would say (and can’t deny) that having a US passport is really an advantage than having a Pinas passport and US public education is of course way better than Pelipins public education.
Oca, Come on dude. Get serious and lost that attitude.
I agree, but let me specifiy something. I think if a Filipino/a is a naturalized American which is not a natural born american citizen, we can definitely call them Fil-Am, but once a second generation filipino born in America we cant call them FIl-AM. They definitely an American regardless of their ethnic background. Its a perception thing, but there is a problem with that analysis. President Obama ackonowldges that he is afro-Amrican whose father is from Kenya. So, how do we deal with it? I think it is up to the individual if they want to acknowldge their ethnicity.
your funny oca.. what about millions of pinoys starving to death eating pagpag just to get by. is it lesser evil than what they did in Iraq? or what about accountant, engineer being exploited by pinoy employer receiving a measly 10K/month salary with height, fair complexion requirements? is that any lesser evil? hmm what about the ampatuan massacre?
nope i don’t idolize them and i don’t necessarily like the states as a place, except maybe manhattan. and i don’t see Joe Smith as more superior than i am (personally). but i would say (and can’t deny) that having a US passport is really an advantage than having a Pinas passport and US public education is of course way better than Pelipins public education.
why is being a filipino american important to grp when its negative news but not when its positive?
http://getrealphilippines.com/2012/10/prominent-filipino-new-yorker-arrested-for-stealing-from-cancer-foundation/
Miss the point much?
As usual.
Sendonggirl may have changed the name, but the lack of brains remains the same.
No wonder zombies crave for brains. They need some. hehe
Different name
Same flawed arguments
Apparently this troll can’t even support its own argument yet it thinks that its an intellectual.
What a joke.
Malacanang troll group should disband if they know what’s good for them.
Because the guy here identifies with Filipinos, while Schofield does not. Something anyone with a brain can figure out.
Filipinos lack sense of Nationalism nor Patriotism to accomplish something as a group but we want to stay relevant in the wold stage that even talent like Arnel Pineda we trumpet as a National pride…
If the Philippines wants to stay relevant on the world stage, it should stop being arrogant and should clean up its act.
Where did you get the news benign0 that Fil-Ams salivate over the appointment of Schofield as a federal judge?
GMA News.
Pinoys did not appropriate Miami because its coach is Fil-Am. It is even irrelevant to me even if he is a full-bloodied Pinoy. His star player is arrogant and has a feature of neanderthal according to some observers. Not proud to identify myself with Miami. Why is being proud to be American such a big deal for you guys but a proud Pinoy makes all of you fret in agony? Americans killed a lot of people for its “imperial designs”. They killed people fighting for civil rights (King, Robert Kennedy) and their President who went against their war efforts. (JFK) They benchmarked their fight against terrrorism by removing leaders of other countries (Afghan, Iraq, Chile , etc.) located half the globe even inventing the silly idea that a country has a weapon of mass destruction, invaded it and appropriated its oil fields. Under its “democratic narrative” they supported dictators who embraced their imperial ideology.(Marcos, Allende, Pavhlavi, Somosa, etc.)…
You should be proud to be Pinoy because we have lesser bloods in our hands while the Americans are bloodied all over. They feasted on the wealth and resources of other countries while preserving their own resources. (Texas, Alaska, Mojabe desert oil fields and gas fields).
BTW I am a naturalized American… and I consider myself a Fil-Am.. But I don’t feel like trashing my roots because they have their flaws. My wife came to America to work and not to beg and she is proud to be a Fil-Am. I was dragged along the process and I see both the good side and the bad side of America. I can sleep at night knowing that America has a good side and I could leave its bad side to be addressed by their policy makers. But for people who did not live in America and yet admire Americans for their “superior culture” and achievements do not know their history. America is a mixed race. Its achievements cannot be solely credited to the White Anglo race. California was built by the Latinos, Filipinos, Dominicans, Chinese, Germans and lots of other nationalities including the White Americans. So are other States in America.
