Jair Bolsanaro Brazilian President Elect: OMG
A good Dia de los Muertos and All Hollow’s Eve to you. (Edited for...length, smile).
Updated with Jair and Bibi: BFFs.
(an open discussion; add more at will) My contributions with a few Cliffs Notes included, disregard any or all of them, of course if you don’t find the titles intriguing, zip right on by…):
‘Welcome to the Jungle: Jair Bolsonaro Brings Perfect Storm of Facism and Neoliberalism to Brazil, The record reveals Bolsonaro as a racist, misogynist, homophobic, weaponizing thug, favoring a white, patriarchal, hierarchical, hetero-normative and “homogenous” Brazil; an absurdity in a deeply unequal society still ravaged by the effects of slavery and where the majority of the population is mixed race’, (Brazilian-born roving reporter) Pepe Escobar, via consortiumnews.com, Oct. 29, 2018
“His first speech as president exuded the feeling of a trashy jihad by a fundamentalist sect laced with omnipresent vulgarity and the exhortation of a God-given dictatorship as the path towards a new Brazilian Golden Age.
French-Brazilian sociologist Michael Lowy has described the Bolsonaro phenomenon as “pathological politics on a large scale”.
His ascension was facilitated by an unprecedented conjunction of toxic factors such as the massive social impact of crime in Brazil, leading to a widespread belief in violent repression as the only solution; the concerted rejection of the Workers’ Party, catalyzed by financial capital, rentiers, agribusiness and oligarchic interests; an evangelical tsunami; a “justice” system historically favoring the upper classes and embedded in State Department-funded “training” of judges and prosecutors, including the notorious Sergio Moro, whose single-minded goal during the alleged anti-corruption Car Wash investigation was to send Lula to prison; and the absolute aversion to democracy by vast sectors of the Brazilian ruling classes.
That is about to coalesce into a radically anti-popular, God-given, rolling neoliberal shock; paraphrasing Lenin, a case of fascism as the highest stage of neoliberalism. After all, when a fascist sells a “free market” agenda, all his sins are forgiven.” [snip]
“The managers of Brazil’s industrial-military-technological complex largely survived the 1964-1985 dictatorship. They learned everything about psyops from the French in Algeria and the Americans in Vietnam. Over the years they evolved their conception of the enemy within; not only the proverbial “communists”, but also the Left as a whole as well as the vast masses of dispossessed Brazilians.
This led to the recent situation of generals threatening judges if they ever set Lula free. Bolsonaro’s running mate, the crude Generalito Hamilton Mourao, even threatened a military coup if the ticket did not win. Bolsonaro himself said he would never “accept” defeat.
This evolving militarization of politics perfectly meshed with the cartoonish BBBB (Bullet, Beef, Bible, Bank) Brazilian Congress.
Congress is virtually controlled by military, police and paramilitary forces; the powerful agribusiness and mining lobby, with their supreme goal of totally plundering the Amazon rainforest; evangelical factions; and banking/financial capital. Compare it with the fact that more than half of senators and one third of Congress are facing criminal investigations.
After all, Bolsonaro’s top economic advisor, Chicago Boy Paulo Guedes – currently under investigation for securities fraud – had already promised to “cure” Brazil by bearing the usual gifts: privatize everything; destroy social spending; get rid of all labor laws as well as the minimum wage; let the beef lobby plunder the Amazon; and increase the weaponizing of all citizens to uber-NRA levels.
No wonder The Wall Street Journal normalized Bolsonaro as a “conservative populist” and the “Brazilian swamp-drainer”; this fact-free endorsement ignores that Bolsonaro is a lowly politico who has only passed two pieces of legislation in his 27 lackluster years in Congress.”
His WhatsApp Me to the Promised Land section (Brazilians use more than Facebook) and the #FakeNews generated by big bidness tentacles denouncing the Workers Party and Haddad was clearly illegal as they were both undeclared as well as corporate contributions.
“Consider Washington’s outrage at Russians that may have interfered in U.S. elections allegedly using the same tactics the U.S. and its comprador elites used in Brazil.”
