MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency
Bolsonaro denies he's a racist and that racism is a problem in Brazil
Racism is an insignificant problem in Brazil, according to President Jair Bolsonaro, who has been accused of not just racist but also homophobic and sexist comments in the past. Bolsonaro spoke to Rede TV in an interview broadcast on Tuesday night, in which he defended his record on a number of controversial subjects. Read full article
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Disclaimer & comment rulesBolsonaro: “I'm fed up of hearing about this problem that doesn't affect me.”
May 09th, 2019 - 09:34 am - Link - Report abuse 0“People say I'm homophobic, racist, fascist, xenophobic, but I won the election.”
Proving what?
Who “else” is next in the queue?
May 10th, 2019 - 12:19 am - Link - Report abuse 0https://www.insightcrime.org/news/brief/brazil-police-map-corruption-gang-arrows-point-president/
I'd say Latin American Presidents have a higher risk of going to jail than gang bosses, but apparently they're one and the same!
May 10th, 2019 - 02:20 pm - Link - Report abuse 0@DemonTree
May 10th, 2019 - 03:42 pm - Link - Report abuse +1Come on, DT pl. don't be so bluntly cruel! :o))))
DT
May 14th, 2019 - 03:20 pm - Link - Report abuse 0“People say I'm homophobic, racist, fascist, xenophobic, but I won the election.”
You're right....people like to claim he is all that....and use it all the time to attack him... despite comments during the election campaign - that might or might not have been taken out of context... just a matter of perception - where exactly has B transformed his alleged “bics” & “cists” into law ?
While he is entitled to his personal opinions - whatever they really are - as long as they remain no more than that, what is the enormous problem ?
@Jack Bauer
May 15th, 2019 - 11:01 am - Link - Report abuse 0REF: “what is the enormous problem”:
https://i.redd.it/bg35x0gudsa21.jpg
@JB
May 15th, 2019 - 05:57 pm - Link - Report abuse 0“as long as they remain no more than that, what is the enormous problem ?”
The problem is just what you said in another comment. “by standing on a soap box in Hyde park and shouting that the government is trying to kill the population slowly by contaminating the water supply, wouldn't that be tantamount to spreading hate against the government ?”
In this case by eg accusing gays/transsexuals/the PT of teaching 'gender ideology' to children, it could encourage violence against those responsible for the supposed 'contamination'.
Or by describing the MST as terrorists, it could encourage farmers or the police to kill them, thinking they won't be prosecuted. The enforcement of laws is just as important in shaping people's actions as making new ones.
@DemonTree
May 15th, 2019 - 07:22 pm - Link - Report abuse 0REF: “teaching 'gender ideology' to children”
Are you telling the truth? You mean there is no “Kit Gay”? How will the Brazilians now learn about sex or whatever is left in the name of education?
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/D6Kz-CxXsAEiO1_.jpg
@DT
May 15th, 2019 - 08:42 pm - Link - Report abuse 0B did not stand on a soap box and spread his alleged hate against those groups.....in many TV interviews, trick questions were made, with the only intention of cornering and provoking him, and to then use some comments out of context......he never came out with any any official policy on trying to harm or prejudice these groups....they invented situations only in order to be able to play the victims...have seen this just too often to take it seriously ....but the press is allowed to say what it wants, to influence idiots - who want to believe its crap - so, afaic it's a load of bs....but I'd still like to know where he is actually doing anything against those groups, as they al alleged he was, and would ...
The PT were indoctrinating kids... to idiotize them into believeing the left is always right, that you are not a boy or a girl, just a person etc....so what's your point ?
The MST's actions prove they are no more than vandals ....and no one needs to find excuses to pardon their acts...is that what you are doing now ?
You are too damned sensitive, always “imagining” the worst, but improbable things - which are not real, haven't happened - to make your point...
Amazed at how you defend outlaw groups, thinking they should be treated as honest citizens....
“You are too damned sensitive, always “imagining” the worst, but improbable things - which are not real, haven't happened - to make your point...”
May 15th, 2019 - 09:49 pm - Link - Report abuse 0I'm too sensitive? You're the one who said politicians can spread hate just by what they say. D'you think President Bolsonaro has less influence than a couple of brand new congresswomen? Less experience dealing with trick questions and avoiding saying things that can be misinterpreted?
Maybe Americans are just being oversensitive objecting to calling the WTC attacks 'something that some people did'? It's not doing any harm to them, is it?
As for the MST, if what I suggested is so damn improbable, why are you accusing me of defending them for thinking it shouldn't happen?
