Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

“What are Republicans afraid of?” Everything.

But frankly mr. cole, I’ll be happier when you get back to telling us to go fuck ourselves.

A sufficient plurality of insane, greedy people can tank any democratic system ever devised, apparently.

“Until such time as the world ends, we will act as though it intends to spin on.”

JFC, are there no editors left at that goddamn rag?

They are lying in pursuit of an agenda.

You passed on an opportunity to be offended? What are you even doing here?

You know it’s bad when the Project 2025 people have to create training videos on “How To Be Normal”.

Our job is not to persuade republicans but to defeat them.

You are either for trump or for democracy. Pick one.

Republicans don’t lie to be believed, they lie to be repeated.

The media handbook says “controversial” is the most negative description that can be used for a Republican.

The real work of an opposition party is to oppose.

The republican caucus is covering themselves with something, and it is not glory.

The worst democrat is better than the best republican.

Red lights blinking on democracy’s dashboard

Usually wrong but never in doubt

Republicans seem to think life begins at the candlelight dinner the night before.

That’s my take and I am available for criticism at this time.

A snarling mass of vitriolic jackals

In my day, never was longer.

Whoever he was, that guy was nuts.

This blog will pay for itself.

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Reader Interactions

108Comments

  2. 2.

    Kent

    The difference is that Lula is already president and Bolsonaro is currently eating KFC and living in a condo in Orlando.

    The only real question is how much violence and how much time it takes for the Brazilian authorities to bring this to an end

    I’m no Brazil expert, but I have to think that if the military was actually going to intervene on behalf of Bolsonaro a part of some kind of autogolpe, they would have done so when he was still president, not after he had packed up and fled the country.

  3. 3.

    SiubhanDuinne

    My friend/landlord is in Brazil right now. I’ve messaged him to ask what’s going on from his perspective (he’s American but lived in Brazil for years and is fluent in Brazilian Portuguese).

  4. 4.

    Steeplejack

    Nothing at the Times or Post as of a few minutes ago. Twitter search on “Brasilia” gets a lot of hits in Portuguese.

  8. 8.

    CaseyL

    “A January 6-style attempted coup”?

    To be fair, Latin America has a very long history of coups, popular and unpopular – so it’s more like our January 6 was an attempt at a Latin American style coup here.

    However, Bannon was stirring that pot, as he has been doing everywhere else with an extremely polarized political system and electorate.  Bannon, and the oligarch money behind him.

    The last I heard, Bolsinaro’s forces had entered Congress and the Supreme Court.  Police are using tear gas to try driving them back; it’s unlikely to work.  They’ll have to bring in heavier guns (metaphorically and literally).

    They’re sure to try going after Lula specifically, and that worries me even more.

  10. 10.

    PaulB

    Unless the military is involved, I would assume this is basically another January 6th occupation of government buildings. Ultimately pointless.

  11. 11.

    Barney

    Organised enough to target presidential palace, supreme court and congress at the same time. That’s worrying.

  12. 12.

    OzarkHillbilly

    Seeing as Bolsonaro has bolted to Florida with plans of going further east (Italy) my money would be on assholes.

  13. 13.

    Frankensteinbeck

    Are the congress or Supreme Court members there in those buildings?  It’s Sunday.  Odds are good nobody in power is in any of those places?  I know Lula is in another city entirely.  If they’re just occupying buildings, that’s not going to do them much good.  Who they’re overrunning is a lot more important than where, and I haven’t heard answers to that yet.

  15. 15.

    Orange is the New Red

    This feels orchestrated to provide Bolsanaro with plausible deniability, since he’s so obviously not there. If it’s successful, I am assuming he’ll head right back.  If it’s not, then he can go wherever.

  17. 17.

    Major Major Major Major

    @PaulB: especially with the lack of any actual like… election certification stuff. Just your unfortunately bog standard political riot.

    My question is, how long until bolsonaro is hospitalized following an alligator attack?

