Brazil Gets It (and the USA Does Not)
Published at 06:53 on 11 January 2023
Two countries, two coup attempts by the supporters of a recently-defeated right wing president. Both featured police officers standing idly by and even welcoming the insurrectionists. Both featured well-heeled right-wingers providing financial and logistical support.
Both countries now have people who see themselves as “patriots” shocked, shocked that in the eyes of the law they are accused criminals, and being treated accordingly.
But in only one of those two countries are top law-enforcement officials placed under arrest pending investigation of why some cops stood idly by. In only one of them are capitalists being investigated for their roles in the conspiracy.
The difference is revealing, and it is why I am not optimistic about the long-term prospects for democracy in the USA. To date, the USA’s response has been weaker than the Weimar Republic’s one to the Beer Hall Putsch. Put that in your pipe and smoke it.