There is no such American “race”, it is a nationality, just like Filipino is not a race, but a nationality. Both countries are made up of mutts or azkals, whichever you prefer.
Race in a generic sense. Do not nitpick, please, address the bigger issues i have raised.
There is a difference between race and nationality. That is a very important distinction to make. Filipinos consider themselves a race, however, being Filipino is a nationality, which is part of the reason Filipinos are not united except when Pacquiáo wins a fight or Alec Baldwin cracks a stupid joke.
Benign0 beats that horse to death because it is true and a factor in the Filipino psyche and “Pinoy Pride”
Your narrative of American history is a little skewed. For instance in the case of Iraq, there were Weapons of Mass Destruction. They were transferred to Syria where they are now being used against the population by the Syrian government.
You are correct in your statement regarding the American “Superior Culture”. We are no better than anyone else, we bleed the same blood. We do have our own problems that need tending to, and as an American I cannot understand why my government gives billions of dollars to people that hate us but neglect our own at home.
I wonder why instead of using it against the American invaders, they find time to transfer it to Syria… Does not appear logical to me. Don’t you think your perception of current events/history is the one that was skewed.
If you read again my post, I speak of American as a mixture of races. Then I enumerated Germans, Filipinos, Dominicans, Latinos, White Americans and other nationalities that built California. The subtext of my post is quite clear that I was referring to “nationalities” having to be credited with whatever “superior culture” California have and not races, such as Caucasian, Black, Malay, Hispanic, etc., though essentially, all those nationalities that developed California one way or another belong to a particular race.
If someone refuses to agree with you and sees Americans as liberators rather than invaders, it would be better give up trying to “correct” them. Because in their own eyes, they would see themselves as correct and call you as the misled one. Especially a mother who is probably in her 70s or 80s today.
That damned hyphen! It really is more trouble than it is worth. When I grew up some 40+ years ago in the US, we were all Americans, or to be specific Californians, Texans, New Yorkers etc.
Seems almost every group has a hyphen now. Latino-Americans, African-Americans, Asian-Americans, Native-Americans. Everyone except for Caucasians, which are just called Caucasians. We are not allowed to call ourselves Caucasian-Americans because that would be racist. It as if we are just Caucasians, not even Americans! Personally, I consider myself a Appalachian-American due to my heritage.
When Justice Sotomeyer was appointed to the US Supreme Court, Puerto Ricans went wild even though she was born and raised in The Bronx, NYC. Don’t blame Filipino-Americans for jumping on the Schofield bandwagon, they are just falling for the “Divide and Conquer” strategy of the US government. The US Government and media is doing it’s best to create race hostilities and are trying to downplay the word American by diluting it with a qualifier.
Maybe that trend is headed to the Philippines, for example Bisaya-Pilipino, Moro-Pilipino, Illongo-Pilipino etc. Won’t that be nice! One more way to divide an already fractured nation.
you hit the nail on the head with that one!
but it is still somehow comical to see nations of people acting like this…fuckin hilarious really! and at the same time, tragically sad!
I really hate this kind of people. Does this girl not proud of her mom grown up as Filipino? Then, she must not be a role model to all of us. Good thing the media don’t give a f*ck about her.
But her mom didn’t raised her Filipino, nor desired to explore more of her Filipino roots such as going to the Philippines and whatnot. It would be hypocritical of her to say she is proud to be a Filipina without really experiencing Filipino culture firsthand.
Are you saying that the likes of Arisxandra Libantino, Charlie Green and Jessica Sanchez are hypocrites? They have almost the same story that you said yet they are still proud of their Filipino blood.
Filipino blood… that means it’s genetics, not the lifestyle e.g. customs & traditions and language. Maybe, in a sense, they also mean other than biological heritage, which is culture. But I know little of what Jessica Sanchez or Charlie Green consider what makes them proud to be Filipino. Unless you can point it out what they are proud of, other than “blood”.
