SO BARACK Obama has finally made it as the United States’ Democratic Party Presidential candidate, edging out Hillary Clinton.

It was a tight race indeed, and both had worked real hard and long in getting in the votes including generously exploiting this thing called the cult of celebrity. They had built their celebrity up so high that they’ve made themselves household names, not only to those who cared for them and their existence but also for those who couldn’t care less if they existed like, say, some chamber maid in a remote lodge in Sagarmatha that happened to have an illegal access to CNN.

But in my view, Hillary made a very big mistake in running against Obama to start with. I firmly believe that even before Obama and Hillary decided to even cast their lots in running for the Democratic nomination, Obama had already won. Why? The answer is simple: 24.

Yes, that hit TV show 24 – 24 hours per season with agent Jack Bauer played by Kiefer Sutherland. The show was truly engaging, exciting and memorable. And, guess what, among the most interesting and memorable characters in that show was Senator and later President David Palmer, played by Dennis Haysbert.

Palmer, the black President of the United States of America, who was so good, so decisive and so presidential that he lasted five seasons as the ideal leader of the free world. Of course, in 24’s timeline, that’s just 5 days. But his character was so powerful that the bad guys could not do anything but assassinate him to get their way.

At this point, let me quote Wikipedia’s entry on David Palmer to state my case:

Characteristics – He was married to Sherry Palmer whom he divorced after losing trust in her, even with a total of 29 years behind her (some remember that they even knew each other back in grade school, according to Sherry herself). However, he maintained contact with her, using her as an informal special assistant during both Season 2 and Season 3's terrorism crises. He was horrified when she was killed by a woman Sherry had implicated in the murder of Alan Milliken. He also has a daughter named Nicole (a rape survivor) and a son named Keith, who, during his campaign for the presidency, was accused of murdering Nicole's rapist.

Around the time he was running for re-election, he dated his personal physician, Dr. Anne Packard, a divorcee. On the day of the first debate with his opponent, that debate was complicated when his opponent brought up charges that Packard had conspired with her husband to 'cook the books' at a pharmaceutical company they were previously involved with. She was innocent and Palmer supported her. She sometimes came between Palmer and his chief of staff and brother, Wayne, who disliked her. On that same day (shortly after her ex-husband committed suicide right in front of her), Packard broke up with him because his life was too complicated for her to continue the relationship. In Season 6, Regina King plays the role of Palmer's sister Sandra.

Palmer has always shown himself to value principle above anything else, and has steadfastly refused to rush to judgment on anything. He was deeply disturbed by the cover-up of the events surrounding his son, Keith. He initially blamed Jack Bauer for the attempts on his life, but apologized when he realized Jack was innocent of wrongdoing. He was also horrified by the actions of his wife, Sherry, regarding both events about her son, her attempt to lure him into an incriminating affair, and her willingness to sacrifice Kim Bauer. He left Day 1 with his ethics intact, though his marriage was over. And in Day 2 when talking about the nuclear bomb, he says that he is more worried about the bomb going off than his re-election, something his subordinates fail to realize.

In a special feature for season 2, Dennis Haysbert mentioned he based the character off a combination of Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, and Colin Powell calling them the three politicians he admired most.

Concept and creation – Dennis Haysbert was disappointed that his character was killed in the 5th Season, commenting that it continued an American legacy of killing its popular and charismatic leaders. He does continue to watch the show and be a fan.

Okay, so you can say: wait, wasn’t a strong woman President Mackenzie Allen also projected in Commander in Chief played by Geena Davis? Shouldn’t that have worked for Hillary as Palmer did for Obama?

Not quite, I say. Commander in Chief, the great show that it was, was canceled early. And nobody loves a loser, especially in show business.

However, in that show Vice President Allen rose to the top rank when the President was incapacitated. Hillary, now, is seriously considering the post of Obama’s running mate. Hmmmmmmm….. very interesting.

Gotcha

IN THE Los Angeles Times, Theodore Dalrymple writes: “The cult of celebrity is not new, but it is increasing in its scope and effect. At one time, people wanted to simply gawk at the famous, and possibly dress like them. Now, many take their moral and political opinions from them.”