  20. 20.

    Mike in NC

    The media needs to ask NY Rep.-elect George Santos (or whatever his name is today) what’s going on so he can baldly lie about it

    It was reported that Bolsonaro arrived in Florida last week with several military officers, so it was just a typical vacation for a right-wing despot.

  21. 21.

    Frankensteinbeck

    @CliosFanBoy:

    But that only works if you have a government to put into place there, not if you’re a bunch of rioters sitting in the congressional building yelling that you’ve voted unanimously that Lula is a doody-head.  The rest of Brazil’s government isn’t going to give a damn where these people are squatting in terms of who takes orders from who.

  23. 23.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Frankensteinbeck: Yes, a government is more than its buildings.  Right now, I am calling it a fascist riot, not a coup.*  I reserve the right to make a different call as things progress.

    *Neither is a good thing.

  24. 24.

    piratedan

    makes me hope that our own DOJ is ready to act and start dropping indictments.

    I understand that we’ve had to be patient, watching the continuous rampage of GOP behavior, enabled, if not rewarded by people under indictment/investigation is nauseating.

  25. 25.

    BlueGuitarist

    @hells littlest angel:

    my Portuguese is rusty but looks like a centrist member of congress tweeted that the police decided this was a good time to buy coconut water

     

    eta Andre Janones
    Policíais deixaramm a barreira e foram comprar água de coco em momento da invasão.
    Google translate says
    Police officers left the barrier and went to buy coconut water at the time of the invasion

     

    https://twitter.com/AndreJanonesAdv/status/1612178857213165571?cxt=HHwWhoCwqaCIzt8sAAAA

  26. 26.

    Frankensteinbeck

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    Fair.  And to be clear, this could be a coup, but it would require things to be happening that we haven’t heard about yet, like separate groups grabbing Lula, or someone really important in those buildings that we don’t know about because we don’t know their government, or the military joining the rioters.  Unless we hear about such things it’s a riot, which like you say is definitely a bad thing.

    If I were to throw money at a wild guess, I would say these rioters think they’re sending a signal that will inspire the military and/or all Brazilians to revolt.  I know American conservative terrorists have operated on that belief repeatedly.

  33. 33.

    Bill Arnold

    @CaseyL:

    However, Bannon was stirring that pot, as he has been doing everywhere else with an extremely polarized political system and electorate. Bannon, and the oligarch money behind him.

    “Bannon, and the oligarh money behind him” need to be destroyed. They are Fascists, including those oligarchs involved.. At a minimum their political influence needs to be zeroed out.

  34. 34.

    jonas

    @hells littlest angel:I hope Brazilian law enforcement shows us how it’s done.

    Unfortunately, a lot like American LEAs, most of them are rightwing chuds that tacitly, if not openly, supported Bolsanaro, so it’s not clear now how motivated they’re going to be to intervene here. (I also have no idea how security in Brasilia operates, whether its federalized, local, etc.)  The military is also very unreliable in this regard. I hope Lula and his cabinet stay safe.

  35. 35.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    David Adler

    @davidrkadler

    50m

    Replying to

    @davidrkadler

    BREAKING 🇧🇷: Evidence suggests that the Brasilia insurrection may have been planned in Florida. Secretary of Security for the Federal District is in the USA and recently traveled to Orlando — exactly where Jair Bolsonaro is currently staying.

    I have no idea if this is true, but if it is, this was a planned coup

  37. 37.

    Baud

    @Tom Levenson: That first video suggests that it was like Jan. 6: a “protest” that became an insurrection.  Not clear what the military police are doing now.

  40. 40.

    Frankensteinbeck

    @Chetan Murthy:

    The Shah wasn’t.

    EDIT – I shouldn’t snark.  The point isn’t where Bolsanaro is, it’s where Lula is.  A crowd taking over buildings without taking people is a lot less of a coup than if they take the people they want to depose.

  43. 43.