@Jasper
Wait…you hate her for being herself? She said she wasn’t raised as a Filipino. So what? She grew up in America and her mother wanted her to embrace American culture. At least she doesn’t have an identity crisis.
Yes, Ilda, raised by a misguided Filipina who saw the Americans as liberators instead of conquerors. She probably hated her roots and that hatred was imbibed by Schofield as she grew up.
If only her mother read her history she would not have that feeling of contempt at her ancestors, and a canine devotion to the Americans.
Who are YOU to judge the chosen approach a mother takes to raise her children, attorney (with a small “a”)? If you think about it, raising a kid to be American makes sense when one lives in America. If a person is really adamant about raising a kid to be Filipino, then guess what: that person should LIVE IN THE PHILIPPINES and raise that kid THERE.
Off-tangent Benigno. Please read your post again which says that she looked at the Americans as liberators and heroes, thus disparaging the heroism of her own ancestors in fighting the Americans as another sets of “conquerors.”
I am not faulting her for being a pro-American and raised her daughter to be so. I am only making a statement that she did not know her history. The Americans snatched the revolutionary movement from Aguinaldo by dealing with the Spaniards who no longer have cotrol over the archipelago in 1896.
Some historians claimed that Japan invaded RP in 1941 to repel the Americans from Asia and imposed their own Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere doctrine in the Region.
The defenders in Corregidor and Bataan which included Americans were abandoned by Mcarthur yet they were under instructions to defend the islands promising support via Australia which support did not come. American historians claimed that death toll could have been avoided had McArthur instructed his commanders to surrender, then come back in 1945 when its forces were ready to rescue the islands. After the “liberation” of RP, McArthur invaded Japan. He put the Japanese commanders in the field to be hanged, but he did not ask Hirohito to step down because historian Sterling Seagrave said Hirohito offered him some of the war loot known later as the “M” sludge funds.
That’s the problem with Pinoys. They presume to know what is better for other people. Filipinos are a JUDGMENTAL people which is quite ironic considering they collectively FAIL in just about every social development criterium applied to judge a nation’s success in the modern world. People like you, attorney (with a small “a”) are the reason why Filipinos’ thinking faculties are as stunted and shriveled as can be observed today. It is because Pinoys discourage open mindedness and instead are more inclined to imprison both themselves and people within their circle of influence with the idiotic philosophies and traditions they foolishly cling to.
@jcc
Don’t be so judgmental. You don’t know her mother personally.
The reason why America is successful is because their culture celebrates individuality as oppose to some cultures that frown upon individuals who want to be different. Good for her that her mother didn’t “confuse” her anymore by shoving down her throat another culture from thousands of miles away while growing up in America.
I knew her through Benigno’s post. She believed that the Americans were liberators and heroes instead of conquerors out to subjugate another race dreaming to be free. I made a judgment that she did not read her history, or she was sold the idea of “American benevolence” or Richard Kipling’s idyll, “White Man’s Burden.”
It was based on your report my dear Ilda… Not entirely my pigmented imagination. 🙂
@JCC
Her mother chose to bring her up as an American and you have no right to judge her. Her upbringing has a lot to do with the way she turned out and she turned out to be an excellent person who happens to be very valuable to the American society.
jcc,
Are you pulling out all your judgments and conclusions from your ass? It is a big, hopelessly debatable assumption that Schofield’s mom “doesn’t know history”, just because “When the Americans came, she saw them as liberators and heroes.”
You want an example of a valid inference to make from that one statement? Here are some:
“Her mother, at that time, probably thought that anyone other than whoever was controlling the Philippines at that time (the Japanese) would be better.”, or
“Her mother probably didn’t like whoever was controlling the Philippines at that time (the Japanese), and held the Americans in high regard when they drove those people out.”
Where is the logical leap from “When the Americans came, she saw them as liberators and heroes” to “She doesn’t know her history”?
