Criminal law, International

Duterte: Human Rights Is The “Antithesis of Government”

rodrigo_duterte_and_laotian_president_bounnhang_vorachith_croppedThe election of Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte constitutes the lowest point for the struggling Filipino democratic system.  Duterte has used profanities against President Obama, the United States Ambassador to the Philippines, Pope Frances, the United Nations and others who have questioned his blood-soaked reign as president.  Recently, he even compared himself to Hitler in not only refusing to stop his extrajudicial killings of alleged criminals but saying that he was prepared like Hitler to murder millions.  Now this budding tyrant has declared that the very  concept of human rights is the “anti-thesis of government.” In reality it is Duterte who is pushing the Philippines back into a state of Nature where might is right and government is merely the dominion of the powerful over the powerless. What is particularly chilling is that Duterte is a lawyer and former prosecutor.

Duterte has ordered the killing of thousands and even personally tied to past murders from his time as a prosecutor.  He told the audience of policewomen “[Don’t listen to] human rights (groups), because human rights is always the anti-thesis of government.”  He has previously said “I don’t call about human rights.”

It is already clear that Duterte believes that the definition of “government” includes extrajudicial killings, authoritarian rule, and contempt for rule of law.  However, he now maintains that government cannot by definition include the concept of human rights.

As an attorney, Duterte is an utter disgrace to our profession.  As a national leader, he is little more than a profane, petty tyrant.  The United States cannot simply ignore his murderous and despotic policies — no matter how important an ally the Philippines may be.

 

131 thoughts on “Duterte: Human Rights Is The “Antithesis of Government””

  1. After reading these posts today, I get the feeling that some of you out there think that some tyrants are good and some bad….I could see why now some of you like the Trump-Putin ticket.

    1. Yes. You are right for once! What you call a “tyrant”, is somebody else’s “strong leader.” Frankly, I respect Putin, because he knows who he is, and what his job is. He is a Russian, and his job is to promote the interests of Russia.

      Unlike Obama, who thinks he is the President of Mexico, or maybe the Patron Saint of Syrians, and could care less about America.

      Squeeky Fromm
      Girl Reporter

      1. Obama knows exactly what his job is and he has done it very well. He works for the oligarchy-a combination of the MIC, investment banking, energy corps, social media corpses, big pharma etc. He’s been a very strong supporter of these groups and he’s gotten everything they wanted done, done. The people who think he’s some kind of wimp are people who believe he “cares” about ordinary people in our nation or any other nation. He cares about his donors and himself. That’s it.

    2. Glenn,

      Most people here are saying that tyrants are bad. If you like tyrants you have another choice beside Trump. You can also choose Clinton. Further many lefties already voted for Obama and righties voted for Bush. Putin reminds me of the alien that shook hands with all the candidates in the sadly now defunt WWNews. 🙂

      Here’s something to think about: “Trump Not the Only Neo-Fascist Running for President
      Hillary Clinton’s “worldview and her policies are just as dangerous as Donald Trump’s,” said Ajamu Baraka, the Green Party’s vice presidential candidate. Lots of folks “talk about the coming of neo-fascism under Donald Trump, but don’t understand that the foundation for neo-fascism has already been created under the Obama administration — and for some of us, in our communities, we have already been subjected to neo-fascist repression.” In Syria, both Clinton and Trump “are committed to the use of military force to advance the interests of the U.S,” said Baraka.

      http://blackagendareport.com

      1. Crap, I didn’t know World News Daily or whatever it was finally went under. I always found it refreshing to see world statesmen lined up with some gray alien. Nice break from the kardashiods.

        1. Sholrss-
          I think the Weekly Word News still has an online version.
          I remembed when their cover story had “an alien” pictured with Bush 41 in the early 1990s.
          A reporter held it up as Bush was walking past the press pool.
          Bush stopped, and said “Let me see that” to the reporter.
          He looked it over, then said “I agreed to meet with the alien, but I TOLD him absolutely no photographers or reporters were to be there.”

              1. That alien has been all over the board in numeous elections.
                In 1992, he suppoerted Bush Sr., then Perot.,then,Clinton.
                I haven’t been able to find out who the alien is backing this time around.
                But I’ll keep watching to see if he backs a candidate; I take his endorsements every bit as seriously as I take the endorsements of the newspaper editors.

