As for Bob Jeff, nothing to declare. After all, that would lead me to express my real opinion on the case, to talk about how the whole world is wrong. Since one of the wrong parties ends up putting everyone in jail, better not. It remains then to talk about the usual: the political reaction.
As I don’t have a TV at home, it remains to follow things through a very unorthodox combination: the internet and the street. I barely saw the news on Twitter that Roberto Jefferson was shooting at PF agents and was going to take it to friends on Telegram. There, however, Roberto Jefferson’s videos were already booming. Anyone could see his suicidal speech, with a woman’s voice in the background telling him to get him a tranquilizer.
Seeing this, I thought that it could lead to anything, including nothing. Everyone already knew about Roberto Jefferson’s suicidal intentions; thus, it would be difficult to carry them out. If he had kept quiet and shot the police officers in order to force a reaction, he would have had a better chance of getting a lethal bullet and being elevated to the status of martyr to Xandão. The right would have mugs and pins with the inscription “Roberto Jefferson Vive”. It would be an imitation of Marielle’s necrophiliac trade, but that same gang would say it is an imitation of the Spanish phalanx (“Primo de Rivera Presente”) after some leftist historian denounced it. Left and right tweeters would search Primo de Rivera. After finding out, the twitterers would say that they have loved Falange since childhood, and would make the ex-messenger a martyr for conservatism.
But Roberto Jefferson announced, so no, this martyrdom plan had slim chances of succeed. Then I immediately thought that I could give everything, including nothing. In the end, a tweet appeared with Bolsonaro announcing that the bandit Roberto Jefferson was arrested. Twitterers who were once treating Bob as a heroic martyr for the resistance to the Xandon dictatorship now posted pictures of him with Lula.
Conspiracy?
The anti-bolsonaristas entered into ecstasy with the episode, which I have a certain difficulty understanding. Is Roberto Jefferson a supporter of Bolsonaro? But he had launched a candidacy of his own. I don’t remember any bombastic speech in favor of Bolsonaro (or anyone else); only speeches contrary to STF ministers. The tortuous reasoning goes like this: the polarization takes place between Bolsonaro and the STF, x curses against the STF, x is Bolsonarista. Soon, Bolsonaro is associated with a madman who shot at police officers. Therefore, Bolsonaro supports thieves.
It is a reasoning that is both long and primary; goes around to assign blame by association. It’s such a long line of reasoning that I find it much easier to be what Popper called an ad hoc hypothesis: you have a scenario in front of your eyes, you have a theory inside your head that you want because you want it to be true, then you use the scenario to invent a way for it to be true. What is the fixed idea that these people have in their heads? That Bolsonaro doesn’t deserve a vote even in the second round. But he’s having a hard time defending censorship like that, openly. Then a madman appears shooting at police officers sent by the chief censor and they raise their hands to heaven. Now yes! We can say that it is the censorship or the armed madman. Phew!
It’s such a big comeback, that I think the rival theory is unlikely, namely: Jefferson, the monthly worker, would be an infiltrator, who decided to make a scene now precisely to harm Bolsonaro. I think conspirators would have a better plan than that. And I think Jefferson’s situation was one of the most predictable. Alexandre de Moraes persecutes all those who speak ill of STF ministers, with a special preference for repeat offenders. Roberto Jefferson since the days of Mensalão is known histrionic and doesn’t seem to hit the ball very well. Now add that to persistent cancer and old age. It seems feasible that he got tired of this life of going in and out of jail, and in fact receiving the bullet from the Federal Police. Something, by the way, that Ciro Gomes swore he would do, but the third way people think it’s very beautiful to pretend they didn’t see it.
Learning for life
In any case, the episode served to reinforce a lesson I learned since the rise of Bolsonarism: respecting people based on their stance rather than their political opinion. Since then, everyone, at least in the politicized middle class, must have lost friendships and witnessed family turmoil. I noticed that I can maintain friendship with PT, but not with certain anti-PT. The simple, very simple reason is that the PT member who remained a friend doesn’t look at me in high heels. He finds it incomprehensible that a person like me votes for Bolsonaro; is certain that the PT, however full of problems, is the only force in favor of social justice in Brazil. It doesn’t matter that I list the anti-social justice things the PT did; he is sure that the opposition did or would do much worse. It’s dogma, patience. But there’s no arrogance and little finger in the face, so you can take it. Among liberals, a lot of people carry a king in their belly.
