FROM THE BARREL OF MY PEN
By Gonzalo “Jun” Policarpio


NOT A TRUE LINCOLN REPUBLICAN

An Arroyo crony named Gabriel Claudio stated in a radio interview in the Philippines that the candidates of the political opposition in the May 2007 congressional and local elections will lose contrary to the findings based on the latest opinion poll survey by PULSE ASIA. He announced that the Arroyo administration has the “political machinery “ to assure their candidates’ victory. Here’s a kind response to this guy’s reckless remark: never forget that democracy is a government of the people, by the people, and of the people. It is not a government of political machines, particularly cheating political machines. Here’s a less kind response to the same guy: cheating the Filipino people twice will invite a violent retaliation from them.

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President Bush’s pull-aside meeting with Gloria Macapagal Arroyo instead of a formal one-on-one meeting in a function room during the recent APEC convention in Vietnam clearly signifies the American President’s attitude to a de facto(not legitimate) leader of a country. I have a straightforward question to this “squatter” in Malacanang Palace. Does she feel any scintilla of shame to hold to something that does not belong to her? She failed to disprove in the halls of Congress or before the Filipino people that she did not cheat in the 2004 presidential elections. Without any solid defense, she remains as charged.


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An unknown Guyanese-American lawyer in Queens who lost by about 800 votes to long-time incumbent veteran Republican politician, Serphin Maltese, for a New York State senatorial district, plans to demand a recount of all the votes cast for both of them. Well, he truly deserves that since majority of the residents in that district belong to minority groups that advocate against Maltese Racial Profiling bill filed in Albany. Maltese bill aims to authorize law enforcement agents to arrest people because of their ethnic background. Isn’t this idea reprehensible for a Lincoln Republican? Perhaps he is not.


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I’m glad that Downtown Flushing, a booming commercial district in Queens, is now dominated by Asian American politicians. This is just right because majority of the residents are Asians. As I said before, Asian legislators can understand more effectively Asian needs, demands, and aspirations as Asians try to adjust and assimilate in the mainstream American society.

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Junpolicarpio@yahoo.com
Junpolicarpio@gmail.com