                1. tnash,

                  I think he’s tapped into the deep state because ultimately, he always picks the winner!

  2. Turley: have you ever heard of POTUS’ “Presidential Kill List,” or do you rather just prefer to make believe it does not exist?

    Should readers presume you approve of Obama’s non-judicial drone assassinating first the adult father Anwar Al-Awlaki, then two weeks latter the 16 year old child by the same name, both American citizens?

    Till you start covering Presidential Kill Lists with the same zeal as shown in this post, some readers shall view your motives w/skepticism if not outright disdain.

    Further, why do you ignore Saudi Arabia’s obvious crimes against humanity in Yeman, using weapons supplied exclusively by the USA?

    1. Joseph,

      Turley has covered this under Bush and Obama. He hasn’t ignored your other points either. You are right to bring these things up just not correct that Turley doesn’t cover these horrific actions by our own “leadership”.

    2. Joseph Jones, in wars, the military kills people. Sorry to break it to you.

  3. Well, I like Duterte! He has the right idea about how to end the drug problem – – – kill the pushers!

    That is the only thing that is going to work. True, it will cost the Criminal Defense Bar a lot of money, and crooked judges judges will be beat out of some pay offs. But eventually the people of the Philippines will be able to walk down their streets in safety.

    What a lot of the “sophisticated” people here have forgotten, is that the whole point of civilization is order, and stability. To that end, they pass laws. When people form together in gangs to subvert that process, then they must be treated as any other invading force would be treated – – – that is killed, or captured.

    As I have pointed out before, the FBI has been engaged in a decades long, multi-billion dollar war against the Mafia. Yet, the Mafia is still here. After 3 or 4 years of investigation, the FBI catches a don, and jails him. What is the effect on the Mafia? Zilch.

    Because the government is using a criminal defense system that was built to handle individuals, against a group. If the FBI and the various Organized Crime outfits can’t shut down the Italian Mob, after decades— how are they going to be able to stop the Crips, the Bloods, the MS13’s, The Russian Mob, The Banditos, Mexican Narco Gangs, etc. etc. The answer is, they won’t.

    In the meantime, over 30,000 people will die this upcoming year in the United States, from drug overdoses, and direct drug gang murders. The really “nice” people are calling for the continuation of a justice system which permits this to happen, year after year.

    A civilization has to take out the trash, or sooner or later the trash overwhelms the civilization. Duterte is simply a lawyer who understands what he needs to do to restore order and stability in his country, and then does it. Because the status quo justice system can’t do it. He is right, and that is why he has the overwhelming support of the people. And why Indonesia is about to do the same. And why China is leaning that way.

    Is there a possibility that innocent people will be killed. Sure. But innocent people are going to die anyway if the drug business continues. A nation can either choose to kill the bad guys, and mess up on occasion, or they can just let the bad guys kill people, including the innocent, on a regular basis.

    Read this, and get some additional information:

    http://atimes.com/2016/09/indonesia-anti-drugs-chief-calls-for-tougher-philippine-style-war-against-dealers/

    Squeeky Fromm
    Girl Reporter

    1. Squeeky,

      Murdering people isn’t the way to a good society. Dictatorships are not about trying to restore justice or trying to make people’s lives better. It just doesn’t work that way because you are concentrating enormous power in the hands of one person who has no brake on their actions. We see this with our own nation where the president has amassed amazing and unlawful powers unto himself. This doesn’t make our society better or safer. It is dangerous to all of us except the few people willing to play ball.

      1. The power will usually end up concentrated in one person’s hands because having groups of leaders seldom works in the long run. Have you seen anybody besides Duterte do anything which cut into drug gangs in a meaningful way. There have been about 2,500 killings, but about 700,000 druggies have surrendered to authorities.

        I am sure some of the 2,500 were innocent, but so what? That is the price a society pays for doing ineffective things for so long. If the Philippines had instituted these methods 4o years ago, there would have been a lot less druggies. And, it isn’t like the drug gangs aren’t killing innocent people in their business.And through the use of the various drugs.

        What irritates me, is that we have an ongoing “drug death” problem in the U.S., and people are still preaching about restraint, and proper procedures. BeeEss. It’s a war, and we will either fight it like a war now, or we will fight it later. When the situation will be even worse. Whichever, we can’t just sit back and act all outraged about Duterte when we are losing 30,000+ a year here in the United States largely due to our ineffective and logically stupid approaches.