Back home in the mess that’s Metro Manila, we ponder over our own celeb fascination. Gabby Concepcion, home with much fanfare lost no time in getting himself in every headline that he could, first toying with a Kapuso lawsuit after clinging on to rival Kapamilya network only to recant later. Then there’s the botched endorsement deal, leading him to be the top endorser of a food supplement whose own image battle is making the headline.

And now he’s in court, answering for a bigamy charge filed ages ago, forgotten all this time until now, that he’s conveniently back.

Of course, the bigamy charge drags other big headline hogging names like ex-wife Sharon Cuneta (now married to Senator Francis Pangilinan) and daughter KC, an extremely fast rising star. These guys are everywhere in the news – hard news, soft news, magazine covers, ad endorsements… in this blog…

Wait a minute, there’s something I don’t get in this whole bigamy thing. So the claim is Gabby was married before he was married (in super big celebrity fashion) to Sharon. But Sharon has had her marriage to him annulled, so she’s legitimately married to Senator Kiko.

From the way I understand it, annulled marriages totally cancel out the marriage – like it never existed or never happened. This is not like divorce where the marriage is severed, but the marriage did exist and still exists on record.

So if the Gabby-Sharon marriage was annulled, where’s the bigamy? It never happened, as logic dictates.

But that’s only me. And by some powerful and undeniable force, I am dragged into this cult of celebrity, feeding the growing need for attention and fame of one Gabby Concepcion.

For all we know, here’s a guy who needs to make a comeback in Philippine show business because his real estate business in the US is kaput with property values way below survival rates, hit by widespread financial instability and nose-diving economy.

And here I am, falling for this racket.

Ju-ju-ju-judy

BUT LIKE it or not, celebrities who have the popularity and perhaps even the credibility with a particular target audience can catapult your message to that audience.

Hoping to replicate the success in convincing the mass audience with a message they so despise, First Holdings – the Lopez-owned controlling interest in Meralco – came out with a “public service” message on “systems loss” delivered by the darling of the masses: Judy Ann Santos.

The message: systems losses in your electric bill are real, justified and legal.

They were hoping that Judy Ann can do for this unsavory message what she did for Senator Jamby Madrigal’s unsavory candidacy.

Well, Judy endorsing Ja-ja-ja-jamby on TV undid whatever distaste the masa had for Madrigal in her first run for a Senate seat. They quickly forgot her first campaign – a giant billboard on EDSA flashing a bejeweled socialite claiming she is there for the poor.

Judy endorses the “systems loss” advocacy with analogy of how some ice melts away on your trip from the store to your home. She adds that systems losses charged to consumers are never higher than what’s prescribed by law.

True enough – but it totally misses the point of what we all find distasteful about this issue. Sure, the kilometers of cables and wires that bridge the generation of power to the consumer at home may result in attrition of the electricity that runs through them. We can accept that, just as we can accept the ice melting on the way home analogy.

What gets our goat is the system loss due to Meralco’s inefficiency… no, ineptitude… no, incompetence… no, plain katamaran, the cost of which is charged to us, the consumers.

We pay for systems losses because they charge us for the power those bums in the squatter areas steal with their jumpers and direct wirings to the posts. They claim they have prosecuted some. Honestly, would you bother with policing and prosecuting when what’s stolen is getting paid for anyway? Why punish us who dutifully pay our bills? I say, charge us only for what we consume, these power distributors will move heaven and hell to secure their lines.

As to the natural attrition that occurs in the power lines, the internet will show you that the technology exists to minimize if not totally eradicate this.

You don’t understand what I’m talking about? Try this: when you buy ice, bring a styrofoam ice box or a Coleman. Or are you just too lazy?

But they had to use Judy Ann Santos, because her celebrity with her audience – the masses they want to reach – will sweeten the message with her endorsement.

It isn’t the same to come out with the same message in that usual “So the public will know” print ad, or even Meralco spokesman and father figure Elpi Cuna telling us of the melting ice on the way home.

No. It had to be Judy. Remember: “The medium is the message.”