Non-violent protests worked well in India against the Raj, against the Vietnam War, against conscription, and against segregation (a tent-city was set up in DC). The LGBTLMNOP crowd co-opted the rhetoric of the civil rights movement, and got their wicked agenda implemented. So, no, it's not always ineffective.
But it's so convenient to be doomed, isn't it? I was 6 during the Cuban Missile Crisis, and there was a real possibility of nuclear war over that, but it was averted. There's been a new scare just about every year since then, but the doomsayers have never managed to produce the doom they so confidently predict. Maybe there's an outside possibility that we're not, in fact, doomed. But if we are, nothing we do matters, so it's a great excuse for not getting off your fat, lazy ass, and raising your voice for what's right.
Communists don't concede. And Lula has the support of the Supreme Federal Court (STF, Supremo Tribunal Federal). And one of the STF justices, Alexandre de Moraes, heads the Superior Electoral Court (TSE, Tribunal Superior Eleitoral), which adjudicates election disputes.
The patriots are hoping that the Armed Forces will take over temporarily to sort things out, according to a provision in Article 142 of the Brazilian Constitution. In the meantime, they continue their demonstrations, which are now in the 34th day.
BTW, they're chanting "Lula, ladrão, pertence à prisão. (Lula, thief, belongs in prison)." Lula was serving a prison term when the STF sprang him on very dubious reasons so that he could run against Bolsonaro.
More than a few talked about shoving the Covington Catholic kids into woodchippers. Why the hatred? They were in DC for the March for Life, which typically turns out about 100,000 people, on the anniversary of the passing of Roe v. Wade, to demonstrate in favor of the human dignity of the unborn and against abortion. If you haven't heard of it, it's because the media completely ignores it.
She and Marxine Waters have been around since the days of the Clinton impeachment. They were both on the House Judiciary Committee, which was headed by a real statesman, Henry Hyde, God rest his soul. Ms. Jackass Lee would enter the entire Constitution into the record every five minutes or so because ... God knows why.
My theory is that she's receiving signals from Zeta Reticuli on whatever that thing is on her head, and they've scrambled whatever cortical neurons she ever had. How do these people, who are so stupid you wonder how they remember to breathe, keep getting re-elected?
That's why I've been trying to get people interested in what's going on in Brazil. Their situation has many similarities to ours, including suppression of information by the media, but they've been out in the streets all over the country for 34 days, and they're not giving up. There's nothing preventing us from doing the same.
When the Left is handed a defeat, they shrug it off, regroup, and keep pressing on. They have the virtues of patience and perseverance. The Right, on the other hand, dissolves into defeatism and apocalyptic obsessions whenever one of our brilliant rational arguments is ignored by the masses. The Left are evil, but their tactics, particularly gradualism, work.
Thanks, I did not see that one, but it's a very good summary of the situation. The Supreme Federal Court (STF) has 11 justices, only two of which were appointed by Bolsonaro. One was appointed by Cardoso, one by Temer (Alexandre de Moraes - the villain of the piece), three by Lula, and four by Dilma Rousseff (Lula's successor, who was impeached and removed from office for corruption involving Petrobras). The one most responsible for springing Lula is Edson Fachin, a Dilma appointment. The protestors feel that the STF has overstepped its place in the balance of powers.
For completeness, here's the Brazilian Constitution:
https://www.constituteproject.org/constitution/Brazil_2017.pdf?lang=en
And here is some commentary on Article 142:
https://www.cmi.no/publications/file/5241-for-the-guarantee-of-law-and-order.pdf
Yes, that's the one from Lisboa. Thanks very much. There's a whole section of the Constitution devoted to the Armed Forces; it's probably worth looking at most of it. The wording in 142 is a bit vague. It starts:
The Armed Forces, made up of the Navy, Army and Air Force, are permanent and regular national institutions, organized on the basis of hierarchy and discipline, under the supreme authority of the President of the Republic, and intended to defend the Nation, guarantee the constitutional branches of government and, on the initiative of any of these branches, law and order
The idea of military intervention is apparently just based on the "guarantee of law and order" clause. I found this provision interesting as well:
while in active service, military servicemen may not be affiliated with political parties;
I suppose that means that if Lula is installed, they will have to honor that, though from all indications they would prefer Bolsonaro.
Thank you for collecting these and saving them to catbox. There are several I haven't seen before, and it's good that the vloggers are mostly giving the place names and the dates. While I'm moved by the enthusiasm and tenaciousness of the protestors, it's important to get as accurate information as possible.
Thank you; I'll look at those videos. (I avoid twitter, but with recent developments it might become useful again.)
Another thing this lady says is, "Tô até arrepiada não, tô acreditando (I've got goosebumps, I can't believe it)" so she's very hopeful of a military intervention.
I've found an English copy of the Brazilian Constitution and some laws concerning article 142. Do you think pedes would be interested in that? Sometimes you'll hear the protesters chanting a phrase from the Constitution "O poder emana do povo! (Power emanates from the people!)".
I've noticed that some are putting their signs in English, probably to get the attention of the English speaking press. There was a protest in sympathy with Brazil in Lisbon, Portugal the other day, too. They had an effigy of Lula in prison clothes. Unfortunately, I can't seem to find the video.