    Baud

    Random reddit comment

    The Federal District governor is allied with Bolsonaro. He put as the Secretary of Police, Bolsonaro’s loyal Minister of Justice, Anderson Torres.

     

    The police is literally taking photos smiling with the terrorists. There was no blockades. Some even lead them towards Congress.

     

    And what a coincidence, Torres just went on a trip to the United States.

     

    Want to guess what state? Yep, Florida.

  45. 45.

    Baud

    I guess the other thing we need to watch out for is this inspiring MAGA people to ramp up their acts of terrorism here.

  46. 46.

    Frankensteinbeck

    @Baud:

    If this was organized by Bolsonaro, that makes it weirder.  Right now it feels like an Underpants Gnomes Coup.  1). Rioters take over government buildings while the officials are gone.  2). …  3). Bolsonaro is president again!

    What am I missing?

  47. 47.

    Mike in NC

    @Chetan Murthy: That’s correct. A proper dictator (like Lenin and Saddam Hussein) makes sure the opposition is dead, not living comfortably in exile and waiting for a signal to come home. The Shah wasn’t smart enough to figure that part out.

  48. 48.

    Baud

    @Frankensteinbeck:

    2 would have to be military support, which I guess we haven’t seen yet.  Otherwise, the intent may be more to make a “show of force” to intimidate rather than to actually achieve a coup.

  50. 50.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @ian: They want the military to intervene, then restore Bolsonaro.

    The time for that was before the Lula’s inauguration.

  54. 54.

    Snarki, child of Loki

    Where are the photos of the Brazilian MAGA Shaman, and is he wearing a thong?

  58. 58.

    Cameron

    The pictures I just looked at over at MSN aren’t encouraging.  One of them has a caption reading that protesters are clashing with police, but I didn’t see any police.

  59. 59.

    Cacti

    It’s a handful of dumbasses occupying empty buildings on a Sunday in the Federal District.

    Absolutely nothing going on elsewhere in the country.

    Lula is already sworn in and Bolsonaro and family have fled to Floriduh already.

  61. 61.

    prostratedragon

    Their Former Guy entered this country on a diplomatic visa. Is it still valid in the face of any legalities?

  63. 63.

    CaseyL

    @WaterGirl:

    Gods, yes. Please. NOW.

    Trump is providing a base of operations, technical support, and quite possibly funding (as a funnel for oligarch billions) for fascist insurrectionists all over the world.

  64. 64.

    Baud

    @CaseyL: C’mon.  While that wouldn’t surprise me in the least, let’s not treat speculation as fact the way that the Republicans do.

  65. 65.

    CaseyL

    @Baud: Sure.

    It’s just like making off with classified documents and then not securing them, leaving them all over the place, so anyone who’s interested can have a look.

    He’s not actively helping Bolsinaro: he’s just letting him roam free around the compound, talking to and meeting with whoever he wants.

    Mob deniability.  Always.

  67. 67.

    Baud

    @CaseyL:

    Mob tactics are what make the mob hard to prosecute.  But I don’t want President DeSantis’s DOJ to treat speculation as fact, so I’m going to be consistent when it comes to our DOJ.

  73. 73.

    Sanjeevs

    It’s over. 20 minutes after President Lula issued a decree turning Brasília security over to the Federal Government, they”ve cleared the fascists out of the government buildings. An arrest warrant has been issued for Brasilia Security Secretary Anderson Torres.

    https://twitter.com/BrianMteleSUR/status/1612203396945301504?cxt=HHwWgMDSydOc2d8sAAAA

    Brazilians doing this all wrong.
    Surely you flip the soldiers then work your way up over a period of years, or decades

  74. 74.

    Pontiou5Pilate5

    Sounds like its already over.  About 30 min after Lula decreed the military retake control they cleared everyone out. They also issued an arrest warrant for  Brasilia Security Secretary Anderson Torres. Lula just  spoke and was not fucking around. Called them out as the fascists they are and said everyone involved will be punished.