Like you said, you made a judgment. That you did, you drew a conclusion that is unsupported by what is readily available at face value.
You merely prove benign0’s point that Pinoys are judgmental. And not only that, they like fixating on the hopelessly debatable rather than what is available at face value.
Is that how a lawyer is supposed to think, abogado de patola, hmm?
If only you read American historians and statesmen you will find out that the Philippines is the first colony of America in the far east in the molds of India being a colony of British. As a colony, it is given that the relationship between the colonizers and the colonized is master and vassal relationship. The reason Americans give up RP by giving them “independence” in 1946 was due to the rise of American statesmen scandalized by the idea of maintaining a colony 3,000 miles away from their shore when their forefathers have fought against the very idea of America being the colony of British.
American patriots were appalled by the concept of Americans subjugating another group of people, that domestic pressure finally built up for it to give up RP. Just like when Americans marched up to the streets to protest the Vietnam war, thus forcing America’s policy makers to give it up.
Nothing sublime in America’s incursion in other people’s territory, but Mrs. Schoefield saw it as sublime and honorable, she becomes part of American social group that believes in America’s ‘Assimilation’ doctrine, and ‘White Man’s Burden.’ The idea that America is the policeman of the world and it is America’s duty to maintain peace and preach its ‘democratic ideals’ to the world.
Hidden behind those lofty ideals, however, was America’s subversion of legitimate governments to promote its business interests. In 1896, they saw RP as viable source of raw materials and consumers of American products, thus came Mckinley, ‘having talked with God’ that RP should be under the tutelage of the great white race.
America deposed the Polynesian Queen in Hawaii at the behest of “pineapple planters” who saw the vast promise of the Hawaian Islands. These are islands miles away from their shore.
Leadership change is now a by-word in America’s CIA. Countries which opposed America can be subverted through clandestine operations and depose their leaders by putting puppets of their own.
American foreign policy experts agree that America should conduct international relations that is best for America. Benevolence is foreign in foreign relations.
Yes, Mrs. Schoefield saw America as liberators and heroes and she is within her right to say those awful things. But historians have already proven her wrong.
If she saw Americans as liberators instead of conquerors, I think it’s her right. I don’t think it’s caused by hatred. But think of it this way: if Americans treated her well and gave her food when she needed it, while fellow Filipinos take her food when she has it, and talk down to her because she’s just “one of them,” where will she side?
So if she saw Americans as liberators instead of conquerors, there may be no need to correct her, because in her experience, she is correct!
are benigno and ilda saying that if she was raised by her mother to be an incestuous cannibal then we cant judge her because its their right? wow please enlighten me
Talk about a ridiculous strawman argument by this Oca.
Wow, according to oca, raising someone to be live in American society and raising someone to be an incestuous cannibal run along similar lines.
Then again, sendonggirl, you were never really smart.
You were not making an argument. You should shut up…
Make me, jcc.
For that matter, for all your long-winded “argumentation” about history and all that, there’s one thing you left at home:
A point.
Given what her circumstances were, Schofield’s mom believed that the Americans were heroes. That’s such a simple thing to understand, yet you complicated it.
Why are you so…concerned about proving her wrong, anyway?
The only thing you’ve managed to get across here is that Filipinos like you are judgmental, presume to know what is best, presume to be an authority on everything, and are fixated on the hopelessly debatable.
You’re the big waste of time here, jcc, and that law education of yours was apparently a big waste too.
Run along, attorney with a small “a”, and leave this discussion to the grown ups.
Does your discourse go against reality/history and therefore would rather consider ’tismis’ only within your comprehension?
My “discourse”, jcc, would respect her point of view at that time for what it is, at face value, instead of judging her and forcing the concept of a “correct view of history” on whatever she said.
And that wasn’t even the main point of the article, yet you chose to focus on it anyway and turn it to one of your long-winded nonsense “lawyerly” arguments.
