Diplomacy 101 with Domingo Lee Part 1 (via @carlosceldran)

Warning: Watching may be hazardous for your health.

Over the last few weeks I have been in an on-going discussion about the intersection of leadership and public intellectuals in the Philippines. That we need better leadership, and I am not talking about government, is without a doubt. In this sense, we are talking about leaders who are have the capability to see problems and innovate solutions. Innovation is in short supply. 

Yet, there is a distinct lack of public intellectuals in the Philippines; men and women who not only challenge the system, but seeks redemptive national paths. The distinct lack of the two is intertwined, and I would argue deeply linked to our social aversion to questioning authority and challenging pre-conceived notions of how we think things are and how we want them to be.

This is all a roundabout way of saying, what the shit is this? And why the hell is he being offered as one of the leaders of the Philippines on the global stage? The man can’t even spit out a coherent sentence for God’s sake. This is the man, the person, who has been selected to represent the Filipino people in one of the most difficult, demanding, and visible posts in the entire world. Are we serious? We can’t be serious.

I am fairly certain we could pluck a student out of an international relations track in any university and s/he will be able to answer these questions with more coherence, sense, and basic intelligence. I’m not saying he’s not intelligent, I’m just saying he can’t form an intelligent response to the questions, much less understand the questions being asked of him.

It’s very difficult to even quantify how much of a train wreck this is. I can’t find a single redeeming factor in his performance. Not. A. Single. One. And if it seems that I am disgusted? Goddamn right I am. Based on this performance, I would be ashamed to have this gentleman representing the Philippines and its constituents in any position, much less one of such importance as China.

If the weather isn’t enough to get you down, Part II can be found here.