        And a lot of those dead people are IMHO, pretty worthless. A bunch of stupid druggies, users, and pushers. No big loss. But they are still somebody’s child, or brother or sister, or parent. And they meant something to their family. We should never have allowed the drug pushing predators to prey on them in the first place, and maybe they would not have ended up worthless.

        Squeeky Fromm
        Girl Reporter

        1. If he were that capable, Davao City would have a homicide rate below national means. It does not. It’s hype, like Cory Booker in Newark.

        2. Dang Squeek you are getting downright sentimental these days – heart on your sleeve and all that =)

          Spot on: “But they are still somebody’s child, or brother or sister, or parent. And they meant something to their family. We should never have allowed the drug pushing predators to prey on them in the first place, and maybe they would not have ended up worthless.”

          My husband’s brother died a few years ago from an overdose of Fentanyl. A bright, sweet guy who was never able to kick his pain pill addiction. He had periods of sobriety, but was in an accident and the morons at the hospital despite KNOWING he had addiction issues gave him Fentanyl patches.

    2. Squeaky, the Sicilianate mob was in bad shape a generation ago, when the median age of its full members was past 60. It’s not of much importance any more and whole families have been dissolved for all intents and purposes (among them the Valenti crew in Rochester and the Colombo family in New York). The federal government managed to take the Teamsters away from them and reduce their influence in the Hotel Workers and the Laborer’s.

      1. The first rule of the Sicilian Mafia is to deny the existence of the Sicilian Mafia.

        This article says they are alive and kicking! Which I tend to believe, because organizations, even quasi de facto ones such as The Mob, have a perpetual existence. Just like Corporations!

        http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2016/07/face-mafia-italy-160707105425997.html

        Apparently there are still a bunch of wise guys in the United States, too:

        http://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/05/nyregion/mafia-five-families-racketeering-conspiracy.html

        Squeeky Fromm
        Girl Reporter

  4. Jill, I think yours would be a solution for a perfect world, sort of Wilsonian. I have too much cynicism. I would like to see our country look out for Americans first, get our hands out of the puppets around the world, and lead by example. But I have too much cynicism to have any hope for that solution either. We’ll continue to overreach and disintegrate from the inside out.
    And you’re right, you can be whatever leader you would like to be, just don’t EVER threaten to use anything but dollars for oil. That’s what it comes down too.

    1. slohrss29,

      We do need to take care of the injustice and oppression in the US. I am given hope by movements such as nodapl. Those people are showing great courage and more are joining them everyday. The govt. is bringing out its best military hardware against many peaceful protesters, but people are still standing up for what is right.

      There are also whistleblowers to consider. They have done us a great service by exposing the powerful’s true aims and actions. Many have paid a terrible price and yet, there are still people of conscience who will speak up and who will publish the secrets.

      If we can come together and peacefully and courageously confront our own oligarchs, then we have a chance.

    2. yep, petro dollar rules. I agree we need to step back and focus on the needs of the U.S. – there are so many! Not become entirely isolationist, but stop interfering with other states if they are not threatening our national security. But, that is not going to happen. The corporations control our pols.

  5. This man is a complete psychopath. He should be utterly condemned for what he has done and will do. I wish there was a strong international body which would investigate and issue an arrest warrent.

    Now for some backstory.

    As several foreign policy experts pointed out, Duterte has a target on his back, not because he is all that different from other tyrants the USG supports (nor all that different from our own “leadership”), but because he isn’t playing ball with the US. Remember that John Kerry just attended the funeral of an ally who used to boil people alive. So really, I don’t think USGinc. cares about his human rights record. They do care about his obedience to the will of the oligarchy. When the USG decides their former friend has become a nuisance then that friend will get the Saddam and Gaddafi treatment. We are seeing write ups about Duterte now because the USG wants him out of power.

    We need an independent world judicial body to investigate war and other crimes. Quite frankly, the USG has no standing on which to pass this kind of judgment. If we had that, leaders of USG would be on trial as we speak, just as Duterte should be.

      1. No you’re not. Jill lies. All the time and about everything.

  6. This seems to be a common theme, allies with human rights abuses.

    There are staunch allies, like Great Britain, France, and Israel. And then there are the Machiavellian alliances we hold our noses for in order to gain access to a violent, anti-Western region. I couldn’t be in that echelon of government or politics because I couldn’t make those deals.