So, let’s add to the fine sample of Filipino “thinking” that you exhibit here:
Judgmental
Fixation on the hopelessly debatable
Presumption of being a know-it-all
Presumption of being an authority
Now let’s include:
Small-mindedness
Inability to respect the viewpoint of others
Inability to focus on the main point
Get this through your thick skull, attorney with a small “a”: there are times when “correcting” someone is called for, and when it is unnecessary, and apparently, you have yet to learn the difference between the two.
People with small minds tend to quibble.
so amir decides when its ok to correct hehe
Wow, sendonggirl draws another conclusion way out of left field. I don’t see anything I wrote down saying or implying I alone had such decision making ability. But you and jcc presume to know what’s good for Filipinos, right?
You’re still not very smart, are you, sendonggirl?
Before you know it, oca or sendong girl here will cry foul again of being bullied. Nevermind that he initiated the attacks. I wasn’t even talking to him but he rudely interrupted the discussion.
Yes, she is a role model, for saying something like “I am American first despite having Filipino blood.” And if she researches the TRUTH on her Filipino heritage, she might cancel the thought of attaching to such heritage soon after. hehe
Benigno, you were showing your skirt again as the “all-knowing” person so blessed with all the wisdom of the world. 🙂
read your history benigno… to soften up your anti-pinoy tirade…
Agree with you. He is indeed a faggot.
So you are both BIGGER faggots, right? It makes sense because of your IGNORANCE.
Deal with it.
you are benigno’s fan club president. we get it
Is that all you can say “oca”?
Another pathetic ad hominem attack?
You’re defintely not making it easy for you to get humiliated AGAIN.
TROLL HARDER
ok sorry ill just call anyone who disagrees with me faggot since its more acceptable to you
@oca:
Very unproductive.
Are you really that dumb or your just TROLLING.
Don’t lie. 😛
resorting to cheap tricks jcc & jasper?
oh sorry. jcc its not meant for you. that goes to jasper.
Once again the paucity of home-grown achievers necessitates the ‘hijacking’ of an individuals achievement with any link, however remote, to the philippines, even if they have never set foot in the country, and achieved precisely because they are not ‘filipino’, and because they benefitted from better education system and meritocracy based opportunities.
Just a sad reflection that the philippines itself cannot produce achievers/winners, and only want to be adopted by the US and thereby gain some vicarious relevance.
Interesting that despite pnoy saying how he would create jobs at home for ofw’s, the increase in ofw’s in the past 3 years has risen by 20%, with the corresponding increase in remittances which still remains a key reason for growth.
So maybe the promotion of anyone achieving abroad is a subliminal message for others to leave the country since no jobs are going to be created in the philippines
The proud Pinay mother with the American daughter just jump to the opportunity to announce her upcoming medical practice. But actually she was raised in a filipino invironment with pinacbet, deningding & laing.:)
The mother you mean, not the daughter. But the mother wanted to be “All-American.”
Laziness and stupidity makes the filipino the whipping boy of the world
Subservience and desperation makes the filipina the housemaid of the world
Greed and corruption makes the politicians the thieves of the world.
If some would say, mass media is trying to make an opportunity of it, I’d agree. They’re playing up an issue and hoping to get something to make money over with it. I still think a solution is to build up Filipino resistance to mass media influence.
And maybe she’s better off not discovering her “Filipino heritage.” Part of that heritage may be that, as a judge, you should always ask for “kotong.” hehe
Yes, truly idiotic to be proud to be a Filipino because of a few successful ones, I mean…it is truly idiotic and peculiar to the Filippines as well.
Wanna be proud to be a Filipino? How bout doin something like: clean up after yourselves at the beach instead of letting the garbage blow all over the beach? Unclog all the storm drains in your cities 10 days BEFORE the typhoon hits so the flooding isn’t so hellacious! OR really try getting some people in running the country that are not flat-out robbing it (like the OLD POS and his X-mas presents!),yes? and, THEN… get an auditor in, an uncorrupted one, and audit each and every GOCC and find out where over half the countries GDP is being diverted to, get the diverted funds back where they belong, and then do something worthwhile with the recovered funds!
