Someone once said that politics is show business for ugly people. Well, this may be true to a certain extent.

In fact, we really have a lot of politicians who are not necessarily hideous-looking but are obviously not showbiz material either. The likes of (Rodante) Marcoleta or even Cynthia Villar may come to mind, although it would not be fair to drag them into this simply because they are not movie actors.

In reality, there are too many parallels that exist between show business and politics.

For one, just like in filmland, there are no permanent friends and enemies in government — only permanent interests. The blatant disintegration of the so-called “uni-team” is a case in point. What seemed like a marriage made in heaven has subsequently ended in a bitter divorce.

This is not surprising, though. Even the Liberal Party, which a few years ago uttered “never again,” has quickly entertained the thought of “why not?”

In a political landscape characterized by an ostensibly weak party system — where politicians do not really stand on party principles — and an electorate driven by personality-based politics, politicians shift allegiances just like they change their dirty underwear. This is why anyone who claims the ongoing impeachment case against the Vice President is not politically motivated must be out of their mind.

Sadly, the electorate, just like obsessed fans, also doesn’t know any better.

In the end, it is not just partisan politics per se (which is a given) but this crippling personalization of political differences, resulting in irrational hate toward opposing views, that exacerbates the problem.

Instead of engaging in healthy debates on issues and helping provide solutions, the public chooses political destruction as a means to push their agenda, accepting and convincing others to accept mere accusations as surrogates for truth and even justice.

Lamentably, those who claim to be educated and in possession of moral authority to tell us what is right or wrong are also the ones who perpetrate this.

Just the other day, I was talking to a friend who was telling me how happy he was because of the presence of social media and the ostensibly vigilant netizens who are not afraid to call out their opponents sans context. Well, I responded with this: the fact that anyone can post anything is what’s good about democracy, although it also highlights what’s bad about it!

Very showbiz, matter-of-factly!