  84. 84.

    different-church-lady

    It’s not often you get a perfect 1:1 control in your democracy experiments, but here we are.

  90. 90.

    PaulWartenberg

    It looks like a coordinated riot by the arch-conservative elements of the voting base, but without the focus of overthrowing the presidency or seizing control of the buildings.

    https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2023/jan/08/brazils-presidential-palace-and-supreme-court-stormed-by-pro-bolsonaro-supporters-live

    It’s not the military staging it, but the state police.

    Brazil was a nice electoral flip away from a wanna-be dictator in Bolsonaro, but the election itself was close enough that Bolsonaro’s supporters are angry and conspiratorial the way the MAGA voters are here in the U.S. Lula’s not in a good situation in that country, not unless he gets a lot of economic relief to calm the population.

  91. 91.

    tECHIDNA

    @Baud: Considering that Steve Bannon uncontestably was advising Brazil’s TFG and their government, it sorta is.

    If it comes out that Bannon, Steve Miller, and the rest of the USA’s TFG Crime Syndicate were busy building the metaphorical scaffolding for the riots today, that makes this a whole ‘nother level of international incident that President Biden must comment on. And given that the Brazilian local law enforcement but not the feds were flipped (cf. https://balloon-juice.com/2023/01/08/brazil/#comment-8730751) — a rookie coup mistake — this definitely seems to be a foreign, likely Floridian production.

    I wouldn’t be surprised if President Lula brings Bannon up on criminal charges and requests extradition — and that will be a barrel of laughs. Can’t wait for Squeaker McCarthy to find a way to fuck this up too.

  93. 93.

    Steeplejack

    @WaterGirl:

    From the movie Brazil: “As Jack is about to start the torture, [Harry] Tuttle and other members of the resistance break into the Ministry, shooting Jack, rescuing Sam, and blowing up the Ministry building.”

  97. 97.

    Ken

    @Baud: I love the way we’ve made Brazil’s situation all about us.

    I’ve gone one better and made it all about me.

    (Actually I was napping, and slept through the whole thing.)

  102. 102.

    prostratedragon

    @Matt McIrvin: ​ It really matters which version you see. The only one I know for sure is correct is on dvd. Since that’s released by Criterion, I imagine their streaming service carries that version too. Since the plot ultmately involves torture and kidnapping activities drawn from real life, it was censored for a while.

  103. 103.

    David 📢 Speaker 📢 Koch☑️

    @prostratedragon: ​
      wiki has a good answer to that question

    The film was produced by Arnon Milchan’s company Embassy International Pictures. Gilliam’s original cut of the film is 142 minutes long and ends on a dark note. This version was released in Europe and internationally by 20th Century Fox without issue; however, US distribution was handled by Universal, whose executives felt the ending tested poorly.[28] Universal chairman Sid Sheinberg insisted on a dramatic re-edit of the film to give it a happy ending, and suggested testing both versions to see which scored higher.[50] At one point, there were two editing teams working on the film, one without Gilliam’s knowledge.[51] As with the science fiction film Blade Runner (1982), which had been released three years earlier, a version of Brazil was created by the studio with a more consumer-friendly ending.

    After a lengthy delay with no sign of the film being released, Gilliam took out a full-page ad in the trade magazine Variety urging Sheinberg to release Brazil in its intended version. Sheinberg spoke publicly of his dispute with Gilliam in interviews and ran his own advertisement in Daily Variety offering to sell the film.[52] Gilliam conducted private screenings of Brazil (without the studio’s approval) for film schools and local critics. On the same night Universal’s award contender Out of Africa premiered in New York, Brazil was awarded the Los Angeles Film Critics Association awards for “Best Picture”, “Best Screenplay”, and “Best Director”.[53] This prompted Universal to finally agree to release a modified 132-minute version supervised by Gilliam, in 1985.[15][54]

    The complete version clocks in at 2hrs:22mins. Accepting nothing more or less.

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