    Nick – HRC rather blithely commented that she would raise taxes on the middle class, and put coal workers out of a job. Since government venture capitalism into green energy, and jobs training programs have failed so badly, those workers lack confidence that their jobs will be replaced.

    And yet, it’s going to be a very close race. She’s told us she’s going to raise taxes. She’s broken the law (hence all the aides getting immunity and pleading the 5th.) She’s lied. Her negligence at State led her to ignore 600 written requests for additional security, so that when the inevitable attack happened we lost 4 Americans. Then there seemed to be no plan for extraction. You put a civilian on hot ground like that, you have to have a plan in place. Nope. Extraction teams were told to get ready, wait, get ready, wait…for hours. Her history has been similar for the past 3 decades. All these women are coming out of the woodwork with very similar stories – Bill cheated with them or even abused them, and Hillary and her team threatened them and assassinated their character.

    But something like 45% of Americans are strangely OK with a corrupt establishment politician who attacked the alleged victims of sexual abuse and assault.

    We have had record breaking low GDP growth for 8 years. African Americans are unemployed at rates of 25% and above. The same people who claim we have to double minimum wage so that people can support a family of 5 on minimum wage jobs because the job market is so bad, will turn around and tell you that everything has been absolutely wonderful under the extreme Left, without a hint of irony.

    And 45% of people are strangely OK with that.

    There is growing anger and resentment in the rest of the population about policies that keep making it harder to survive, let alone thrive. But if they can’t get their act together at the voting booth, we’ll get a corrupt establishment President at a time when the establishment Congress has an approval rating lower than cockroaches.

  7. When democracy fails the people invite in the tyrant. The kicker is that democracy is only as good as the people. Reflect upon the quality of people who demand a tyrant.

  9. We did not ‘get’ Pablo Escobar until Los Pepes started killing all of his people. They killed all the people connected to him, lawyers, accountants, minions. It was messy. Finally, he only had a small group and a satellite phone. That is when the Search Bloc got him.

    When your enemy doesn’t play by your rules, you play by his. Duterte is playing by their rules. Justice is swift and sudden.

  10. Ken Rogers-

    Thank you for reminding us about John Yoo, whose philosophy is completely consistent with Duterte’s philosophy. Of course, he’s “one of us” (so to speak), so he escapes the scathing, no holds barred criticism that Prof. Turley so willingly dispenses in this post.

    As if it weren’t scary and disappointing enough to have Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump be the leading candidates for president, the libertarians who comment here are now cheering on a tyrant who openly compares himself to Hitler. Libertarians for Hitler-lite? Oh yeah, for sure, that will get everyone to vote for Gary Johnson. Pardon me while my head explodes.

    The anger of which Nick speaks is very real and very dangerous.

    1. John Yoo, whose philosophy is completely consistent with Duterte’s philosophy.

      I can never figure out if the lot of you are willfully ignorant, utterly mendacious, or just hopelessly obtuse and crude.

      1. Readers might rightly presume you failed to make the Harvard debate club. Debate tactics 101: call opponent names, using lots of adverbs, in failed attempts to embarrass them. I think not…

        1. I’m not ‘debating’ him. What he said was patent rubbish and hardly needs a reply from me. I merely point out that no well-informed person of integrity trafficks in patent rubbish. Well informed persons of integrity are too thin on the ground here.

        2. Of course what I said didn’t need a reply, but he replied nevertheless. Precisely because what I said didn’t warrant a reply. And in such a refreshing fashion, too. Instead of using polemics such as: “I disagree with you and here is why……”

    2. Don,

      Johnson is a fake Libertarian – he is for the TPP which clearly indicates that he is owned by the same corps that own the Democrats and many Republicans as well. I think he is financed by Soros to draw disaffected voters away from Trump and Stein.

      1. Autumn, He polling 24% in NM. Most home states hate their politicians but he actually did a good job there. He’s not a fake libertarian, he’s just has to work in a difficult environment where most people who vote shouldn’t, and that includes Congress.

        1. He IS a fake Libertarian – NO true Libertarian would ever push the TPP. As far as his success in NM it’s not surprising. Lots of ignorant and unemployed folks there.

