Democracy Under Attack

Brazil's Bolsonaro slams Supreme Court, calls election a 'farce' as supporters rally

From Reuters

"If he loses, we know there was fraud," said Monica Martins, a 51-year-old lawyer at the [Tuesday September 7th] rally in Rio.

Bolsonaro embraced the occasion, donning the presidential sash at a military event marking Independence Day in Brasilia before touring the early rally there by helicopter. He flew midday to Sao Paulo for his defiant address to supporters.

"I'll say to those who want to make me unelectable in Brasilia: Only God will get me out!" he shouted. "And tell the scoundrels that I'll never be jailed!"

In the USA, in Brazil, and all over the world, democracy is under attack in a way not seen since WWII. Far right personality cult and current a-hole President Bolsonaro says the next election in Brazil will be rigged, that the only way he could lose is via fraud. Nevermind that the election is over a year away, and that he is currently in charge, and thus, at least administratively, is in the most power to do something about the fraud. Then he says will either win, be arrested, or be killed; that only God can remove him from office. This is exactly how democracies fail. You can't have a democracy when one party says: "The Election was only legitimate if we win." That's pretty much the opposite of what democracy means. I wonder where he may have learned such tactics. I wonder, wonder wonder.

Calling Bolsonaro Brazil's El Drumpfo is accurate, but he manages to be somehow worse than his orange North American inspiration. He is politically shrewd, a long-time operator in Brasilia, tightly glued to the military top brass, and an Evangelical "true believer . . ." plus he's perfectly comfortable taking a sh** on decades of political precedent. In other words Bolsonaro is a natural-born dictator. His likely opponent Lula is popular, but viewed as corrupt, and an extremely well-known figure. He well-beloved by many, but also despised by many. We will see how it all plays out - the election is in October of 2022, but I fear for my adopted second country. Democracy is only about 30 years old in Brazil. And it has known MANY military dictatorships throughout its history.