So today I have an instant dislike for anyone who feels superior because of their opinions or votes. I can only change my mind if that person has paid a price for such an opinion and the opinion is good. (And it’s best to make these assessments in retrospect. Example: so-and-so swam against the tide and was opposed as he forced young people to take the risk of myocarditis and pulmonary thromboembolism.) These people who have a king in their belly because of their own opinion is the one that was in an uproar with Jefferson. The liberal was proud to say that a policeman’s order is carried out – when until yesterday there were diatribes against Nazism, in which everything was done to comply with orders. I saw anti-PT liberal professors opening their peacock tails: one said that Bolsonarism was violent; another, who was now able to vote for Lula because “the other side” is like that.
I have two explanations for the phenomenon. One is of a moral order and I have already delved into it here. Another, superficial one, is a delusion analogous to that of MBL. You see, the MBL believes that the only obstacle between them and the presidency is Bolsonaro. That’s why they strive to overthrow him. Similarly, a lot of anti-PT intellectuals think they just didn’t reach the heights of glory because the competition did it before. There remains opposition.
Janones
Let’s go back to the cold cow. I get information on the internet and on the street. On the street, the news here is a tight second round in the state election. This is the second time in the history of the New Republic that there has been a second round in Bahia, and the very first in which the result is a mystery. The other time there was a second shift, in 50, it was when the ACM heir needed a little bit just to win first, then he took second with almost 60% of votes. (The second was former governor João Durval and former ACM co-religionist at the time of the dictatorship.) Now the PT heir missed the runoff by a little bit, but if we add ACM Neto to Bolsonaro’s candidate, it gives 30% and a little bit. (Roughly speaking, the first shift account was: 50% of PT, 16% of ACM Neto, % of the Bolsonarista.)
As I have been insisting here, Bahia is a government-run state. This very high vote by Lula and Jerônimo in the first round can only be explained by the widespread belief a month ago that Lula would win in the first round. Now, if Bolsonaro has a chance of winning, the colonels and other local leaders have, on the one hand, the fear of continuing in opposition to the federal government, and, on the other hand, the expectation of joining the victor as an essential ally to victory. .
I’ve heard people rant in the street because of national politics, which is not at all common here, except at the bar. Here in the countryside, when politics is discussed, they usually don’t even talk about the governor. The subject is the city hall and the councilors, and focuses on issues such as lack of water, garbage collection, works and administration of Santa Casa. No ideology, no state government, very little Lula and Bolsonaro. And nobody did that in the cabaret. But in the cabaret they are now raving about the crossing of the São Francisco River, which is quite far from here and probably most of them (like me) have never seen it in their lives.
For the first time, I saw flyers at the fair. Below is a handout distributed. I didn’t see Jeronimo’s pamphlets; only sound cars play jingle and insist on 13. There are many star stickers with 13 .
In reaction to some argument that I didn’t hear (or maybe to my neighbor, an old man standing on the sidewalk yelling “it’s 24144339 ” to passersby), a man on the street raged that he was not going to vote for ACM Neto, because ACM Neto is Bolsonaro, and Bolsonaro is a thief who it will reduce wages, pensions and benefits. On the same day, I pick up my phone and look at the stories on WhatsApp. I see that the broadcaster from a nearby municipality with less than 30.000 population is disclosing a denial by Paulo Guedes, who guarantees that he will at least correct inflation in the minimum wage, retirement, etc. He had been a candidate for Neto’s base.
It’s time to go to the internet and find out that Janones had invented this lie. From there I inferred that the PT campaign from Bahia is also campaigning on WhatsApp and using Janones’ lies to burn both Bolsonaro and ACM Neto. This one, in his turn, puts his allies to work on the denials. It is impossible for Bolsonaro not to grow up in Bahia. Register my Lula kick 60 x 16 Bolsonaro.
But since we’re back to the cold cow , it must be said that even Janones had to deal with the ball to glue Jefferson to Bolsonaro. As he explains to the militancy, it is necessary to say that “one of the informal ” by Bolsonaro tried to kill two police officers, instead of saying that Roberto Jefferson attacked the STF. The people don’t care about Roberto Jefferson and, as Janones explains, the STF is not very loved by the population.
You can see: those who believe that Bolsonaro lost the election are now the same ones who believed in Lula elected in the first round. They didn’t understand anything and, campaigning, they don’t go anywhere.