That would go a little bit of a long way towards making Filipino’s proud of THEMSELVES for achieving something, not feeling all ‘pinoy-proud’ like for someone else’s accomplishments! The Media has to take a lot of the blame for this sad phenomena! btw, who the fuck is Jessica Sanchez anyway? and why does anyone give a damm what she does?(so what? she sings someone else’s songs? try writing one, then singing it!).
True. It does seem peculiar to filipino; claiming people with some filipino ancestry but without any real cultural connection.
History revisionist and trolls hijack another thread. I think guys like jcc went to school so long that their brains are full and when they try to talk crap comes out from some revisionist who hates the USA. The progressives and elitists all over the world hate the USA so anything connect to it is imperialist or some how evil. They ignore real evil and often praise it. Maybe MacArthur should have bypassed the Philippines in WWII like Nimitz wanted him to and make the Filipinos suffer for a year or so more (heroes do the hard things not the easy ones). Maybe the USA should not have taken out the Spaniards and then the Filipinos could be speaking Spanish and support the Axis. May be the USA should have stayed out of Asia and let the Communist take it over including the Philippines. Why don’t you try reading and find out what real history is so you don’t repeat it. Progressives and Elitist are the problem. Real solutions don’t have politics tied to them.
What I don’t understand is why JCC seems to have anti-American sentiments. I could be wrong but I recall reading once before that he is actually living in America.
DOH!!!!!!!!!!!!
Duh, Snowden is an American, but he loaths the way U.S. spies on its citizens…. Most genuine Americans pilloried their government for bankrupting the country by engaging in useless wars abroad and Wall Street for bringing the collapse of the economy. They pilloried the government for bailing out big businesses but let smaller businesses falter. They critized their government without let up to make known their sentiments about the way their leaders run the country… That’s vigilance for you my Dear Ilda. My attitude, contrary to what you may believe is very American, articulate not timid.
BTW, giving up my free speech was not required by Uncle Sam as a condition for my stay here. Most would see me imbibing the American culture to its full, seeing it the way America’s forebears do, that self-evident truth of human equality regardless of skin color, speech a component of free society, and when government becomes despotic, to oppose it.
That my Dear Ilda is not ‘hatred’ against America. That is actually being an American.
@JCC
Contrary to what you think, you’re attitude is very Pinoy. You think Pinoy and you still live like a Pinoy dispite the priviledges you enjoy in the US.
hehehe.. now who is being judgmental?
May I ask where Snowden is now? Last I heard he is hiding in Ecuador. BTW, I didn’t mention the word “hate”.
As of 30 June, it was reported that Snowden is seeking asylum in Russia. Ecuador turned him away. He’s currently ensconced at the consulate office of the Sheremetyevo airport. Putin says he is welcome to stay.
Thanks for the update, Johnny Saint. The bottom-line is, Snowden is on the run because the US government see him as a traitor. The point I am trying to make is, there are times when the government can take a citizen’s right to freedom of speech when they see it as a threat to national security.
Even freedom has its limits. That’s what I’m thinking.
Hi Ilda,
jcc is quite correct when he says that his attitude is well in keeping with the ethic of being an American. The United States has always allowed the expression of frank dissent (even threats) from individuals of all political stripes, regardless of their origin. It has welcomed people from all walks of life to partake of what we have come to recognize as the “American Dream.” And that includes the freedom to speak one’s mind — whether for or against — as well as the right to declare one’s identity and proclaim their uniqueness as their contribution to the melting pot that makes America what it is.
