Protests

What became clear to me when I was protesting the Vietnam War and the shortage of funds for LBJ’s War on Poverty was that, essentially, I (we were) was asking someone to act on my behalf, a futile exercise.

One of the admirable qualities of Putin is his history of “Just Doing It” before anyone else in the world can say, “Boo!” There are many highly paid Monday morning armchair analysts in Western media who try to figure out a rational explanation for the thought and behavioral patterns of our thin-haired, chest-and-abs baring former intelligence officer, President of the Federal Republic of Russia.

But first, let me get the news upfront. President Obama is “protesting” (the word is the media’s characterization of the WH’s pronouncement) not only the alleged presence of incognito Russian forces in Crimea, but also the Parliament of Crimea of predominantly Russian population deciding to join Russia, calling it “illegal.” In the same manner as the WH made the “threat” when certain forces tried and are still trying to depose President Assad from Syria; “there shall be consequences” went with the pronouncement.

I put “protest,” “illegal,” and “threat” in quotation marks because we are referring to WH Obama who as a congressman, with two others, opposed the U.S. invasion of Iraq. His drone-use policy I take as minimizing the upfront roles of military personnel; he has evidently decided to live with the consequence of collateral damage regarding civilian casualties when going after known al-Qaida operatives. That’s between him and his conscience. Never mind the Pentagon’s; it don’t have nothin’!

The bold and lightning flash that accompanied the assault on Osama bin Ladin’s compound, however, indicates Obama’s willingness to act when the condition is opportune. But most of the criticisms on his alleged unwillingness to act, or refusal to lay out specific implementation tactics behind pronounced threats, stem from the absence of military display that ex-POW McCain expects on his own sense of honor and duty! Obama, in my reading, acquiesced to flaky joint exercises in America’s unofficial 51st State of South Korea to bully the beleaguered hermit kingdom of Kim Jung Un!

I am an American Pinoy at heart, and my cultural tendency is to make light of heavy matters, and laugh in the middle of serious occurrences, like the outburst we exhibited in the archipelago when Ninoy Aquino was gunned down at the Manila International tarmac. I am an Obama supporter, and do so because the alternative options are worse than the one’s he had taken. Never mind that the rhetoric on threats tended to be hyperbole. He is severely criticized for inaction in Benghazi when some of us appreciate the restraint that may have cost us the life of Ambassador Stephens and two FS staff but could have considerably been broader had we immediately sent a battalion of Marines.

That is probably why I am no longer enamored with protests. It tends to criticize what is, what is already a done deal, either promoting a return to what had been, or requiring someone to take blame, renounce committed acts, and make amends. That sounds nice in rhetoric but its chances at happening is as likely as when hell freezes.

Back to Crimea. It was Tsarist Russia’s gem, hosting military personnel and vacationing royals. After the 1917 revolution, it became a part of Russia, but was ceded to Ukraine by Khrushchev in ’54 while it was a part of the Union of Socialist Soviet Republics. It remained a part of Ukraine even when the USSR unraveled in 1991. Russia, however, maintained its naval base at Sevastopol, not unlike our maintaining Guantanamo in Cuba. Ukraine, meanwhile, as part of the USSR, utilized Russian gas and oil, even transshipping oil to EU. It’s use, relatedly inexpensive as a socialist right, was shouldered by the state. Then 1991 happened, and the privatization push began. Aye, there’s the rub.  Oil control drooled. Guess who wants to control the gas and oil flow and profit? Russia, where the goods originate, said, Nyet!

We trained forces for the disastrous Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba. In retaliation for our defense line around the USSR, Khrushchev sent missiles to Cuba, which resulted in our unilateral naval blockade. Russia is essentially doing the same in Crimea except in this case, a majority of the population are Russians. Our history in Cuba, with our support of Batista, made a majority of Cubans hate our guts. The Russians in Crimea decided to be Russians!

I am not too worried about expansionist Russia. In Crimea so far, no shot had been made and Crimea knows which side of its toast to butter. It is the anti-Obama bluster that is worrisome because it tries to push a military agenda for ideology into what is essentially a diplomatic matter. Of course, there is the matter of Uncle Sam’s “face,” but leave face mania to China. Pro testare, to be for something, is in my league, and Obama has been prudent. To be against what others do, I will leave to busybodies who have nothing else on their plates but a menu of protests.

You will pardon me if you catch me snickering on the side.

Jaime Vergara previously taught at SVES in the CNMI. A peripatetic pedagogue, he last taught in China but makes Honolulu, Shenyang, and Saipan home. He can be reached at pinoypanda2031@aol.com.