Three Reasons

Three Reasons I've Tuned Out the Opposition

1. They've cried wolf too many times. For all I know, the opposition may be right this time. For all I care; they no longer hold any claim on my credulity. Excluding Lozada, their credibility is zilch.
2. Extreme skepticism that any regime change would actually bring about meaningful, systemic reform (cue Neri).
3. A genuine loathing for the people the opposition is composed of -- trapos and starry-eyed idealists, Maoists, would-be fascists, and Chavez wannabes. Greater than any loathing I now feel for the administration.

Three Reasons I'm Loath to Defend the Administration

1. Thanks to our economy decoupling from politics, there hasn't been any major damage. As long as the opposition does not spook the administration enough to go all out and spend mucho moolah once more to hang on, all is good. Keeps her and hers on their toes. Might actually give her an excuse to renege on, or at least defer, some other 'deals'.
2. I like de Venecia, actually voted for him in that insane election back in '98 that put Erap in power. I think he would've made a good PM. So Malacanang easing him out has me considering my position. As FVR once said, my support for the administration is waning, waning. However, since Ramos himself won't support regime change sans a better alternative, I'm still waiting, waiting.
3. Like a growing number of people these days, I personally do not benefit from a strong peso. It devalues my income, and I've yet to see its upside. Gasoline prices have risen faster here than in the US, God knows why, and consumer goods haven't gotten any cheaper, thanks to local protectionists like our onion growers. Seriously, why hasn't China or Taiwan complained about us yet to the WTO? So fuck that. The opposition is doing me a favor by doing all they can to prevent the peso rising any further. Not that they're having much effect, but it's the thought that counts.

Hot or Not?

A few posts ago, I'd commented on how our voting system was inherently flawed and dangerously predisposed towards electing leaders without a broad base of acceptance (witness Erap on one hand, GMA on the other). I'd also started to delve into the various alternative voting systems that sought to eliminate, or at least minimize, the current system's disadvantages. I had intended to write comparisons of one-man-one-vote plurality voting, runoffs, instant-runoffs, approval voting, and my own pet theory, net-approval voting. However, work and my inherent laziness got the better of me, and I never got beyond run-offs.

Fortunately, voting systems are also a perennial topic in the states, and whenever their elections draw near, the theorists come out of the woodwork. This article on Salon touches on most of what I had originally planned to write, with the added mention of range voting. This particular system, in the off chance you were wondering, has already proved its worth in the real world, as demonstrated quite enjoyably by this website.

I, for one, would welcome the day we can upmod or downmod candidates as if they were entries in Reddit.