Other sections are (foreign policy useful to Washington):
Smashing the BRICS
Can’t Rule Out Military Coup
Talk to Nietzsche… ending with:
“At least they now know this is hardcore, all-out war. To destroy Lula – the world’s foremost political prisoner – the Brazilian elites had to destroy Brazil. Still, Nietzsche always prevails; whatever doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. The vanguard of global resistance against neo-fascism as the higher stage of neoliberalism has now moved south of the Equator. No pasarán.”
Earlier Consortium News had carried Escobar’s ‘Future of Western Democracy Being Played Out in Brazil, stripped to its essence, the Brazilian presidential elections represent a direct clash between democracy and an early 21st Century neofascism, indeed between civilization and barbarism’ Escobar, October 9, 2018
“Stripped to its essence, the Brazilian presidential elections represent a direct clash between democracy and an early 21st Century, neofascism, indeed between civilization and barbarism.
Geopolitical and global economic reverberations will be immense. The Brazilian dilemma illuminates all the contradictions surrounding the Right populist offensive across the West, juxtaposed to the inexorable collapse of the Left. The stakes could not be higher.
Jair Bolsonaro, an outright supporter of Brazilian military dictatorships of last century, who has been normalized as the “extreme-right candidate,” won the first round of the presidential elections on Sunday with more than 49 million votes. That was 46 percent of the total, just shy of a majority needed for an outright win. This in itself is a jaw-dropping development.” [snip]
“Bolsonaro’s ticket is compounded by a barely literate, retired general as his running mate, a man who is ashamed of his mixed race background and is frankly pro-eugenics. General Antonio Hamilton Mourão has even revived the idea of a military coup.
Manipulating the ticket, we find massive economic interests, tied to mineral wealth, agro-business and most of all the Brazilian Bible Belt. It is complete with death squads against Native Brazilians, landless peasants and African-American communities. It is a haven for the weapons industry. Call it the apotheosis of tropical neo-pentecostal, Christian-Zionism.
Praise the Lord
Brazil has 42 million evangelicals – and over 200 representatives in both branches of Parliament. Don’t mess with their jihad. They know how to exercise massive appeal among the beggars at the neoliberal banquet. The Lula Left simply didn’t know how to seduce them.”
It’s about nine feet longer, and sorry for so much Pepe, but I like his free-wheelin’, tequila-laced vernacular as well as his ability to see how the ever-shifting global puzzle pieces fit together…or don’t, as the case may be. Plus…he’s Brazilian.
Brazil: The Indispensable Need for Resistance’, Carlos Aznárez on October 28, 2018, resumen-english.org
‘Brazil: how could a far-right demagogue win the election?, Jorge Martin, October 2018, marxist.com
Martin makes his case for why Bolsonaro isn’t a fascist, nor is Trump, but does blame the pseudo-leftists in Brazil for his election, from Dilma’s sliding rightward and on, and the many ways that Haddad knuckled in the face of Bolsonaro’s lies and deceptions, and the ways he should have fought back.
In his ‘Brazil, Fascism and the Left Wing of Neoliberalism’’, Rob Urie, Oct. 29, 2018, counterpunch.org makes a somewhat similar case.
Andrade, 29 October 2018, wsws.org argues similarly, including the fact that in the run-off election: over 40 million out of a total of 146 million adults able to vote choosing not to cast a ballot for either candidate. He describes the dangers of the new administration.
“…Bolsonaro was able, with populist criticisms of corruption and cronyism, to pose as the sole opposition to the anti-working class policies of these three parties. With a candidacy backed by an array of senior military officers and gradually embraced by big business, Bolsonaro’s election will mark the first time since 1985 that the reviled Brazilian military, formerly completely demoralized by the exposure and abject failure of its brutal repression and class war policies, will play a dominant role in government.”
Bolsonaro’s vice-presidential running mate, the right-wing general Hamilton Mourão, who retired from the military only this year after making speeches affirming the need for “military intervention” to secure “law and order,” stated bluntly on the eve of the election that the first task of the new government would be to carry out economic adjustment programs, including a sweeping pension “reform.”
