Here is Some Editorial News About Steven ! I put them without comments!!
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InQ7.net-Philippines
This action star is for Macapagal, Gordon
posted: 11:15 PM (Manila Time) | May 04, 2004
By Margaux Ortiz and Christine Avendaño
Inquirer News Service
ALTHOUGH HE can't vote, international action star Steven Seagal has put in a good word for President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and senatorial candidate Richard Gordon, saying he was a big fan of both.
In a press conference at the Makati Shangri-La Hotel Monday night, Seagal described Ms Macapagal as "a wonderful human being and a great strategist."
"I have always been a big fan of hers," Seagal said. "My family and friends feel the President has handled a lot of difficult crises with extreme caution and intelligent strategy."
He said Ms Macapagal had done a great job with the Philippines and her endeavors "are not only effective but fruitful for the people."
"Sino ba yun (Who's he)?" opposition presidential bet Fernando Poe Jr. on Tuesday shrugged off Seagal's virtual endorsement of President Macapagal.
Poe, himself an action movie star, told reporters there was a law banning foreigners from endorsing candidates.
"Di bale, tatapatan na lang ni Amay Bisaya yan (Never mind, we'll pit Amay Bisaya against him)," he said, referring to the local character actor who is one of his supporters.
Hearing about the endorsement, KNP senatorial candidate Francisco Tatad said, "Foreigners may not interfere in the elections, whether it comes in the form of money, political endorsements or whatever."
As for Gordon, Seagal described him as "an intelligent human being who is very well-versed in world politics."
"I've only had a couple of days to get to know him but what I know I like," he said.
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InQ7.net-Philippines
Kung fu
SO HERE'S American movie actor Steven Seagal announcing that he has always been a "big fan" of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and that his family and friends have noted how "extreme caution" and "intelligent strategy" marked her handling of "difficult crises." It's uncertain how Seagal, on a visit to these tropical isles supposedly to check out a movie location, came to mouth that glowing tribute. Whether it was said outright in a kung fu burst of admiration or craftily solicited by the President's trusty operatives, it's one more endorsement for the candidate whom pundits have all but crowned winner, an endorsement no matter how indirect, and no matter that there was no photo op under any of Malacañang's gleaming chandeliers to go with it.
There is no doubt that endorsements are a tremendous thing in this country currently convulsed by election fever. That this is so indicates the extent to which tribalism continues to afflict the body politic, rendering it dependent on the say-so of perceived leaders and trendsetters, to speak nothing of ignorant, timid and, in effect, unable to think for itself. In the present context, celebrities have taken the place of tribal leaders telling their followers what to think. With the to-do over Seagal's description of the President as "a wonderful human being and a great strategist" (a tip-off, incidentally, by the Palace claque), the logic is that if such a one as Seagal, star of many a martial arts flick and by suggestion a man of power, thinks highly of the candidate, then voters should think so, too.
This is the logic behind actress Kris Aquino's giddy endorsement of the Lapid pater et fils (granting that the voting public would be so moved by someone who blows hot and cold and hot again as far as her steamy love life is concerned), of actress Judy Ann Santos' endorsement of Jamby Madrigal and of movie icon Nora Aunor's endorsement of Ms Macapagal-Arroyo. (This, by extension, could also be the logic behind the endorsement of Raul Roco by a number of performing artists, or of Eddie Villanueva by other members of show biz who belong to the same "faith-based group" as he. But then these latter groups do not have the same level of celebrity -- and therefore impact -- as Aunor et al., and may argue that they are but making declarations of faith.)
There is, of course, a deeper (and more troubling because deceitful) aspect to the endorsements of Santos and Aunor: an appropriation of identity by the endorsees, wherein Madrigal, a child of her class if ever there was one, "becomes" a veritable "Juday" down to the smile and the hair style in posters as well as in public appearances, and the President appears, in footage and in pictures, as though she were the "superstar," Aunor, herself.
But Ms Macapagal-Arroyo has long employed the Aunor card, her equally astute husband having early on seen its value vis-a-vis Aunor's army of fans. And in today's Machiavellian culture, can there be any arguing against success (for example, Madrigal's truly startling come-from-behind survey ratings)?
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