If they are vandals, I recall plenty of objections when an American vandal got caned in Singapore. They weren't expecting him to be treated as an honest citizen, they just thought the punishment was way too harsh. Similarly when Britain petitions other countries not to give the death penalty to our citizens caught smuggling drugs. We're not defending drug smuggling, we just object to the death penalty.
@Jack Bauer
May 16th, 2019 - 11:29 am - Link - Report abuse 0REF: “the press is allowed to say what it wants, to influence idiots”:
FUNNNY! What a coincidence!
They actually had the courage to lie blatantly about what the Super-Minister Paulo Guedes was joking about:
“ECONOMIA está no FUNDO DO POÇO”
https://g1.globo.com/economia/noticia/2019/05/14/previdencia-virou-um-buraco-negro-fiscal-que-ameaca-engolir-o-brasil-diz-paulo-guedes.ghtml
DT
May 16th, 2019 - 04:23 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Your tendency to “imagine” the worst possible scenario, then portray it as reality, is what makes you too 'sensitive'....stick to reality..
Politicians who intentionally lie, or distort facts to provoke reactions (sometimes violent), ARE spreading hate...someone (quite likely innocent) is going to pay the price for their comments.
May I suggest that you analyze B's comments 'n the 2 US State Congresswomen's in their own contexts.....but b4 you do that, make sure you have ALL the facts....to be able to know what was in fact said, IF distorted, and if any / what, reactions they caused. The latter are not being drilled, nor questioned on TV, they are 'free' the spout their shit.
B is new at the job, inexperienced in the President's chair, 'n the smug press is out for blood....unfortunately, B's personality does not help him in those situations. Mourão on the other hand, knows how to deal with the Press.
“Maybe Americans are just being oversensitive objecting to calling the WTC attacks 'something that some people did'?” Is that what you really think, 'n agree with ? Were you there ? NO.
How about if the terrorists had targeted, 'n hit the Houses of Parliament, Buckingham Palace, & Whitehall...would you also just brush it off as “something someone did” ?
Regarding the MST, you seem to believe they are inoffensive people - who only want a piece of land - and are against their being seen as terrorists, because after all, they ONLY terrorize families living in rural areas, or working on farms - raping, killing some, destroying property (public & private) - and you are afraid that the police might shoot a few ?...perhaps those who received the police with gunfire ? fact is, you think the police shouldn't shoot to defend themselves...the more I read your thoughts on them, do I realize you still haven't the slightest idea who they really are, what they've done in the past.
Objecting to the harshness of punishment is one thing, objecting to punishment, another.
““Maybe Americans are just being oversensitive objecting to calling the WTC attacks 'something that some people did'?” Is that what you really think, 'n agree with ?”
May 16th, 2019 - 06:13 pm - Link - Report abuse 0No, it isn't. Why would you even think that? It's the right who like to accuse the left of getting upset about 'mere' words, and being oversensitive - until it's a subject *they* care about.
My scenario is no more unlikely than yours. You can't come up with anything bad that's happened as a result of Omar and Tlaib's comments, just vague threats about the future.
Sure, B is a new President, but he had 27 years doing the same job that the two Congresswomen just started. If he hasn't learned better by now, it's because the Brazilian press wasn't as obsessed with him then as the American press is with Omar and Tlaib now.
And yes, let's compare what they've said. From B:
“You won’t change anything in this country through voting – nothing, absolutely nothing. Unfortunately, you’ll only change things by having a civil war and doing the work the military regime didn’t do. Killing 30,000, starting with FHC. Killing. If a few innocent people die, that’s alright.”
Can you name anything Omar or Tlaib have said that's even a quarter as bad as that? Have they announced that they're in favour of torture, or that a segment of the population isn't good for anything, not even procreation?
Latest 'alternative fact' from B is his claim that students protesting the cuts to education are “useful idiots, imbeciles, who are being used as the manoeuvring mass of a clever little minority who make up the nucleus of many federal universities in Brazil.” What did he expect to happen? Any students who don't live in a repressive dictatorship would protest such cuts, and probably many who do as well.
As for the MST, objecting to the harshness of the punishment is exactly the point. Unless you literally think every last one of them deserves to die?
@DT
May 16th, 2019 - 08:36 pm - Link - Report abuse 0“Why would you even think that?”...said it to provoke you. 9-11 cannot be referred to with such disrespect, 3,000 lost their lives. And, what she said is not just 'mere' words....it's what was behind them. And considering whose mouth it came from - a Somali refugee, who happens to be a Muslim - you'd think, she'd be more tactful, 'n respect the country that let her sorry ass in. If she'd gone to Israel 'n said the Holocaust 'was nothing', she'd probably be lynched.
