ELISA ENGLISH's Blog 英語園地

Talking about politics

I do hate to talk about politics or get involved in it. However, if you don't get yourself politically involved, you will be leaving your future at the hands of the politicians who might not be looking out for you in your best interest.

I haven’t had much time to really sit down and think through the reforms needed for Taiwan’s electoral system.

The first thing that came to my mind is the urgent need of a transparent vote counting method.  Due to what happened during the entire presidential election campaign process, I could never clear that doubt in my mind of a possible falsified outcome since the entire government system is controlled by strong authoritarian-inclined policy-making KMT in the realms of justice and the rule of law, whose overwhelming parliamentary majority allows it to do whatever they want.  How can we trust a government like that?  Representatives from different parties should be present to monitor the count of the election votes to ensure that there is no falsification. Without transparency, democracy is impossible. A country without transparency is not a democratic country.

I have been busy in the past few weeks.  It finally reaches the end and I can now stop watching all news related to Taiwan.  To be honest, I am extremely disappointed. 

What have I been spending my spare time in the past few weeks?  You probably won’t know that the amount of news and TV programs in Taiwan that I have been following and watching for the past few days is more than that of any given year. Bombarded with the news of unethical and even illegal dirty tricks against campaign opponents, I was actually getting tired of watching any TV programs or reading any news related to Taiwan's presidential election. Nothing is really new. Politics is a rough game everywhere and Taiwan is no exception.

It is getting close to Taiwan's Presidential election and we can tell whom some of our friends support.  Everyone has his or her reason to support a certain individual.  I also have a very strong preference for a political party even though I cannot vote.  You all know who she is, the person I would vote for if I have the voting right.  

When talking about politics, sometimes people take up positions that defy any reasonable logic.  A mellow person may show his or her side of aggressiveness to gain support for the person he or she supports.  I have seen that families become battlefields and family members turn against each other during the time of elections.  Anyway, what was I trying to state?  It is life and we do have to tolerate the difference among all of us to peacefully coexist with those who we consider as friends as sometimes friends don’t always see eye to eye with you. 

What a hypocrite and so cunning.  I have to admit that Obama is one smart guy.  He sure knows how to secure and increase votes for his party’s election by exempting the union members from exercise tax, by rewarding illegal immigrants with amnesty and by condemning Republicans for failure of immigration reform.

His rationale for his immigration reform was the impossibility to deport these eleven million illegal immigrants currently residing in the United States.  The only solution is to turn all of them into legal immigrants.  Why don’t we broadcast to the world that sneaking into the United States is no longer illegal.  As long as you set a foot on the American soil, you will become a US citizen.  Isn’t this sweet? 

Oh my god!  What a joke!  Obama awarded 2009 Nobel Peace Prize.  Am I in the wrong planet?  What concrete accomplishments have Obama yielded in peacemaking in the 12 days from the time he was sworn into Presidency to the time before the February 1st, 2009 nomination deadline for Nobel Peace Prize?   NOTHING!  What peace agreement has he negotiated?  What missile program has he abolished?  What terrorist country has he converted?  Has Obama made such a great accomplishment as ending human rights violation in China, uplifting China into a democratic country, ending China’s massacres in Tibet, ending China’s aggravation against Taiwan, ending wars in Middle East, or even promoting the cause of peace around the world to warrant a Nobel Peace Prize?  NO, NO, NO, NO, NO and NO.  As stated by Polish labor leader Lech Walesa, a 1983 Nobel Peace laureate, "Who, Obama? So fast? Too fast. He hasn't had the time to do anything yet”.   

Has the Nobel Committee gone insane?  Is this just another political endorsement? 

I am really puzzled. 

Is Taiwan a country? 

I really cannot read the news anymore regarding typhoon disaster in Taiwan.  For those of you who asked me questions, I am sorry that my mind is so occupied with Typhoon Morakot to think of anything else.  Maybe a few days later, I will respond back to you.  At this moment, all I can think of is the people who desperately need our help.        

I felt so anguish with the incompetency and the ignorance of the Taiwanese government, adding more to the damage already created by Typhoon Morakot .  I felt so sad that some lives could have been saved but not due to the delay from the government in mobilizing the rescue effort.  Words cannot describe my anguish against the Ma Administration.  It is beyond my comprehension the incompetency and the ignorance of the Ma Government.  Words cannot describe my sadness for the people in Southern Taiwan.  I cried whenever I read the news.  I felt so powerless.  There is nothing that I can do but provide disaster relief to the victims through donation. 

I am so heart stricken by the news about the disaster in Taiwan brought by Typhoon Morakot.  Reading the news is so unbearable.  I cannot finish reading one without my face covered with tears.

Please stop here if you are a supporter of Mr. Ma Ying-Jeou as below contains comments about my anguish against Mr. Ma.  These are solely my own opinions and I am not interested in engaging in any debate.