During the 2008 presidential election, the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) campaign materials jokingly said voters were being forced to choose between the lesser of two evils — a moron or a scoundrel for president. Pan-blue voters naturally prefer a fool to a miscreant, and swing voters sympathized with the idiot; thus, in the end, the fool was the victor.
The irony of it all is that the scoundrel is not really a crook, but the idiot has indeed proven to be the fool we thought he was all along. Pan-blue voters are clear about his stupidity, and loathe his “I love Taiwan” propaganda, but they still voted for him even as they were crying about it.
The nightmare of this incompetent fool running the nation has become our reality, and even People First Party (PFP) Chairman James Soong (宋楚瑜), who had already ostensibly retired from electioneering, has risen again, commencing the battle between the two candidates who claim China’s Hunan Province as their ancestral home.
Former premier Hau Pei-tsun (郝柏村) has called Soong’s comeback monkey business, thus giving pan-blue supporters their fool fighting their own monkey. However, the deep-blue camp has raised the stakes, saying supporters should continue to support this idiot even if they detest him.
The orthodox deep-blue supporters have forgotten where they come from.
They must have never read The Four Books and Five Classics (四書五經), a collection of Confucian writings dating back to 300 BC, and neither do they understand the importance of selecting a wise and capable candidate according to what the Chinese philosophers Confucius (孔子) and Mencius (孟子) wrote about choosing one’s leaders.
It is no wonder Soong has called them gangsters. He started out in the KMT, so of course he is well aware of the party’s dark underbelly and really hit the nail on the head with this one — the KMT is a party of gangsters.
While “the gangster boss” is now calling Soong a “troublemaker,” he is also suspected of betraying Taiwan with his peace accord proposal, and has uttered some balderdash about “the cardinal sin of being a Mainlander” in an attempt to manipulate those of his supporters who are not satisfied with his performance.
This gangster mentality and the constant attempts to bully Taiwanese into identifying with China instead of Taiwan has always been the KMT’s greatest sin. However, our foolish president’s cardinal sin is his inability to realize how difficult life is for the average person, and wasting taxpayers’ hard-earned money with this corrupt and inept system.
While these gangsters and their sins are remnants of the past, democracy provides us with choices concerning our future.
A great deal of mud was slung at the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) in the previous presidential election, but DPP Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) party reforms have been a sight for sore eyes. She is extremely capable and her policies give voters who are seeking social justice renewed hope for the future.
The little pig fighting against the big bad wolf symbolizes the healthy attitude of people standing up for themselves, as well as their overall joy and willingness to participate in the political process.
Why should voters who have tears in their eyes and hate in their hearts hold their noses and force themselves to vote for these gangsters when they are perfectly capable of standing up for themselves and being happy with their choices?
James Wang is a commentator based in Taipei.
Translated by Kyle Jeffcoat
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