Jair Bolsonaro, the President of Brazil, is the Brazilian equivalent of former President Trump, a right wing populist who seemingly could say anything and advocate for any cause, no matter how retrograde, because of his popularity with the people who’ve, in the Brazilian case, watched other leaders corruptly take advantage of their positions.<\/p>\n
But, as with Trump, Bolsonaro’s weakness may turn out to be the pandemic:<\/p>\n
In recent weeks, large protests \u2014 some in favor of Bolsonaro, others opposing him \u2014 have traded off. Dozens of lawmakers last week filed what they call a \u201csuper-request\u201d for Bolsonaro\u2019s impeachment, combining more than 100 impeachment requests already filed against him. The president\u2019s approval rating has cratered into the 20s<\/strong>. Some political analysts think it could go even lower.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe problem has begun,\u201d said Matias Spektor, an associate professor of international relations at Funda\u00e7\u00e3o Get\u00falio Vargas in S\u00e3o Paulo. \u201cIf this spins out of control, this could be big, big trouble for Bolsonaro.\u201d\u00a0[WaPo<\/strong><\/a>]<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
[Bold mine.]
\n<\/strong><\/span>If Bolsonaro is eventually ejected from his position, either through impeachment or resignation, or even just making a run for it, there will be an element of embarrassment for the United States. Twice, we had the gumption to put Trump in a position to be removed, and twice we failed. This inability to remove the obviously corrupt narcissistic Trump speaks to our basic political incompetence and inability to make judgments based on reality.<\/p>\nIf the Brazilians do, in fact, find Bolsonaro guilty of corruption and remove him, I’ll applaud, but privately wonder if they will ever be able to select someone with good judgment and incorruptibility for the position.<\/p>\n
And how much longer we’ll be able to do so.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Jair Bolsonaro, the President of Brazil, is the Brazilian equivalent of former President Trump, a right wing populist who seemingly could say anything and advocate for any cause, no matter how retrograde, because of his popularity with the people who’ve, in the Brazilian case, watched other leaders corruptly take advantage \u2026 Continue reading