So many people think it’s just cool that Filipino president Duterte publicly called Obama “a son of a whore.” The unbridled insolence seems to have made Duterte a hero to Pepe Escobar & many others.

Shall we ignore the misogyny? Is that level of political critique sufficient to Obama’s politics? Are civilities just too bourgeois to heed? If vulgar epithets are all you’re packing for political critique maybe you ought to try reading a book.

What’s most offensive is that Duterte is a monster, a thug, a vigilante who sets death squads on poor people & has killed hundreds. Don’t try to defend Duterte by objecting that Obama is much worse. Many of us disrespect Obama & everything he stands for but cannot imagine stooping to that disgraceful level of vituperation & indignity. Why make an ass of yourself to degrade someone else?