  11. I lived in the Philippines for 18 months. Judicial and other government corruption run rampant and started long before Duterte became president. And yet, sometimes the Filipinos try to fight the corruption. I remember watching the impeachment hearings to remove from office the Chief Justice of the Philippine Supreme Court. He only had 10 million in US dollars one of his bank accounts (not bad for one who lives on a judicial salary)…A dwarf when one looks at the Clintons’ bank account expansion while Hillary “served” the country as Secretary of State, but a corrupt dwarf just the same. He was impeached and removed from office.

    Duterte established a well-known reputation for “death squads,” extra-judicial mayhem and covering up crimes while mayor of Davao on Mindanao. The people of the Philippines knew his reputation long before his election to the Presidency just like the people of the United States know the Clintons. What does this say about the current status of democratic government? John Adams was right. Democracies do commit suicide.

    1. A debate question I’d like to hear Mrs. Clinton asked is what exactly does she think the 30 Wall Street banks were getting from her and her husband when they paid them an average of over $200,000 an hour to breath their air.

      Or, since the DOJ, FBI and Mrs. Clinton believe it is perfectly fine to have secret servers to communicate classified information, then will she permit everybody in her administration to have their own secret server? If not, why not?

      But the media thinks it is more important to dwell on the fact that 20 years ago Donald Trump called Miss Universe fat after Miss Universe got fat.

  12. I call these type politicians, the Howard Beale genre. What fascinates me is how the lemmings and sycophants of the elitists don’t see, understand, or care about the anger regular, hard working, people have.

    1. I think you’re very right Nick. Isaac misses this point entirely. Living near the 6th poorest municipality in the country, I hear the anger daily from those who are still working. It is not just the “simplistic” citizens, the anger is broad. Forget not the lessons of Germany, probably the most technologically advanced country at the time. It can happen anywhere when the dissatisfaction is deep and people are looking for any answer.

      1. slohr, Exactly. The elitists and their lemmings called all those who voted for Brexit the exact things they’re calling Trump voters. And, to a lesser scale, the people who voted against the peace accord w/ FARC in Colombia are being called stupid. It is mostly poor people who voted against these rebels being given a free pass back into the communities they terrorized. Elitists don’t have to live w/ these killers. Poor, hard working, rural people do.

        1. And slohr, Our friend from Canada almost always “misses the point.”

          1. There’s missing the point and then there’s having a different opinion. In order to have a different opinion one must not miss the points. Ya see, first you understand all points of view, then you weigh, balance, compare, and contrast, looking at all this from an historical perspective, a perspective of the moment, and a perspective of probability. Then you form an opinion. An intelligent opinion or point is one that transcends the emotions. Not a lot of that going on in the Trump camp(s).

            Those that simplistically accuse others of missing the point are those that are quick to anger, quick to take an extreme position, and are ever on the lookout for a simplistic hero to hold their hand. If one watches Trump carefully, one cannot avoid understanding this. There’s anger and frustration and then there’s understanding. If you can’t understand yet how crazy Trump is then you never had access to any ‘points’.

  13. HSK and Slohrs,
    Excellent posts. This guy is not as sophisticated in practice as our own government and that is a reflection on the will of the people. We are heading in this direction.

    Read The Law by Frederic Bastiat.

  14. I don’t know what choice words he said about Obama, the Pope, the U.N. or others but a number of Americans have had some very choice words for them as well.

    Some believe the Catholic Church is evil. They surely have committed some atrocities over the millenniums. The stuff I hear people say about our President is embarrassing because it is often true. A Nobel Peace Prize for a man who has kept our nation in war for dubious reasons his entire term and prosecuted more whistleblowers than any President in history despite his support for the Whistleblowers Protection Act. Let’s pass a law, then when people actually blow the whistle we can have some fun prosecuting them so that others won’t actually embarrass us anymore?

    You perhaps should be agreeing with Duterte and stop listening to the lame stream media.

    Jonathan, I think you are being rather hard on Duterte for stating his opinion and trying to clean up his country. Perhaps the inmates are controlling the asylum like they are here.

    Human Rights are antithetic to government. It’s why 11% of our society now consider themselves libertarians. Government get’s it’s money from taking it through the force and coercion of taxation and it’s enforcement by the state. This, under natural laws is a usurpation of a property right and why libertarians are opposed to taxation and call it theft. When an individual takes money from others without their consent, it is theft, but when a political unit does it, it still theft, just legalized by some relatively small legislative body.