They've also gone to the Palácio do Alvorada (Palace of the Dawn) In Brasília. This is where the President of the Republic resides. The presidential offices are in the Palácio do Planalto, in the Praça dos Três Poderes (Plaza of the Three Powers - equivalent to our Capitol Hill+White House+Supreme Court). You can see them at 57:30 in this video:
Even more interesting is the videos of military equipment being moved around the country. This is happening in several places, and no one seems to know why (of course, there's a lot of wishful thinking). Here's a brief compilation:
Beginning at 3:07, you see a woman exiting her car, and she says: "Moço a gente pode filmar? (Man, may one film?)". Then you can hear three voices each say, "Pode! (One can!)" They laugh a bit because she's a little embarrassed to be in her pajamas. Then she says several times, "É verdade! (It's true)"
I'm better at understanding written Portuguese rather than spoken, so I turn on closed captions on YT. But I've noticed the past few days that if I ask it to auto-translate into English, nothing appears. Luckily, I speak a couple of other languages better than Portuguese, and auto-translate still works for them. Is this an active attempt by YT to suppress news in English, or am I just being paranoid? English is not widely spoken in Brazil, and the constitution makes Portuguese the official language, so the protestors really need the English speaking press to cover the stories on the ground, but I haven't seen anything in the major news agencies.
It's the way they're educated. I taught physics to premeds at university, and was surprised to find that they were very good at memorization (doesn't help much in physics), but almost completely lacking in analytical thinking (essential in physics). The students worked very hard - they'd do every problem in the book - but give them a slight variation on one of the problems, and they were mystified. This cookie-cutter thinking is enhanced by health insurance diagnostic schedules and treatment routines, plus the threat of malpractice suits if one doesn't follow them.
I think this is why it's so hard to find a good diagnostician, or someone who's willing to be creative, rather than bureaucratic, in finding a treatment. Since this teaching experience, I've viewed the medical profession with a jaundiced eye, and treated physicians as consultants. Rather than say, "yes, doctor", I require them to explain why they want to do something, and what alternatives there might be. This attitude served me well during the pandemic.
It's a metaphor. Matthew 7:13-14:
“Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it."
I still wonder why not one of our fine public servants thought to put together a small bipartisan committee to actually go out and listen to the concerns of their fellow citizens. None of their lives were actually in danger, and there's that whole right to petition one's government thing.
Instead, what will be seared into my memory is the images of these poltroons cowering under their seats over a non-existent "threat". When I was growing up in the DC area, I was told the Capitol building was the people's house. How do you trespass in your own house?
I hope the public's takeaway from this incident is that none of these pols have the moral standing to send our children off to war. They sure as hell haven't got the courage to take those risks themselves.
The Left says, "No enemies on the Left". The Right applies various purity tests, and if a single flaw is found, labels people "controlled opposition", and treats them with hostility. Then there's all the infighting, because we're all "rugged individuals".
As ridiculous as Antifa are, at least they show up. We couldn't even produce 1000 people to demonstrate for Kari Lake in Maricopa. There's a reason why the Soviet Union was brought down by a trade union organization called "Solidarity". If you don't want to go the 2A route, a general strike and a tax revolt would probably do the trick, but they would require collective action. There would be risks and sacrifices involved in that, and we don't have enough social coherence to get past the "I'm alright, Jack" attitude. By the time it comes to your own doorstep, it will be too late.
The reason people aren't willing to make these sacrifices or take these risks is that there's nothing in the American experience to prepare them for what's coming. I've seen it in Poland, but when I describe those conditions, people tell me I'm crazy. But I've seen the signs for a while now, and have been trying to warn them. Same with Cuban refugees, and a lady I know from Cambodia who saw the rise of the Khmer Rouge. If the Central European experience is a guide, we won't get our country back for 70 years after a Communist takeover. That's what makes the risks and sacrifices worthwhile now.
Brazil's stolen elections follow the patterns we've seen here, which suggests international coordination, like from China. But they've been in the streets in large numbers, non-violently demonstrating for a month now. There's a truckers' and farmers' strike underway, too. There are no identifiable leaders, so they must have managed to organize spontaneously, while presenting an amorphous front to those who would like to crack down on them. I think we have something to learn from them.
Whereas today, in Brasília:
This is the 28th day they've been doing this. I don't mean to rub it in, but I thought it would serve as an example.
I'm old now, and my knees don't work. My congenital heart condition is acting up, and I don't have much time left. I'd hop a plane to Brazil, but I probably wouldn't survive the flight.
I did my part during the years I mentioned, for those causes and especially for the pro-life movement. It took 50 years, but we finally got that overturned. Of course, things didn't return to the status quo ante, as the abominable practice, which was legal in only a few states 50 years ago, is now legal in all states, so we have 50 fights on our hands. But at least there's a possibility. Every year we turned out about 100,000 people in DC for the March for Life, and the media ignored it, but hearts and minds were changed, and support for and the practice of abortion has declined. It's not the whole ball of wax, but it's incrementally better. Not doing anything would not have produced a better result.
We've been through a Communist insurrection here. You probably haven't lived under a Communist regime, but I have - in Poland. I went there to aid the Solidarity movement. It took Poland 70 years to throw off that regime, but they succeeded, and brought down the whole Soviet Union with it. I assure you, you won't like what's coming. Solzhenitsyn and Yuri Bezmenov have warned you. I've told people repeatedly what conditions were. We still have a slim chance to stave it off, but once it's established you'll only have an underground resistance available to you.
I've been hearing about "muh guns" and "muh 2nd amendment" for 30 years now, and nobody does shit. Nobody is going to, either, because that requires a willingness to sacrifice one's life, and things are not bad enough yet to make that sacrifice look attractive. By the time they are, it will be too late. So in the meantime, let's run up the white flag - that'll show 'em. Success is never guaranteed; but failure is if you refuse to try.
What I can contribute now is my intellect. I can put in the time to analyze situations, inform people, plan strategy, and hopefully inspire non-violent resistance. (We know about government agencies infiltrating the other kind, and that's scared us into inaction.) But if all PDW has to offer is excuses, I'm wasting what little time I have left here.