No Thriller In Manila
Philippines President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, as tough as she is short, appears to have survived an alleged coup attempt, and the only losers are the people who have had to wait out a presidential state of emergency while Arroyo rounds up opponents. In addition to exhausting the patience of former supporters like Fidel Ramos, Arroyo's arrests of top military leaders sparked a brief rebellion among the country's Marines. That defiance died down, but it's unlikely these tensions are going away anytime soon.
Arroyo is in a strange spot. She's been under fire due to pretty strong evidence of hanky panky during the 2004 election (which she managed to win even though she had earlier announced she wouldn't run). She has used various maneuvers to take the heat off—mostly successful, as last year's impeachment movement died with a whimper. The anti-idiotarians or whatever they're calling themselves these days immediately added Arroyo to the Axis of Weasel when the Philippines withdrew its forces from Iraq, but that was a long time ago, and Arroyo seems to have cooperated in American War on Terror activities, terminated terrorist leaders with extreme prejudice, and attempted to settle the country's complex Islamist problem. Is Arroyo's emergency going to nix a potential peace settlement with Muslim separatists? Is she becoming a new Marcos? What does "Steady Eddie" have up his sleeve?
Arroyo poses with a dead guy.
Michelle Malkin mocks mollycoddling milksops of Manila.
Imelda Marcos, the original fag hag.
