It’s that time again
folks. . . Election Time! Not just
in the U.S. but in Brazil too. Though
the presidential election is not for another 2 years here, municipal elections
just took place on October 7th.
In case you are
unfamiliar with voting in Brazil let me give you a brief history. The country was ruled by a military
dictatorship from 1964-85. Following
the dictatorship, presidents were elected by congress, not directly by the
people. Around this time there was a general outcry for direct elections. In response the president back then, José Sarney, condescendingly pronounced that the
Brazilian population was incapable of electing a president. Despite his best efforts, direct
elections were instated and voting was made mandatory in the late 1980s.
Decades later, it appears
that politicians have not shaken this false notion that the people in their
constituency are brainless tools.
Candidates try a whole host of gimmicks to get votes. In the eyes of politicians, everyone is
a potential advertisement for sale. People are paid to stand in high traffic areas and hold signs
for an afternoon or bike around town bolstering a politician’s smiling face and
reference number. Cars with pimped
out speakers parade through the streets playing popular songs that they
transformed into “catchy” campaign slogans. I guess candidates believe the most effective money and time
saving strategy is to play your jingle so loud that it drowns out the sound of
any competitors while simultaneously reaching different neighborhoods, or by my
estimate different states!
This cartoon roughly
translates to, “Someone tell them that we have brains, and we will vote for the
best policies for our city, not the car with the loudest, most annoying music.”
So back to the original
question: what do crooks, clowns, and pornographers have in common? In case you haven’t figured it out yet.
. . they’re all running for office in Brazil. You don’t have to know much about Brazilian politics to know
that it’s a corrupt system that has its share of crooks. But I was just recently made aware that
there is a clown in congress- an actual clown! His name is Tiririca,
and in his commercials he makes such outlandish statements as “I want to get
elected to help the people most in need. . . and also my family.”
You can checkout Tiririca’s commercial here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=myWRb0IWPFY
In Maceió there was even a
pornographer in the race. He goes
by the name of Lobão (meaning big wolf) because
of his physical likeness to a Brazilian rock star that goes by
that same name. Maceió’s Lobão is famous for filming pornos
in common places, such as public buses, parks, you name it. He’s also known for not informing the
public or even the people on the same bus or in the same park that he is
filming a porno. 2012 marks Lobão’s second attempt to enter public office. While he did not win, he came very
close.
Wanna see some more
politicians commercials? Watch
this YouTube video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AIjTtvgZElU
it shows the most outrageous political gimmicks from this year. Trust me, you won’t have to understand
a word of Portuguese to understand how crazy politics is in Brazil and how
relieved I am that elections are finally over.