Following the release of the results of the election, Bolsonaro delivered a rant on social media denouncing socialism and communism. Shortly afterwards, he appeared on national television vowing his support for the democratic rule of law and property rights as well as fiscal responsibility. He also signaled that he would more closely align Brazil’s foreign policy with that of Washington. He added that he had received a congratulatory call from US President Donald Trump, who said that the two could reach “great partnerships.”
His path to power was paved by the PT…”
The entire Brazil page on Telesur english goes to error 404: page not found. Among others, there was a short video claiming that Bolsonaro’s Defense Minister said they won’t militarily attack Venezuela. You can take that to the bank…the IMF Bank.
‘Venezuela Opposition Invites Newly Elected Brazilian President to Intervene in Venezuela; The result sparked deep concern among Chavista sectors fearing a possible military escalation from the ex-military man, whom they describe as a “neo-fascist.”, by Paul Dobson, mintpressnews.com, Oct. 30, 2018
Turn that fascist frown upside down! https://t.co/bzXVS5Se6H
— The bloated corpse of Rosa Luxembourgeoise (@RosaLuxembourge) October 29, 2018
Atlantic Council can barely contain its delight that fascism has returned to Brazil. pic.twitter.com/0bRRzkWqjZ
— Club des Cordeliers (@cordeliers) October 29, 2018
Atlantic Council hides the fact that Bolsonaro is a fascist, praises his commitment to "order" and economic growth, blames "dissatisfaction with PT" for election results. They couldn't be more pleased. https://t.co/3Fjv53F7ub
— Club des Cordeliers (@cordeliers) October 29, 2018
(cross-posted from Café Babylon)
Comments
ah well, even mr. wd thought that this 'un's a lunker.
to me, the fascist trend globally is worth considering in many directions. in how many hours will brazil be 'under the umbrella of NATO, as colombia is IN, iirc, and ecuador has a military MOU with amerika?
i'd hoped you'd walk on by what didn't pique your interest. anyway, i'm out for the night, and tonight's lullaby is the magical bruce cockburn's musical ode to the odious...IMF.
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=68zccrskOqQ]
Brazilians willingly put their necks in the
noose. They intentionally pulled a Honduras on themselves.. They’re about to find out what economic devastation AND total loss of freedom is like. They put the boot on their own neck.
What’s so surreal is it’s not like South/Centra America hasn’t had plenty of experience with repressive corrupt governments in the past. People apparently either don’t learn or their memories are as retentive as a sieve and water.
EDIT: haven’t/hasn’t
I'm tired of this back-slapping "Isn't humanity neat?" bullshit. We're a virus with shoes, okay? That's all we are. - Bill Hicks
Politics is the entertainment branch of industry. - Frank Zappa
i suppose your 'willingly put
their heads in a noose' is so, but depending whether one subscribes to escobar's 'stolen election' or the 'the leftists gave it away to bolsonaro' since dilma's slide to the neoliberal right, 'how willingly' might be the Q.
i was trying to remember when it was that dilma had been tortured under brazil's military rule and found she was imprisoned at 17 for three years, and 'Rousseff, 64, recounted her experiences under Brazil's military regime (1964-1985) over a decade ago at a provincial human rights council that sought to compensate victims of torture, but the full details have just been released.
the wiki says, that the US taught torture techniques to the regime and:
now i didn't check the footnotes, but it's all only too believable. figures vary as to how many dissidents/guerilla fighters had been assassinated (hundreds?), while under pinochet in chile, another US sponsored coup against salvador allende, thousands upon thousands were murdered and tortured.
yes, the CIA and amerika have a hella lot to answer for, including honduras (clinton) and now nicaragua...again. i just saw a headline at telesur that lenin moreno is cracking down on dissent and journalists; small wonder.
The people voted for him as opposed to
the country being taken over by a right wing narco-terrorist coup.
Let’s see how long they like it.
