Monday, October 4, 2010

You know you are in Brazil when

You know you are in Brazil when the political candidate in the country's most populous state who got the most number of votes is actually (really, actually) a near-illiterate clown.

Running on slogans like “It can’t get any worse” and “What does a congressman do? The truth is I don't know, but vote for me and I'll tell you," Francisco Everardo Oliveira Silva, better known by his clown name Tiririca, received more than 1.3 million votes in Sao Paulo state in Brazil's presidential and congressional elections. (That was more than double the votes for the second place candidate.)

Looks like he just got a pay raise.

Ahhh – Brazil.

To be fair, the elections in the States this time around have a few clowns as well, but they come dressed as politicians.

UPDATE: Today on the radio I heard that Tititica has ten days to demonstrate an ability to read and write or he will lose his opportunity to serve in Congress.  Comedians are having a field day.  People are joking that he's going to take a mni course to just get over the bar.  As Ray points out in the comments, if this guy serves he will then be entitled to a government pension for life.  Crack those books Tiririca!

3 comments:

Nina said...

This man is scary. I mean clowns are scary! People should be repelled! When Ricardo told me how many votes he got, I was so sad. Brazilians had let me down! My students tried preparing me but I can't believe this!

Ray Adkins said...

This is what happens when a country "FORCES" people to vote!
You have a lot of people who are not interested in politics being forced to go and vote against their will, the protest vote is a tradition in Brazil.
The sad and tough part is to know that your tax dollars will afford this clown a FAT retirement for life, yes, just for being in Congress for one term, he is already entitled to full retirement benefits from Congress.
Not to mention all the money he will be paid every time a certain project of law needs a vote one way or the other. It is a big negotiation from day one "Quem da mais?"get's the vote...shame, shame, shame, actually business as usual for Congress.
Not to mention, I never liked clowns anyway! :(

Anita said...

Oh, I am scared of this clown as well. This was a vote of protest. Remember that in the past people elected macaco Tiao (a monkey from the zoo) as a politician. An hipoppotammus as also been lected as well.