Smiles and smirks (Part 2):
The SONA edition

I’ll make this quick because “President” Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and her Philippine Idol moment—AKA the State of the Nation Address (SONA)—isn’t worth the effort…

Her irritating smile
+ the biased in attendance applauding
+ the Power Point presentation
+ the geography lesson in the slides
+ her lofty goals of infrastructure development
+ the lack of money for those plans
+ the persistent talk of charter change
+ the taunting of oppositionists
+ the political use of true Filipino heroes like Manny Pacquiao, the Everest Team, and the SEA Games athletes
+ the political use of one of the prettiest Filipinas in the land (the international beauty pageant winner whose name I’ve forgotten)
+ the call for unity and not acknowledging that she is a source of disarray
+ avoiding issue of population control
+ avoiding issue of education

= a skeptical, disappointed, unsurprised smirk.

I’ll let the professionals and people with more time and patience handle the more formal criticism.