I'm tired of this back-slapping "Isn't humanity neat?" bullshit. We're a virus with shoes, okay? That's all we are. - Bill Hicks
Politics is the entertainment branch of industry. - Frank Zappa
do you mean voted
for moreno, rather than...? if so, i'll have to muse about that, esp. as lenin was rafael correa's Veep, and shocked the hell outta him at his vicious right-wing pivot once elected.
but then you may have meant someone else.
i'd gone a bingling
to check my 'clinton and honduras' memory, and found 'Hillary Clinton’s forgotten government overthrow of Honduras, the duran 2 yrs. ago:
there's an internal CD link to the emails. oddly enough, with the advent of bolsonaro, someone in the twittersphere featured a similar cavalier comment by obomba over dilma's putsch. it was hard to read, though.
Globalization and the 4th Reich marches on
Let me see, a military ignoramus is now
president of Brasil, Venezuela comes into
play and the hairball calls to say we are
great together.
The parallels between the 3rd and 4th Reich
are eerily similar, the takeover of countries
for the good of the
fatherland errhomeland
I never knew that the term "Never Again" only pertained to
those born Jewish
"Antisemite used to be someone who didn't like Jews
now it's someone who Jews don't like"
Heard from Margaret Kimberley
maybe you mean:
the globalization OF the fourth reich? the spread of uber-nationalism and fascism is sincerely alarming. calling the crimes of economic oppression foisted onto the rabble classes sorta misses the mark to me, though. is there any other sort of capitalism other than neoliberalism now? perhaps in china's state capitalism, i can't say.
but what do we do in amerika? 'elect better leaders!' where are the non-compradors among them? once in power, even the shiny newly elected newbies seem to turn into Other People in a milwaukee minute. even so, i *might* vote for one D (female from steamboat springs) running against a Tea Person Pinhead...in our congressional district.
but big bidness ♥s bolsonaro already; 'plenty good money to be made...by supplyin' the army with tools of trade'... tearing down the amazonian rainforest for Beef, fuck the indigenous, privatize everything!, yada, yada, and tra la la.
i shouldn't have been gobsmacked by this, but the Guardian called these statements ‘provocative’ (in six clips): “Brazil's new president, Jair Bolsonaro, has become known for making offensive and controversial declarations. The far-right, pro-gun, pro-torture populist built his campaign around pledges to crush corruption, crime and a supposed communist threat. He secured 55.1% of the vote and was elected on Sunday.’
expanded: ‘Who is Jair Bolsonaro? Brazil's far-right president in his own words; Brazil’s new president is a far-right figurehead and ex-paratrooper known for lashing out at women, minorities, and indigenous groups’
Temer and interesting article
One thing thats missing is Temer's effect on everything. For those that don't know his party - probably the most corrupt band of all in Brazil - was instrumental in ousting Rousseff. So you had the super corrupt getting rid of the corrupt and proceeding to take over the presidency and claim immunity.
I find this article excellent: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jun/01/brazil-operation-car-wash-...
Note the final paragraph:
The article was written in 2017 when Bolsonaro was just some horrible joke, but its even worse as he has managed to unite the right, evangelicals, and dictators (changing the "or" to an "and").
ay yi yi; it's soooo
long i'd had to back out, although i remember seeing that dilma might not have benefitted *personally*. dagnabbit, i'd thought one of my links had featured 'carwash', but i can't remember which or how. perhaps that it was a set-up? i'm sorry i can't remember, and i'v checked both of escobar's now. (O, for a memory with actual grey cells!) , although hell, mightta been the marxist's one.
but holy hell, temer was dilma's VP, and iirc he was named interim prez after her what...indictment?
thanks for the food for thought and provoking my holy memory; i may find it yet, sny.
now i can't attest
to the facts v. bias/beliefs pepe escobar brought here, but: ‘Pepe Escobar: Brazilian democracy thrown to the dogs’, sott.net, march 2016
"The PMDB is Brazil's largest party - accounting for 69 out of 513 members of Parliament. In the short term, the party will be contributing for one of its own, current vice-president Michel Temer, 75, a not exactly brilliant constitutionalist lawyer, to ascend to the presidency until the next elections in 2018, thus fulfilling the white coup/regime change scenario dreamed about by the proponents of Hybrid War in Brazil and their lowly vassals.