Well, if you think that their reiterated statements are “just vague threats about the future”, ok, so be it.
Again you are comparing apples (B) to oranges (the 2 women) - each of their realities has transformed them into what they are...there's not much point in trying to compare them, as their pasts, motivation, objectives, are totally different.
If the press wasn't obsessed with B while a Congressman, must be becos what he said was not considered polemic / important enough.
Imagine Ilhan or Tlaib, as president of the US, saying what they do now....
As to B's “You won’t change anything in this country through voting, kill 30,000 etc”, makes me think - if they had killed 30,000, would Brazil be in the mess it is ? and in retrospect, as I've said before, the Brazilian military did not take over to persecute 'n kill people, but to restore order, and strictly speaking, the 400 deaths were collateral damage in persuit of that objective.
As to the voting, unfortunately he is right...too many people who don't understand the basics, with the power to vote.
And I think Ilhan /Tlaib are a damned sight worse. Call it a matter of perception, 'n I'll stay with mine.
Students, who don't know, 'n can't be bothered to find out why they're protesting, ARE useful idiots, imbeciles...See my post in “100s march in Rio...”.
The MST has never been held responsible, far less any of them been punished, for committing crimes. And if they fire upon police, then they fully deserve whatever happens to them. imo.
“9-11 cannot be referred to with such disrespect, 3,000 lost their lives.”
May 17th, 2019 - 09:30 am - Link - Report abuse 0“makes me think - if they had killed 30,000, would Brazil be in the mess it is ?”
I hope you're trying to provoke me again and not seriously suggesting that committing the equivalent of 10 WTC attacks would be a good thing. Don't tell me they'd all be terrorists or murderers; he put the then President at the top of his list.
And if you were serious, then YES, Brazil would probably be in an even bigger mess. That's the number of people the Argentine junta killed, and their economy has suffered more than Brazil's. Imagine if Bolsonaro had his wish and the military had murdered FHC. There would have been no plano real, and Brazil might have dealt with hyperinflation by pegging its currency to the USD, same as Argentina. Then you, too, could have suffered from a debt default and disastrous economic collapse when it became unsustainable.
“I think Ilhan /Tlaib are a damned sight worse. Call it a matter of perception, 'n I'll stay with mine”
I think B is obviously much worse than either, and you haven't brought up anything that's changed my mind. You're entitled to your opinion, but don't call me oversensitive when you are also worrying about hypothetical harms, especially when B has vastly more power both to influence people and to put his ideas into practice.
“If the press wasn't obsessed with B while a Congressman”
Probably they didn't consider him important enough back then. And if the press didn't focus so much on Omar and Tlaib now, they wouldn't have much of a audience, either.
“As to the voting, unfortunately he is right...too many people who don't understand the basics, with the power to vote.”
He was wrong; they voted him in without a civil war. But perhaps that just proves the second part...
Re the MST, I found articles about some of their leaders being arrested or convicted. If they fire on police the police will fire back. But what if they don't resist?
@DemonTree
May 17th, 2019 - 12:55 pm - Link - Report abuse 0REF: “Brazil would probably be in an even bigger mess”:
End of the beginning that began with a lot of oohs+aahs?
OR
The beginning of an END?
http://www.chargeonline.com.br/php/DODIA//amarildo.jpg
DT
May 17th, 2019 - 05:39 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Not this time...'n I am not implying it would've been good ; just speculating...Imo, he was simply letting off steam due to his frustration at how the govt was being run, 'n the increasing leftist influence...and blamed FHC (whose 2nd term was not as good as his 1st) ...but it was far from being a threat.
Anyway, I'm not as sure as you are...in fact I'd place my bets on the opposite.
But I don't see what relation the fact that the Argentine Junta killed 1000s, had to do with the state of their economy...then, 'n now.....IF it did, how do you explain Chile ? there's no connection, because you can kill the messenger but not the message. There'll always be someone else to carry on with it.
B expressed his “wish” in 1999, and the military weren't about to exterminate anyone...'n the Plano real was implemented in 1994, b4 B's “wish”.
Re who's worse, B or the 2 Dems, I can see you prefer the crazy Dems...I can only suggest that you don't believe all the news you read about him, as have you noticed how some of your questions, or doubts are based on information that's not always accurate ?
B can't put any of his “ideas” into practise without approval from Congress.
“And if the press didn't focus so much on Omar and Tlaib now, they wouldn't have much of a audience, either”....the reason the press is focusing on the 2 women is because their extreme views are out of sync with even the traditionally progressive Democrats.
