The lunatic is on the grass
Remembering games and daisy chains and laughs
Got to keep the loonies on the path
The lunatic is in the hall
The lunatics are in my hall
The paper holds their folded faces to the floor
And every day the paper boy brings more
And if the dam breaks open many years too soon
And if there is no room upon the hill
And if your head explodes with dark forebodings too
I’ll see you on the dark side of the moon…
– Songwriter: Roger Waters; Performed by Pink Floyd
THIS COLUMN was inspired by recent events, manifestations and public tantrums of “never was and not former” Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno. Of course, we all know that she was booted out by the Supreme Court via the weapon of choice of Solicitor General Jose Calida, the quo warranto petition.
Does moi need to explain quo warranto and why she was booted out? I guess not as you are not a jaundiced idiot and have read and fully understood the 153-page decision of the Supreme Court re: quo warranto petition of the Solicitor General.
Likewise a news report further bolstered that inspiration more so since it came from one with a “yellow masthead.”
Excerpts from March 1 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer:
Psychologist says CJ displayed symptoms of mental disturbance
Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno has displayed five of nine symptoms of “mental disturbance,” according to a psychologist who assessed her fitness based on allegations aired throughout a 15-week hearing by the House justice committee on a complaint for her impeachment.
During the 15th and last clarificatory hearing on Tuesday evening, expert witness Geraldine Tria said she would not have recommended Sereno’s appointment as Chief Justice of the Philippines based on the committee’s findings.
Tria said Sereno’s intelligence quotient (IQ) of 109 was “average” and such an applicant should not have been considered because the position required “more responsibility, decision-making.”
“If a person is vying for a high position … and yet the mental ability is just mediocre, why? There are other applicants who have a higher score,” she said.
Tria listed the first four symptoms of mental disturbance displayed by Sereno — grandiosity, preoccupation with fantasies of unlimited success and power, sense of entitlement, and tendency to be “interpersonally exploitative,” or taking advantage of others for her own ends.
The fifth and “very crucial” symptom, according to the psychologist, was Sereno’s “lack of empathy and sensitiveness to the need of the other members of the community.”
You know in other advanced First World countries they are just coming to terms and slowly accepting that mentally-challenged persons are also part of their society. In this aspect, however, these group of islands officially called the Philippines and labelled as Third World is one up over these First World countries; we just had a mentally-challenged President Noynoy Aquino who appointed a mediocre inexperienced legal academic Maria Lourdes Sereno as Chief Justice who is strongly suspected to be mentally-challenged.
And we segue to Pink Floyd’s “Brain Damage”, here are excerpts from that free online encyclopedia a.k.a. the internet:
Brain Damage is the ninth track from English rock band Pink Floyd’s 1973 album The Dark Side of the Moon. It was sung on record by Roger Waters (with harmonies by David Gilmour), who would continue to sing it on his solo tours. The band originally called this track “Lunatic” during live performances and recording sessions.
Roger Waters had stated that the insanity-themed lyrics are based on former Floyd frontman Syd Barrett’s mental instability, with the line “I’ll see you on the dark side of the moon” indicating that he felt related to him in terms of mental idiosyncrasies. The line “And if the band you’re in starts playing different tunes…” references Barrett’s behavior near the end of his tenure with the band; because of his mental problems, there were more than a few occasions where Barrett would play a different song than the rest of the band in the middle of a concert. The song has a rather famous opening line, “The lunatic is on the grass…” whereby Waters is referring to areas of turf which display signs saying “Please keep off the grass” with the exaggerated implication that disobeying such signs might indicate insanity. The lyrics’ tongue-in-cheek nature is further emphasised by Waters’ assertion in the 2003 documentary Classic Albums: Pink Floyd – The Making of The Dark Side of the Moon that not letting people on such beautiful grass was the real insanity. Waters said that the particular patch of grass he had in mind when writing the song was to the rear of King’s College, Cambridge.
If you’re an artist or a writer you have artistic license to be “still crazy after all these years” but if you’re a public official, more so if you’re the Chief Justice and much more the President, you have absolutely no right to be there if you’re mentally challenged.
Perhaps all those “pray overs” by Catholic padres and madre de cacaos on someone like Maria Lourdes Sereno who is not even a Catholic sort of sent confusing signals to God.
The clincher there is when Maria Lourdes Sereno started claiming that she got her authority to be Chief Justice from God, perhaps she means Apollo Quiboloy the “Appointed Son of God.” (brotherlouie16@gmail.com/PN)