The Brazilian Constitution allows for impeachment; but in Rousseff's case, no undisputable «crime of responsibility» has been proven. The alleged accusations - centered on embezzling of public debt and fiscal mismanagement - are essentially bogus.
It gets worse; this undisguised white coup/regime change process will run in parallel to a dirty deal preventing the leader of the lower house in Brasilia, notorious crook Eduardo Cunha, from being thrown out of office for corruption. Cunha would simply 'resign' - under the assumption that the new Temer administration would need to articulate a new majority in Parliament." [snip]
"Some PMDB congressmen - to their credit - still support Rousseff. Brazilian Federal Police has shown that quite a few PMDB members are directly involved in the massive Petrobras scandal at the heart of the Car Wash investigation - including Temer himself. Corrupt to the core Cunha, the lower house leader, should have been in jail already. In this landmark case of Soft Hybrid War, as I argued before, the heart of the matter is a woman President who has not been found guilty of any wrongdoing being 'judged' by a bunch of crooks."
and temer will be nudged aside from running...
"Car Wash instead was conceived as a relentless New Inquisition machinery operating to the benefit of the same old comprador elites which are already celebrating Rousseff's impeachment, plus the potential destruction of Lula's aura, in case he's legally prevented from running for President again in 2018.
As for the whole Rousseff impeachment drive, it rests on a dubious legal proceeding by a former opposition Congressman who is - what else - being investigated himself for corruption.
Military coups are so Pinochet-era. It's never enough to stress that what's taking place in Brazil is advanced Hybrid War, a white coup/regime change operation organized by the Federal Public Ministry, corporate media (controlled by four families) and a significant part of Congress.
All bets are still off, though. The regime changers are in a hurry because in an extremely fluid situation in a country totally paralyzed and polarized, damning new information will certainly come to light; rats are ratting on a full-time basis, and many a regime changer is bound to be reduced to road kill."
but yeah, he wrote that the PTMD sold dilma out ruthlessly.
Correct the globalization of the 4th reich
I don't believe outside of Russia maybe where
neoliberalism doesnt exist, China through the
outsourcing of amerika has become amerika, ruled
by elites who love the smell of greed/power/ego.
Fairly sure the world over needs a revolution
the military and banks are in full control. The
consequences of 01-08 resonate world wide, 01 it
was the MIC that was elevated and 08 gave the bankers/
oligarchs all the money in the world to buy all
the politicians and therfore their governments.
The elite/oligarchs are ok w/rightwing nut jobs
out there running governments, it makes them look
good by comparison.
IMHO Bernie was given the ultimatum by zero to
stand down or be put down, that's the template
being used to control upsurpers of the system
I never knew that the term "Never Again" only pertained to
those born Jewish
"Antisemite used to be someone who didn't like Jews
now it's someone who Jews don't like"
Heard from Margaret Kimberley
uh, oh.
i need these translated, please: "The consequences of 01-08 resonate world wide, 01 it
was the MIC that was elevated and 08 gave the bankers/oligarchs all the money in the world to buy all the politicians and therfore their governments."
and this: "IMHO Bernie was given the ultimatum by zero to stand down or be put down, that's the template being used to control upsurpers of the system"
dunno what obomba had to do with any of it, but people say the same about Obomba when asked why such a war-mongering asshole who favored only wall street and the 'defense industries'
would even dare to run again. so for now, i'll call bullshit on that.
but as far as globalization of the reichs, this from escobar on his 'Future of Western Democracy Being Played Out in Brazil' link in the OP:
, etc.
but at telesur english was this headline: (zounds, it actually booted up!) 'German Right-Winger Eager to Dump Merkel's 'Revolution', Wants Return to 'Traditional Values'; looks intriguing.
