How far can Duterte push his luck?

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OBSERVERS, including some professional pundits, have overanalyzed President Duterte’s “your God is stupid” rant.

Pundits were looking for something profound about what Duterte said. There wasn’t.

What he did was that this time he went overboard. He crossed the line between what’s marginally acceptable and what’s not.

What I still don’t understand about Duterte’s foul language and topics is why he goes on such unnecessary rampages in language. What does he get out of them? There’s no reason or excuse for blurting out indecent remarks like the one about God. But why does he do it?

Is it just for kicks, for his own fun?

Because there’s no justification whatsoever for his rants, it’s hard to explain what his motives are sometimes. Only his diehard fans are willing to accept his explanations, or of his defenders, of his statements, including the “stupid God” remark.

He specially bristles in anger when someone criticizes his words or actions. He’s able to justify in his mind that such criticism deserves a scathing retort from him. On such occasions multiple justifications by him or his defenders still defy rational explanation, but he can at least point to a justification for his rant(s).

But this time, the “your God is stupid” remark came out of nowhere and totally without justification. And worse, the rant crossed the line of decency and displayed his blatant disrespect for God.

After running out of explanations for his “God is stupid” tirade, Duterte said he did it to provoke his critics. What was he trying to provoke from his critics? It’s hard to explain.

After a day or so after his inexplicable tirade, he realized what a blunder he had committed and ordered his spokespeople to conduct a dialogue with leaders of the religious community. No doubt he realized his mistake because he wanted a dialogue even without any demand or prodding from leaders of the religious sector.

Duterte likes to dare and challenge his critics. He keeps pushing and pushing. He wants to know how far his critics will tolerate his rants. And he wants to know how far he can push that limit.

With his “God is stupid” rant, he was even able to fool some of his critics that he meant something profound. He as able to fool even his personal spokesman that Duterte needed catharsis for his experience with a priest during his youth.

So far Duterte has gotten away with a lot of transgressions with his personal behavior and language. The people have been patient with him.

But, somewhere down the line, there’s a tipping point where the people will no longer be willing to tolerate his abominable behavior. How far can Duterte push his luck? How long will the people let him?