    Without taxation, you have no revenue to operate government, thus property rights are the antithesis of government. Whether you think it is a necessary evil or some social contract is moot. It doesn’t change the facts of it being antithetic.

    We just legalized taxation for expediency. It makes is easier for the ruling oligarchy to take money from the majority to allegedly protect our rights and property. It maintains the wealth and wage gaps. It keeps a large segment of society in poverty and low wages so they cannot compete against those in power. It makes it easier for them to redistribute the majorities money to their special interests. It just a very handy tool for the ruling class to maintain their wealth and power. What’s not to love?

    The problem is that if you allow them to take even one nickel in taxation, you will end up with over 100+ taxes and regulatory fees and 1/3 of the population living at or near the poverty line, as many countries and the U.S. are now experiencing. You point out almost every day, how ludicrous and uncivil the parties within our society have become. 40,000,000+/- require food stamps?

    If Duterte is trying to clean up his nation and restore a civil society then perhaps it is our nation that doesn’t understand what a civil society is supposed to look like.

    I surely do not want to meddle in the affairs of other nation states as our past is full of. When I hear our lame stream media demonize they guy, it suggests to me they don’t like him because he is not willing to go along with the plans of the international banking cartel. The same reason Johnson wasn’t allowed in the debates. He’s a libertarian and they do not like that message getting out. The like the legalization of theft because it allows them to redistribute that money into their favored financial projects and it is pretty obvious they use socialism as a tool to increase their wealth at the majorities expense.

    1. Here, here… well said.

      The only problem with this guy is knowing when to stop. Also, when you start a precedent like that (and cross a line), it’s hard to step back. His term may spiral out of control until it ends up like Mao’s in the 70s. That’s why it is so important for a government to be just and follow the law–the spirit of the law. And we need to come down hard on those who erode the law. What Nixon was eventually forced out of government for seems petty today. Where the Philippines are going is the same road we’re headed, and they can see us in their rear-view mirrors.

    3. Historically speaking, these “strong men” have proven to be very dangerous. Hope the United States rejects the “strong man” who wants to stop and frisk.

      1. Stop and frisk was a crucial component of the restoration of order in New York City. Liberals despise it because liberals are social vandals who’ve long since ceased to advocate anything defensible and just play crappy status games.

  16. “It is already clear that Duterte believes that the definition of “government” includes extrajudicial killings, authoritarian rule, and contempt for rule of law. However, he now maintains that government cannot by definition include the concept of human rights.”

    Someone needs to explain how Duterte, by the above statement, is any different than our current government, up to and including the Commander in Chief.

    My daughter in law is from the Philippines and the people are behind Duterte because unlike politicians in general he walks the walk. He promised to get rid of the drug pushers and is doing just that. Because he badmouthed the UN and Obama we are going to hear allot of bad press. But, while Duterte is doing what he said he would the underlings in his administration are the same old same old and with his demise things will revert back to how it was. It is just a matter of time.

    1. Walks the walk? The city of which he was mayor has perfectly ordinary homicide rates for the Philippines.

      The Philippines are more tranquil that the mode in Latin America. They need more manpower in their police services, more technical skill and professionalism in the police and the courts, and more prison cells in order to improve public safety. They don’t need death squads (or, as is more likely here, the pretense of death squads).

    2. Excellent post. I have several Filipino friends and their parents (all in their 70s) who joined the US Navy to escape the devastation post WWII support Duterte – their relatives all feel safer now. I expect some sort of regime change to take place as he insulted Obama and also is against the US including it in the pivot to Asia.

  17. Duarte’s perspective is the one supported by the angry and the fed up. He promises to solve complicated problems that have been growing, seemingly unsolvable, and a potential danger to those who seek a simple and quick solution. For every budding leader like this there has to be enough voters that are simplistic enough to simply hand over the reins. This is human nature. The Philippines is not the only country where the combination of a candidate with ‘ALL’ the answers and enough simplistic citizens exist.

  18. Over the past century quit a few dictators were elected in open elections. After they were elected they consolidated their power and control over their populations and country. This guy is just the latest example of this.

