Spratlys, West PH Sea ignored; Scalia, Trump drown ASEAN newser

It’s not every day you get the President of the Philippines and the President of the United States meeting in the same place at the same time.

But what do you know. The death of Justice Scalia trumped that.

And Donald Trump trumped them all.

On the occasion of the ASEAN summit, it was supposed to be a sort of intro to TPP, the trade pact that President Obama is pushing.

That made sense. Bring the ASEAN nations together for the first time in the U.S., let Americans know the countries that might benefit. And herald the Congress’ passage of a trade deal that could make NAFTA look like an innocent deal.

But wouldn’t you know, the curmudgeonly conservative jurist Antonin Scalia’s death put American politics in a strange exposed state for all the world to see.

You want to see how dysfunctional a mature Democracy can be?

At the ASEAN conference in Rancho Mirage, the president had hoped to make a big deal of the meeting with the leaders of somewhat shaky democracies like Thailand, Myanmar, Cambodia and, yes, the Philippines.

Instead, U.S. democracy looks shakier than ever.

At Obama’s ASEAN news conference, first question out of the box was about Scalia’s death.

The president reiterated how he would do his job and nominate someone, and not necessarily as he pointed out, a moderate. And how he fully expected the Senate to do its job–to advise and consent–and not block his nominee.

But Obama said this time would be a test. Because obstruction has become a bad habit in American politics.

“And we have to ask ourselves as a society a fundamental question: Are we able to still make this democracy work the way it’s supposed to, the way our Founders envisioned it?” Obama asked.

“And I would challenge anyone who purports to be adhering to the original intent of the Founders, anybody who believes in the Constitution, coming up with a plausible rationale as to why they would not even have a hearing for a nominee made in accordance with the Constitution by the President of the United States –with a year left, practically, in office. It’s pretty hard to find that in the Constitution.”

Imagine how the strict constructionist Scalia might view GOP senators struggling to pervert the Constitution to their political advantage.

When the Scalia questions were done, then came topic No. 2. Trump.

And the president wasn’t backing down here either.

“I think foreign observers are troubled by some of the rhetoric that’s been taking place in these Republican primaries and Republican debates. I don’t think it’s restricted, by the way, to Mr. Trump. I find it interesting that everybody is focused on Trump, primarily just because he says in more interesting ways what the other candidates are saying, as well,” the president said.

“So he may up the ante in anti-Muslim sentiment, but if you look at what the other Republican candidates have said, that’s pretty troubling, too. He may express strong, anti-immigration sentiment, but you’ve heard that from the other candidates, as well. You’ve got a candidate who sponsored a bill — that I supported — to finally solve the immigration problem, and he’s running away from it as fast as he can.

“They’re all denying climate change. I think that’s troubling to the international community, since the science is unequivocal. And the other countries around the world, they kind of count on the United States being on the side of science and reason and common sense, because they know that if the United States does not act on big problems in smart ways, nobody will.

“But this is not just Mr. Trump. Look at the statements that are being made by the other candidates. There is not a single candidate in the Republican primary that thinks we should do anything about climate change; that thinks it’s serious. Well, that’s a problem. The rest of the world looks at that and says, how can that be?”

Well, America is the model democracy, right? Globally, we’re all wondering, what is going on in America? Their candidates make Filipino ones look not so bad.

And then the president went after Trump specifically.

“I continue to believe Mr. Trump will not be President,” said the president. “And the reason is because I have a lot of faith in the American people, and I think they recognize that being President is a serious job. It’s not hosting a talk show or a reality show. It’s not promotion. It’s not marketing.”

See democracy still goes back to the people, not the leaders—when it works right.

Oh, yes. This was supposed to be about ASEAN and maybe TPP?

There were some meetings about working with the Southeast Asian countries. But TPP is on hold now in Congress. The House Speaker Paul Ryan, a Republican, said at the beginning of the week, it didn’t have the votes to pass. There’s politics again.

And that made China and the security of the South China Sea, seem like an afterthought at this newser.

“The United States and ASEAN are reaffirming our strong commitment to a regional order where international rules and norms — and the rights of all nations, large and small — are upheld,” the president said. “We discussed the need for tangible steps in the South China Sea to lower tensions, including a halt to further reclamation, new construction and militarization of disputed areas. Freedom of navigation must be upheld and lawful commerce should not be impeded.

“I reiterated that the United States will continue to fly, sail, and operate wherever international law allows, and we will support the right of all countries to do the same. We will continue to help our allies and partners strengthen their maritime capabilities. And we discussed how any disputes between claimants in the region must be resolved peacefully, through legal means, such as the upcoming arbitration ruling under the U.N. Convention of the Law of the Seas, which the parties are obligated to respect and abide by.”

And that’s all the cards the president was willing to show this hand, China.

I trust this was not the ASEAN presser the president had anticipated out of the summit.

Rather, I’m sure he would have wanted a much stronger image to show China, who simply countered ASEAN by making its own news.

It placed missile launchers on Woody Island in the South China Sea. Modern day sabre rattling, but much more than Obama managed to make anyone in the U.S. care about that issue.

All Obama could do was give everyone a look at how even the model democracy struggles to get things right.

Emil Guillermo is an award-winning journalist and commentator based in Northern California.

Contact him at https://www.amok.com, https://www.fb.com/emilguillermomedi

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