Note, I will not try to defend B's election in any other way, except to say that people were fed up with the PT and wanted change....his plans appealed to some, but basically his victory was a result of the people's disappointment with the left.
The fact remains, that when it comes down to “responsible” voting, the “people”, as a whole, don't know how to. Even Pelé, in the 70's said the people didn't know how to...today, few disagree with him.
”what if they(MST) don't resist?” if they hand over their guns and walk away, then no problem.
@JB
May 17th, 2019 - 07:28 pm - Link - Report abuse 0REF: “The fact remains,.................few disagree with him”
Accurate analysis indeed!
Moreover, lesser educated the masses are,
- more hardships they undergo;
- so they have less energy/cash/knowledge to fight back
- it's easier to govern such totally unspirited masses
- so it's easier to steal from them
- the easiest to brainwash the masses in such conditions!
In short; politicians' Wet-Dream-cum-True! ANY politician would pray for such a tempting prey!
“'n I am not implying it would've been good ; just speculating”
May 17th, 2019 - 10:50 pm - Link - Report abuse 0'Just speculating' about the beneficial effects of murdering 30,000 people. Something that really took place in a neighbouring country. How is that better than what Ilhan Omar said?
Why are you so keen to make excuses for B, but not the two Americans?
“But I don't see what relation the fact that the Argentine Junta killed 1000s, had to do with the state of their economy...then, 'n now.....IF it did, how do you explain Chile ?”
Probably nothing, except some of the people they killed would have gone on to be productive members of society. If the military gvmt had killed 'communist' FHC, the Real might easily be 40 to the dollar now, like the ARG peso. Now *that* makes me think. Pinochet didn't murder nearly as many people as the Arg junta, most likely he just did a better job with the economy.
And if not a better economy, what do you think murdering your political opponents would achieve?
Less populism? Peronists still dominate politics in Argentina. No left-wing government? Argentina had one at the same time as Brazil, and CFK stands a good chance of being reelected this year. Less corruption? Both countries are just as corrupt as they ever were. So what did those 10 WTC tragedies achieve, in your opinion?
“I can see you prefer the crazy Dems...I can only suggest that you don't believe all the news you read about him”
The 'crazy Dems' don't hate people like me. And likewise... the press love to take things out of context and make them sound worse than they are. Since you haven't quoted what the women said, I can't check how accurate it is.
“the reason the press is focusing on the 2 women”
Inspiring outrage gets more viewers, and it's good propaganda for the Pubs. They don't really care about antisemitism, because they ignore Republicans and the far-right saying similar things.
No room for MST...
@DemonTree
May 18th, 2019 - 03:12 pm - Link - Report abuse 0REF: “And if not a better economy, what do you think murdering your political opponents would achieve?”
The BIGGEST problem of Brazil is the Over-Population!
If the population can be reduced - one way or the other - to or close to half of what it is today; Brazil can be 1 of the 1St World Countries! Don't you think so?
DT
May 18th, 2019 - 09:15 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Yes. Just speculating....I didn't list the “benefits” as you've now implied (“beneficial effects of murdering 30,000..”). I'm saying I don't think it would've made things any worse, due to a link which you seem to think exists, btwn that 'n the economy.
You believe I'm just making “excuses” for B....wrong. With a bit more insight as to what goes on here - the obvious (which you read abt, not always accurate), as well as the not-so-obvious (which you don't see) I'm trying to understand what I “think” motivates him, 'n why....But if what you want to hear me say 'I don't like the two US congresswomen', 'that they are just two pieces of shit', that's ok with me. And I'm also ok with you liking them.
Well, murdering your political opponents, or throwing them in jail, is definitely one way to quash opposition. But I still don't see why you would necessarily link this to the worsening of the economy as a result ...NB :I'm only arguing the “link”..not the question of eliminating opponents.
You like to believe that if the political opponents were left alive, they would probably become productive citizens...I can think of at least half-a-dozen Petistas whose premature deaths would've benefited Brazil...my opinion, period.
Since you mentioned it, yes, “less populism” might have been a consequence. The fact CFK might be re-elected, afaic, is sad (NOT saying Macri's been better), but it reflects the level of mental subdevelopment in Argentina, and LatAm in general. No other options ?
What sort of political “conviction”, that is comprehended for what it really is, by those who hold it, can be justified when it jumps from left to right, then back again ?
“The crazy dems don't hate people like me”....really ? I don't know what “like me” is, but that sounds a lot like the liberal's mantra, “If we show the Muslims we love them, they will love us back”.
“Inspiring outrage....” I get that. I also get that the MSM is irresponsible.
If the MST were law-abiding, ok..
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