Cees Meeldijk

One more amazing thing about Brazil and Lula's campaign: The NYT today has a gushing profile of a Congressman named @AndreJanonesMG, who became the face of Lula's campaign, its chief communication strategist. and -- as a result of admittedly innovative though extremely creepy digital strategies -- the greatest hero of the Brazilian left. But listen to what the article doesn't mention: Just 2 years ago -- not 20 years ago or 10 years ago, but 2 years ago -- Janones got caught committing one of the most despicable crimes imaginable: he forced his Congressional staff employees to transfer a portion of their (quite low) monthly public salary to him as a condition for keeping their jobs. The money he stole from his workers didn't go to his campaign: it just went to enrich himself, into his pocket,. He got caught when the employees secretly taped him angrily telling them they should stop complaining. When all this emerged, the left-wing members of Congress loyal to Lula -- who, remember, claims to lead a movement of workers! The name of Lula's party is the Workers Party -- protected him from all consequences from stealing the salary of his workers. The pro-Lula judiciary let Janones confess guilt and simply pay back the money that he stole. And yet this doesn't bother anyone on the Brazilian left. Janones has become a beloved figure overnight among left-wing celebrities and is now one of Lula's closest allies. The NYT profile doesn't even mention this in their gushing profile. In the scheme of Brazil's authoritarianism, it's not the biggest issue, but to me it's one of the most revealing about what frauds these people are: