Yesterday, Brazilians finally got their act together and ousted the bozo running their country, electing Lula da Silva back to the presidency. Some see it as a rebuke of Bolsonaro’s far-right ideology and his divisive four years in office. Personally I think Bolsonaro just wants to spend more time doing what he loves, testing positive for novel strains of coronavirus.
The election victory completes a storybook political revival for Mr. da Silva — from the presidency to prison and back — that had once seemed unthinkable. It also ends Bolsonaro’s turbulent time as South America’s most powerful leader. It’s the first time an incumbent president failed to win re-election in the 34 years of Brazil’s modern democracy. Truly a record-setting loser, god I hate this guy.
The problem is, thus far Bolsonaro hasn’t conceded the election, which was a growing fear for many in Brazil. While world leaders including great grandiddy Biden are congratulating Lula on his victory and signaling that it’s time to pass the presidential torch, Bolsonaro has been quiet…too quiet. There’s a definite non-zero chance the election results are disputed and this devolves into an extremely violent and ugly situation. For now however, peace is holding and (some) people in Brazil are celebrating!
Side Items
Gujarat Bridge Collapse: A newly-renovated suspension bridge in the Indian state of Gujarat collapsed yesterday, killing at least 140 people. The bridge collapsed four days after it was reopened to the public and about seven months after the start of renovation work. India’s infrastructure has long been marred by safety concerns and allegations of corruption surrounding the huge amounts of money channeled to construction and maintenance. This corruption only deprives Indians of quality roads and bridges and leads to frequent mass-casualty events
More Headassery From Musk: The biggest problem with Elon Musk owning Twitter? He now gets to weigh in on any world event as if he’s some sort of authority and not a mistake that his parents decided to keep for the purpose of overseeing the emerald mines. Yesterday he promoted a far-right conspiracy theory about how Paul Pelosi was actually attacked by his gay lover and not an intruder armed with a hammer. Honestly I’ll never know how this man didn’t squander his trust fund ages ago trying to buy the Lost City of Atlantis or something
Wrongfully Convicted for Killing Malcolm X: New York City has agreed to pay $26 million to settle lawsuits filed on behalf of two men whose convictions in the 1965 assassination of Malcolm X were thrown out last year. The convictions were overturned after a judge found “serious miscarriages of justice,” according to the city and federal court records. No word yet on how much of the $26 million will be covered by the FBI, CIA, and other clandestine government organizations that ensured Malcolm’s assassination by arming his enemies and spreading lies about him