tailfins
10-09-2018, 07:56 PM
My wife has been heavily involved promoting Jair Bolsonaro in this month's Presidential election. He is the heavy favorite to be Brazil's next President. I'm amazed at, but understand the comfort level that lower income Brazilians have with violence. She will get her US citizenship this year planning to make her first vote in the US for Donald John Trump. Bolsonaro is an industrial strength version of Donald Trump. Bolsonaro was called a "rape apologist" for opposing a #MeToo style bill in congress. He told the congresswoman not to worry because she was so ugly that any rapist would run away from her. He criticizes the 1964-1985 military dictatorship for only torturing Marxist agitators; they should have killed them. He wants to bring open carry to Brazil and announce a kind of "hunting season" for the criminal element. The below article acts like these are bad things, however Brazilians are tired of being served a turd sandwich by socialist governments. My wife is showing a side I have never seen before; it's fun to watch her rant.
https://www.americasquarterly.org/content/what-expect-jair-bolsonaro
This may sound to an outsider like hysteria. But it is simply taking Bolsonaro and his allies at their word. There are far too many supporting quotes to list here, but in late August he said criminals “are not normal human beings” and that police should be rewarded, not punished, if they “kill 10, 15 or 20” at a time. The pro-Bolsonaro crowd blames an overemphasis on human rights for Brazil’s violence, arguing that criminals enjoy better protections than common citizens. They essentially want a return to tactics of the 1964-85 dictatorship, when streets were safer.
Brazilian society is in the mood to pound some heads. In a March poll (https://www.gazetaonline.com.br/noticias/brasil/2018/03/ibope-50-dos-brasileiros-acham-que--bandido-bom-e-bandido-morto-1014121498.html) by Ibope, 50 percent of respondents agreed with the statement “A good thief is a dead thief,” a popular catchphrase among those who want a crackdown. Other politicians, including incoming state governors, have enthusiastically embraced Bolsonaro’s rhetoric (https://www1.folha.uol.com.br/poder/2018/10/a-partir-de-janeiro-policia-vai-atirar-para-matar-afirma-joao-doria.shtml) in recent weeks.
Expect more cases like Marielle Franco (https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/mar/22/marielle-franco-inquiry-letter-urges-brazil-authorities), the black, queer Rio city councilwoman whose March murder remains unsolved. A Bolsonaro ally who publicly defaced a street sign (http://politica.estadao.com.br/noticias/eleicoes,witzel-estava-ao-lado-de-politicos-do-psl-que-rasgaram-homenagem-a-marielle,70002539025) honoring Franco’s name received more votes (https://www1.folha.uol.com.br/poder/2018/10/candidato-que-quebrou-placa-em-homenagem-a-marielle-e-o-mais-votado-para-alerj.shtml) than any other candidate on Sunday for Rio’s state legislature. That’s Brazil in 2018.
As stated above, the United States has become a kind of North Star for Bolsonaro and his acolytes – so much so that the candidate even saluted the American flag (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bI-_P6K8YXU) and chanted “USA! USA!” with the crowd at a campaign event in Miami last October.
This would have been career suicide for virtually any other Brazilian candidate over the past 30 years. But in today’s climate, supporting the U.S. has become a kind of code for rejection of the ideological left, which governed Brazil from 2003-16 and led the country into its current disaster.
His distrust of civilian politicians means his Cabinet is likely to be composed mostly of former military men, aides say. Bolsonaro’s running mate, a recently retired general, has raised the possibility of a “self-coup (https://g1.globo.com/politica/eleicoes/2018/noticia/2018/09/08/general-mourao-admite-que-na-hipotese-de-anarquia-pode-haver-autogolpe-do-presidente-com-apoio-das-forcas-armadas.ghtml),” in which the military would help the president secure greater powers, under certain circumstances.
The outcome of Sunday’s election means Bolsonaro will be dealing with a far more pliant Congress than previously expected, especially if he wins the runoff by a healthy margin and has a strong mandate. Much of the judiciary may also support him.
After the crisis of recent years, many Brazilians see democracy as a synonym for chaos, corruption and leniency with criminals. Just 8 percent of Brazilians told the Pew Research Center (http://www.pewglobal.org/2017/10/16/democracy-widely-supported-little-backing-for-rule-by-strong-leader-or-military/) in 2017 that representative democracy is a “very good” form of government
https://www.americasquarterly.org/content/what-expect-jair-bolsonaro
This may sound to an outsider like hysteria. But it is simply taking Bolsonaro and his allies at their word. There are far too many supporting quotes to list here, but in late August he said criminals “are not normal human beings” and that police should be rewarded, not punished, if they “kill 10, 15 or 20” at a time. The pro-Bolsonaro crowd blames an overemphasis on human rights for Brazil’s violence, arguing that criminals enjoy better protections than common citizens. They essentially want a return to tactics of the 1964-85 dictatorship, when streets were safer.
Brazilian society is in the mood to pound some heads. In a March poll (https://www.gazetaonline.com.br/noticias/brasil/2018/03/ibope-50-dos-brasileiros-acham-que--bandido-bom-e-bandido-morto-1014121498.html) by Ibope, 50 percent of respondents agreed with the statement “A good thief is a dead thief,” a popular catchphrase among those who want a crackdown. Other politicians, including incoming state governors, have enthusiastically embraced Bolsonaro’s rhetoric (https://www1.folha.uol.com.br/poder/2018/10/a-partir-de-janeiro-policia-vai-atirar-para-matar-afirma-joao-doria.shtml) in recent weeks.
Expect more cases like Marielle Franco (https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/mar/22/marielle-franco-inquiry-letter-urges-brazil-authorities), the black, queer Rio city councilwoman whose March murder remains unsolved. A Bolsonaro ally who publicly defaced a street sign (http://politica.estadao.com.br/noticias/eleicoes,witzel-estava-ao-lado-de-politicos-do-psl-que-rasgaram-homenagem-a-marielle,70002539025) honoring Franco’s name received more votes (https://www1.folha.uol.com.br/poder/2018/10/candidato-que-quebrou-placa-em-homenagem-a-marielle-e-o-mais-votado-para-alerj.shtml) than any other candidate on Sunday for Rio’s state legislature. That’s Brazil in 2018.
As stated above, the United States has become a kind of North Star for Bolsonaro and his acolytes – so much so that the candidate even saluted the American flag (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bI-_P6K8YXU) and chanted “USA! USA!” with the crowd at a campaign event in Miami last October.
This would have been career suicide for virtually any other Brazilian candidate over the past 30 years. But in today’s climate, supporting the U.S. has become a kind of code for rejection of the ideological left, which governed Brazil from 2003-16 and led the country into its current disaster.
His distrust of civilian politicians means his Cabinet is likely to be composed mostly of former military men, aides say. Bolsonaro’s running mate, a recently retired general, has raised the possibility of a “self-coup (https://g1.globo.com/politica/eleicoes/2018/noticia/2018/09/08/general-mourao-admite-que-na-hipotese-de-anarquia-pode-haver-autogolpe-do-presidente-com-apoio-das-forcas-armadas.ghtml),” in which the military would help the president secure greater powers, under certain circumstances.
The outcome of Sunday’s election means Bolsonaro will be dealing with a far more pliant Congress than previously expected, especially if he wins the runoff by a healthy margin and has a strong mandate. Much of the judiciary may also support him.
After the crisis of recent years, many Brazilians see democracy as a synonym for chaos, corruption and leniency with criminals. Just 8 percent of Brazilians told the Pew Research Center (http://www.pewglobal.org/2017/10/16/democracy-widely-supported-little-backing-for-rule-by-strong-leader-or-military/) in 2017 that representative democracy is a “very good” form of government