January 8 Was A Terrible Day For Brazilian Democracy. It Was Not Another January 6.

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This article is part of TPM Cafe, TPM’s home for opinion and news analysis. 

This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://talkingpointsmemo.com/?p=1445438
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I think we know this already.

Next.

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Nice article. I think the U.S. suffers from a “It could never happen here” overconfidence. Bad actors feel free to push the institutions of U.S. democracy to their limits: confident that they will never break. Other democracies around the world are likely not so complacent…

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Considering who is now in control of the House…things could easily get seriously ugly very soon…like this week even as the Goobers are looking to make hay with the debt ceiling and our payments on our debts to other countries. We could easily default this week according to Janet Yellen if we do not adjust things… quickly.

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Default won’t happen this week, that was just a warning shot by Yellin to remind people of the timeline. The government will take the usual steps to delay it, and we have until roughly June for this drama to play out.

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We have a certain amount of time to convince people who represent those who call themselves “conservatives” (they are actually reactionaries) that no amount of dislike of Democrats is worth forfeiting their Social Security, Medicare and 1001 other necessities in their lives.

…and I would advise to never believe a word coming from McCarthy. I cannot believe that an individual could be so feckless.

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The Brasilia mob made one vital mistake; they did not interrupt any governmental operations. As far as I have read, the Congress and Supreme Court were not in session, and the President was not there. It was a soccer rally for Bolsonaro, who turned tail and ran away. Why is he still in this country?

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The MSM forays into the BothSider, HorseRace and Click-Bait M.O.'s are responsible for part of it. For the most part the communications can be counter-productive in both pathways of transmission:

(1) Enticing consumers by exaggerations (MSM to consumer)

(2) Overly relying on their consumers own exaggerations (using consumers themselves)

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This article provided a better briefing on Brazil’s recent problems than I received from the American mainstream media. Thank you.

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Rage, outrage and oppositional thinking seem to be growing industries…I once saw a flick called Dave which would not be possible as a portrayal of political life in these times. In that sense, Trump was the Finishing Touch for us.

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No, we don’t all know all of this. I didn’t know that politicians associated with Bolsonaro didn’t back him. I find this part really interesting.

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Because he is apparently here on an A1 Diplomatic Visa that hasn’t been revoked yet, although it’s customary to do that when foreigners leave office. I don’t know why that hasn’t happened, but he may be eligible for another temporary visa and may be applying for it. He hasn’t broken any laws in this country, and Brazil hasn’t asked to extradite him.

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He has 30 days from the termination of his office.

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Yeah, it’s still not good, imo. However, it is within the purview of the Department of State to deal with his visa, not mine. He’s still a scumbag.

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Unlike in the U.S., major political allies of Bolsonaro acknowledged his opponent’s win right out of the gate and spoke out quickly in support of democracy.

Well that entails the said party and various facist factions against the current Republic has any political courage or sensible policy solutions…or ethics…and they have continuously demonstrated otherwise.

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I’ve been in contact with a friend in Rio de Janeiro to discuss this and also have been reading some in the Brazilian press (I speak Portuguese) and one of the disquieting aspects of this situation is the apparent cooperation to some degree of law enforcement in enabling the rioting in Brasilia. There seems to have been a deiberate relaxation of security in the days prior to the invasion of the federal buildings and some of the on site security folks did little to hold back the mob. Later on, when authorities attempted to arrest some of the rioters who had repaired to their encampment next to a military base, they were told by army officers “you’re not going to be arresting anywhere here today.” That gave the rioters a full day to get out of Dodge.

The parallel to law enforcement in the U.S. is disturbing as well as being difficult to prove. Sympathy for the radical right on the part of the FBI and Secret Service seems to be a serious potential threat.

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