A far-right Brazilian congressman Jair Bolsonaro is running for president, and he’s getting support from American’s. Donald Trumps former campaign CEO and White House adviser Steven Bannon, and former congresswomen Michele Bachmann. Jair Bolsonaro’s son, also a Brazilian legislator, announced that Bannon would advise his father’s campaign.
It's been a while since she's been on my mind, so here's a reminder to her insanity.
In a video while in Brazil, or after, Michele Bachmann said that Jair Bolsonaro is the only one to support, because he’s the only one that would move the Brazilian embassy to Jerusalem.
Her reasoning:
That’s in agreement with God’s word. God is very clear in the Bible that His throne is established in Jerusalem. For three thousand five hundred years, God has designated Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. It’s a fact! And so we know from the Bible that those nations and those individuals who bless Israel will also be blessed themselves, and they’ll prosper. We want Brazil to be blessed. We want Brazil to prosper. Therefore, make sure when you vote, you only vote for a candidate who will move the Brazilian embassy to Jerusalem. It will be a blessing to you and a blessing to Brazil.
As RightWingWatch points out, Lair’s son Eduardo “posted an Instagram photo if himself handing a symbolic key to Brazil to a visiting Israeli parliamentarian during Bachmann’s visit.” In that Instagram photo, Eduardo Bolsonaro wrote “No one is more wronged by the U.N. than Israel. That will change, starting by moving the Brazilian embassy in Israel to Jerusalem.” Of course, both Bachmann and Eduardo are not considering the consequences of the action of making Jerusalem the Jewish capital. Never mind the point of view that Bachmann and Eduardo do not view Palestinians, but what are the implications towards Israel if the the embassies are moved to Jerusalem?
It’s not just radical leftists that are warning about the embassy move, but so are Israel officials. Former Israeli Defense Forces spokesperson Peter Lerner, in a Ha’aretz article criticized the Trump administration of blackmailing the Palestinians. He warned, “hard balling the Palestinian into submission is likely to blow up on Israel’s doorstep.”
The support for Israel is not the reason you should find Bannon and Bachmann’s support for the Bolsonaro’s insane, and horrific.
Glenn Greenwald calls Jair Bolsonaro, “The most msyogynistic, Hateful Elected Official in the Democratic World.” Jair served in the Brazilian military during it’s dictatorship. Aside from murder, and torture, one of the tactics of its brutal repression was sexual abuse. In the lower house of Brazil’s federal Congress, congresswoman Maria do Rasairo spoke. She wanted to give praise to the National Truth Commission, which, “was preparing to release a comprehensive report on the systematic human rights abuses perpetrated by the U.S.-supported military dictatorship that ruled the country for two decades until 1985,” Greenwald wrote. The reason Glenn Greenwald called Bolsonaro “mysognistic,” comes from his history in that military dictatorship, and what he said to do Rosario after she spoke.
Described by Glenn Greenwald:
After do Rosário left the podium, Jair Bolsonaro – a right-wing Congressman since 1990 who served in the military during the dictatorship and is still an ardent defender of it – stood to speak. He began by immediately demanding that do Rosário, who was preparing to leave the chamber, remain to hear him, yelling: “No, Maria do Rosário, don’t leave! Stay here, Maria do Rosário. Stay!” Referencing her statements about the well-documented use of rape by the military dictatorship against female opponents, he bellowed: “I would not rape you. You don’t merit that.” The meaning was clear, particularly in the original Portuguese: while some women are good enough to be so blessed, do Rosário wasn’t even good enough to deserve his rape.
As she moved to leave the chamber, he then again angrily screamed directly at her: “stay here to hear this!” After she left, he mocked her for leaving the assembly, saying that “she ran out of here.” The report’s release coincided with the United Nation’s International Human Rights Day. Referencing that, Bolsonaro said it should instead be called “the day of losers.”
The list of why the Bolsonaro’s are awful is endless. It’s position of Israel and Palestine is dogmatic. Their feelings about women are horrific. Their economic positions are disastrous. When you have The Economist saying “Holy shit! These guys are assholes!” You know they are fucking assholes.
The economic vision of Jair Bolsonaro, writes The Economist:
His rhetoric shows that he does not have sufficient respect for many Brazilians, including gay and black people, to govern fairly. There is little evidence that he understands Brazil’s economic problems well enough to solve them. His genuflections to the dictatorship make him a threat to democracy in a country where faith in it has been shaken by the exposure of graft and the misery of the economic slump. …
There is no room for complacency. Other countries with Brazil’s mix of crime, elite failure and economic agony have elected radical leaders whom the pundits dismissed as no-hopers. It could happen again.
Steven Bannon supporting a man who is a monster to women is not new. He is the same man who supported Roy Moore, but Bannon is morally so bankrupt that he will support someone even worse than Roy Moore. Michele Bachmann’s part of the story is that even though she may be out of American politics. Her type of insanity remains, and it's reach is globally.
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