01=9/11 and 08=The financial coup
After the oval office meeting with zero
Bernie was not the same Bernie, bwtfdik
I never knew that the term "Never Again" only pertained to
those born Jewish
"Antisemite used to be someone who didn't like Jews
now it's someone who Jews don't like"
Heard from Margaret Kimberley
all i could find
about sanders thinking of running against obomba in 2012 is here. other than that, i don't remember anything about it. 'sanders wanted obomba primaried and here's why', the nation. eeep, the grand bargains, well...how democrat of him.
bit i do remember O making an appt. with dennis kucinich to meet w/ him on the way back to deecee from some trip on AF One. when they landed, dennis gave up single payer, a sell-out folk still don't forgive him. "sure, we can open the hatch for a minute, dennis."
dunno why 9/11 would be 01, but gotcha, as well as on the start of the second depression in 2008. "and thanks to O, all we got out of his 3-day version of the weeks-long televized pecorra commission was this Lousy Doff/Frank T-shirt."
shouldda revolted right then. do you know how many Obots still exist?
9/11 happened in 01
Bernie met zero at the WH during the
2016 primary season, I believe it was prior to
Calif being designated to her heinous by the
AP and he was given the ultimatum then to stand
down and support her heinous or else.
whether or not that happened we have only dots
to connect, facts are in short supply and fake
facts dominates
I never knew that the term "Never Again" only pertained to
those born Jewish
"Antisemite used to be someone who didn't like Jews
now it's someone who Jews don't like"
Heard from Margaret Kimberley
thanks for
the 411 on the dates, although it's not logical to me, oh well. ; ) i'm gonna update this at the bottom.
on edit 11/2: i tried again to find anything more speculative as to how freaked (or close) the bern looked after meeting with O, but i failed.
In Bolsonaro
the cee-eye-a has found their proxy for Venezuelan regime change.
Neither Russia nor China is our enemy.
Neither Iran nor Venezuela are threatening America.
Cuba is a dead horse, stop beating it.
but but but...
his foreign minister swears it's not so! yanno, just #fakeNews from inside the palace... but srsly, with colombia now it nato, ecuador w/ a 'military MOU w/ amerika, how soon will brazil be in the group against venezuela? is it still UNASUR? anyway, the one VZ pulled out of...
can't have no even quasi-socialist gummints left standing, no sir. and all that mineral wealth, plus Rexxon's drillin' offshore in a contested area. oy, what a world. and boss tweet and a Few Good Dems want to nullify the 14th amendment: no more birth-right citizenship? oh, those savage hordes gotta get out of amerika to: MAGA! uh, so sorry i went off half-trackin'...
Don't worry, Brazil's handled this before...
Quantitatively bigger, but qualitatively the same, right?
In the Land of the Blind, the One-Eyed Man is declared mentally ill for describing colors.
Yes Virginia, there is a Global Banking Conspiracy!
oh, dear.
jair wouldn't like that. don't put it on whattsApp or however it goes.
bless whitney webb for having her hand on the pulse
in so many venues. from today: ‘Israeli PM Set to Attend Inauguration of Brazil’s Bolsonaro, Highlighting Likud Support for Ethno-Nationalist Politicians Abroad’,European and American ethno-nationalists in recent years have combined anti-Semitic rhetoric with fervent support for Israel’s apartheid policies and efforts to fortify its status as an exclusively Jewish ethnostate, by Whitney Webb, mintpressnews.com
the gaggable, chokeable rest is here.
closing time lullaby from 1969:
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gem6KfuJIdg]
g' night. is there a better world on the horizon? yeah, a rhetorical Q...and so it goes...sigh.
i'll add these worthy links without unwinding them just for
posterity.
'The Return of the Latin American Caudillos', wayne madsen, oct. 29, SC (more on bannon's 'the movement' to elect more neo-fascists)
November 2, 2018, 'Bolsonaro: a Monster Engineered by Our Media' by Jonathan Cook, CP i love his understated, but direct arrows and clear but nuanced visions.
November 2, 2018, 'History Repeats Itself as Neoliberals Flock to Bolsonaro’s Side' by George Ganitis, CP