That being said, it is ungrateful, disrespectful, selfish, self-centered and arrogant for these same individuals to smugly proclaim their superiority and tear down other people’s (opinion) when the foundation of their adopted country has always been “Out of many, one” — the idea that America as a nation is made great because of the many who contribute to building it. Worse, they do so without so much as acknowledging the fact that America provided them with the opportunity to thrive — GAVE them the chance to succeed — when their native countries failed to do so.
@Johnny
Yes, I do understand what you are trying to say. However, JCC used Snowden as an example, which I thought was wrong because a lot of people consider his actions extreme. That is why he is now in trouble with the US government. He can try using “freedom of speech” as a defense if he ever goes on trial but I’d say, good luck with that one. Like what I wrote in my previous article:
Indeed, people like JCC who swore allegiance to America seems to show a lot of disrespect for the country who embraced them.
“Indeed, people like JCC who swore allegiance to America seems to show a lot of disrespect for the country who embraced them.”
That’s for damn sure.
—
Morally and ethically people like jcc may be sympathetic with Snowden. But legally, the argument that he was merely expressing his “freedom of speech” doesn’t hold water. Neither does the typically emotional Pinoy stand that someone who has broken the law (such as Snowden) should be set free (or at least should not be prosecuted) because “mabait naman s’yang tao, e” and “he thought he was following a higher purpose” because he exposed some shenanigans that were questionable. The fact is SNOWDEN BROKE THE LAW. If we are going to start ignoring law and order on the basis of fads or whimsy, the result will be anarchy. And the first to complain about that state of affairs will be — SURPRISE! SURPRISE! — people like jcc.
ilda getting embarassed again when she gets out of the kitchen and tries to engage in geopolitics
Oh really? Pity some people who can only write one-liners but they are not even good at it.
oca getting embarrassed again (he can’t even spell it correctly), by being outed as the barking dog pretending to argue like a human.
You’re not very smart, sendonggirl. The sooner you accept that, the sooner we can all move on like grown-ups.
What’s the matter, Mr Oca? Can’t handle an opinion coming from me? 😉
You just showed your true colors, sendong girl. Pinoy nga naman. Tsk tsk…
Mr. Oca getting embarrassed once AGAIN after getting an internet beatdown.
Really pathetic.
Is this really all you guys at the malacanang troll group can do?
Really sad how Mr. Carandang thinks that you are worth hiring when in reality, you stink as a troll.
You can’t even spell “embarrass” properly.
TROLL HARDER,OCA
Duhh! — Disrespect America beause I called it to task for its misadventures and financial troubles? hehehee.. You just have to watch Moore’s movie against George Bush.. Or Sean Penn’s embrace of Hugo Chavez or Dennis Rodman’s embrace of Armadinejab. My position is tamer compared to theirs’.
Real Americans will embrace me for imbibing the true spirit of America.
My wife came to America to work. She pays a lot of taxes to Uncle Sam (She is a director of 3 Nursing Centers) (Federal Tax,) and State Tax. I worked part-time. You can say that I am on wife’s welfare. We are about to become senior citizens but we are still working.
We saw some young white and black americans on welfare pretending to be sick of something. One malinger is actually in my wife’s facility. Who claimed her hand was injured turning up a patient in a bed, but during a party, she was playing billiard in her house. We know for a fact single mothers, (black and white americans) collecting food stamps and social security for their kids.
we have friends from india both old and young alike, still working.
I have a black guy in my small business, helping me out, age 40, he was on medical disability at age 30 because of asthma, her mother was a chain-smoker, thus as an infant he was subjected to the hazard of secondary-smoking, which explained his adult asthma.
one bright entrepreneur from india, quipped: “without ethnic minorities in this country, the U.S.A., could have gone under water long time ago.”
these are some facts about the U.S.A. you may never come to know unless you come here and live the American dream.
Yes My Dear Ilda, America is a melting pot of races, its success cannot be purely attributed to the White Anglo-Saxon…
You may not know that perhaps Pinoys contributed in small ways in its success.