    1. No, not really, bar in Tropical Africa after 1960. You’ve had abusive (but residually pluralistic) governments which derived from electoral contests – e.g. the Peronist period in Argentina (1946-55) or the Chavez-Maduro regime today. The Communist governments in Hungary and Czechoslovakia ca. 1949 started out as parliamentary regimes. However, the Red Army occupation and blackmail of the non-communist parties that that allowed was crucial to their destruction of the parliamentary order. You had the Menderes government in Turkey during the 1950s and the Erdogan government today. You had the Machado government in Cuba ca. 1928 and the failed attempt by the Allende government in Chile. In Africa, the post-1990 electoral contests have tended to lead to pluralistic machine states or to genuinely competitive political orders.

  19. He is abhorrent and he may be the embodiment of an elected leader whose commitment to human rights couldn’t be less and we should NOT BE SUPPORTING HIM IN ANY WAY. However, that analysis should also be applied to our “friends” the Saudis and rather rest of their brethren. We should also be mindful that as our coprorations get more powerful that they too view their need for profit paramount to any human needs like clean water and air and killing or harming humans is just business. They already have the power to call out police in riot gear to protect their profits and attack unarmed protesters.

    Wake up American. Mad men also wear suits!

    1. Yes, Madmen wear suits and Nazi’s wear Birkenstocks. To wit: the morphing of the phrase “population control” into “population reduction” by no less a scholar (sic) than Philip Cafaro, a professor of philosophy and an affiliated faculty member in the School of Global Environmental Sustainability at Colorado State University. Ah..get ready for it, because it’s coming. And on that same note, contributing members of the now defunct American Eugenics Society and now contributing members at the Hastings Institute that were consultants on the “bio-ethics” that were built into the Affordable Care Act.

      1. Please provide the proof that Hastings has any link whatsoever to Eugenics.
        Citing the voices in your head is not acceptable proof.

      2. I think the American Eugenics Society has for 40-odd years gone by the name “Society for the Study of Social Biology”.

    2. Hear hear Justice Hilmes! Duterte is an evil thug, but the Saudis – our allies – are possibly even worse.

      Just read a great article on Common Dreams about corporate creep

      “”Today, of the 100 wealthiest economic entities in the world, 69 are now corporations and only 31 countries,” wrote Global Justice Now campaigns and policy officer Aisha Dodwell. “This is up from 63 to 37 a year ago. At this rate, within a generation we will be living in a world entirely dominated by giant corporations.”

      http://www.commondreams.org/news/2016/09/12/be-afraid-largest-corporations-wealthier-most-countries

  20. @JT
    “As an attorney, Duterte is an utter disgrace to our profession. As a national leader, he is little more than a profane, petty tyrant. The United States cannot simply ignore his murderous and despotic policies — no matter how important an ally the Philippines may be.”

    Agreed, but what then about John Yoo? Is his thinking regarding what a US president can legally do to enemies of the American state qualitatively different from that of Duterte?

    “01/08/06 “revcom.us” — — John Yoo publicly argued there is no law that could prevent the President from ordering the torture of a child of a suspect in custody – including by crushing that child’s testicles.

    “This came out in response to a question in a December 1st debate in Chicago with Notre Dame professor and international human rights scholar Doug Cassel.

    “What is particularly chilling and revealing about this is that John Yoo was a key architect post-9/11 Bush Administration legal policy. As a deputy assistant to then-Attorney General John Ashcroft, John Yoo authored a number of legal memos arguing for unlimited presidential powers to order torture of captive suspects, and to declare war anytime, any where, and on anyone the President deemed a threat.

    “It has now come out Yoo also had a hand in providing legal reasoning for the President to conduct unauthorized wiretaps of U.S. citizens. Georgetown Law Professor David Cole wrote, ‘Few lawyers have had more influence on President Bush’s legal policies in the ‘war on terror’ than John Yoo.’

    “This part of the exchange during the debate with Doug Cassel, reveals the logic of Yoo’s theories, adopted by the Administration as bedrock principles, in the real world.

    “Cassel: If the President deems that he’s got to torture somebody, including by crushing the testicles of the person’s child, there is no law that can stop him?

    “Yoo: No treaty.

    “Cassel: Also no law by Congress. That is what you wrote in the August 2002 memo.

    “Yoo: I think it depends on why the President thinks he needs to do that.” [My emphasis]
    http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article11488.htm

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