@jcc Lol! “You may not know that perhaps Pinoys contributed in small ways [to] its success.”
Indeed, in SMALL ways. Which is, as Nick Joaquin described in his seminal article A Heritage of Smallness, the case now as it was then…
ha ha! 😀
erratum: Dennis Rodman’s embrace of Kim of North Korea, not Ahmanidejab of Iran.. 🙂
your idea is that all who live in america must agree with all of america’s policies. wow
When did I actually say that, Mr Sendong girl?
“What I don’t understand is why JCC seems to have anti-American sentiments……….he is actually living in America.”
So what about it? I didn’t say he has to agree with everything. You are putting words into my mouth.
Then again, for typical Pinoys like oca, AKA sendonggirl, there exists only one extreme or the other; there’s never a middle ground.
You’re not very smart, are you, sendonggirl?
You have to comply with America’s policies because you’re living on its ground.
Ilda, JCC is anti- american. He loathes the USA yet he lives here. What a hypocrite. I live here in california for almost 28 years. Came here, enlisted in the US ARMY and AIR FORCE. I’m proud to be a FILAM. what is the big deal, if her mom wants to raise her as an american, Good for her. This JCC will regret his life, if he miss philippines so much, go back there. I bet he will come back here in the US in a heartbeat. What a miserable fool. Be Greatful and count your blessing, JCC. If you despise US so much, Take a hike and deport yourself back to the FAILIPPINES.
Misplaced pro-American sentiment. Watch George Carlin monologue against American system of govt. and read satirist Mark Twain. Criticizing America policies is not about being anti-American. That’s the offshoot of American democracy — everyone is free to criticize the government, that’s a unique American trait that despite your having stayed in the country for long, you have not learned their values. Criticizing American policy is exercising your right as an American taxpayer, it is your civic duty to do that. Compared to George Carlin and Mark Twain, my comments against American exceptionalism are mild and yet nobody accused Carlin and Twain of being ungrateful Americans, on the contrary they are being revered by the American people because they speak their own sentiments and disagreement over government policies. Congratulations for living in America for long and yet had been ignorant of its own culture. That is American free speech, in case you continue living in a case of ignorance.
google us war crimes and atrocities jim
DOH….Google ….. really
yes your favorite nation conducted the tuskegee syphilis experiment after all
And you Pinoys voted a dud like Noynoy.
oca… really USA is not perfect because that is news to me. You keep repeating the same mistakes simply because you do not learn from history. I could most likely spout off 100 times more bad things done by the USA than you can because I read actual history and not its cliff notes. But please continue to surprise me with what you think you know.
@oca: Keyword for you is…. IGNORANCE.
Why you can’t just admit that you already lost this argument and say “I am a TROLL who loves to have FUN with everyone”?
Oh wait, you can’t. Hypocrite. 😛
Google Pol Pot, Hitler’s atrocities, Stalin’s purging, etc.
@oca can you also please google maguindanao massacre, pagpag, philippine slum, payatas?
Wow! awesome blog, over one hundred comments? I quit following Snowden, I feel he was let loose his leash. The first one week his passport was not even revoked and the second week. So he was free to travel anywhere he please.
the comments on this site are off putting. it’s a virtual crab pit.
there must be better reads/ better audiences out there.
I agree. Benign0’s postulate is not in numbers but in quality, he once croaks… chances are, he said, people with the same point of view in a forum tend to produce an inbred thinking that is destructive of the whole process of qualitative debate.
Benign0, despite his aversion to the point of view of some of us here, would rather have us than the denizens of sycophants the forum has generated. That I give him 2 thumbs up!
now i think this article is much more well written than “Why Pinoy Pride will never save the Philippines.” it gets its point across without being too, for lack of a better term, derogatory. which would generally get less “violent” feedback. Kudos, Benigno, for getting your point across in such manner 🙂
like the last statement “be proud of them. not because of them” very much. very simply and very well stated.