Nobody circles the wagons quite like the leaders of the global left, who will eagerly line up behind just about anyone — the corrupt, the vindictive, the incompetent and even the openly evil — so long as they perceive them to be “part of the team.”
asserted
them → circle → team
Incumbent Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s triumph over Flávio Bolsonaro in this week’s presidential election occurred under suspicious circumstances.
asserted
triumph → occur → circumstances
Lula’s narrow victory came only after Supreme Court Justice Cristiano Zanin — who served as Lula’s personal defense attorney in the criminal case that sent Lula to jail a decade ago before being appointed to his current position by his former client — issued what four electoral lawyers who spoke to The New York Times called an “unprecedented” ruling to extend voting deadlines.
asserted
who → come → deadlines
In cities where Bolsonaro was favored, like Rio De Janeiro and Brasilia, the polls closed only shortly after they were originally supposed to.
asserted
they → favor → Janeiro
In Lula’s strongholds of São Paulo and Salvador, they stayed open for the entire two-hour extension.
asserted
they → stay → extension
But nothing — not these shenanigans, nor Lula’s unconstitutional, pre-election bribes; not his tanking of the Brazilian economy, nor his fellowship with dictators across the region and world — dissuaded his shameless sympathizers from popping champagne after his victory.
asserted
nothing → dissuade → victory
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani declared that “The people united will never be defeated!”
asserted
people → declare → ?
Spanish socialist Pedro Sánchez suggested Lula’s “great victory” heralded “the comeback of global progressivism.”
uncertain
victory → suggest → progressivism
Alex Soros, heir to George Soros’ destructive left-wing political empire, congratulated Brazilians “for standing up against authoritarianism once again!”
asserted
Soros → congratulate → authoritarianism
Sen. Bernie Sanders praised Lula for protecting “workers & democracy,” insisting he’d “continue to do so in the next four years.”
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen opined that “democracy and multilateralism” had won.
asserted
democracy → praise → years
UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham called it “a true victory for democracy and progressive values.”
asserted
Burnham → call → democracy
“Brazil showed the world that the will of the people is stronger than the authoritarians who try to suppress it,” she swooned.
asserted
she → show → it
Already, their applause has aged like milk in the sun.
asserted
applause → age → sun
Within minutes of the announcement of Lula’s “victory,” such as it was, Justice Alexandre de Moraes, another Lula ally on Brazil’s Supreme Court, ordered the seizure of Bolsonaro’s passports in connection with a criminal investigation.
asserted
Moraes → order → investigation
Forget being a sore or ungraceful winner: Lula has gone full banana republic authoritarian.
asserted
Lula → forget → ?
The opposition leader successfully fled his home for the United States via Argentina, and the details of his escape might make for a fine movie down the line.
uncertain
details → flee → line
An incumbent who was convicted on corruption charges before eventually being let off on a technicality just secured a fourth term by unscrupulous means before immediately dispatching a lackey to punish his opponent.
asserted
who → convict → opponent
That’s not a blip on the radar, it’s End Times, game over, pack it up, Brazil-is-now-a-democracy-in-name-only stuff.
asserted
Brazil → ’ → name
And the left is doubling down on their celebration of it.
asserted
left → double → it
House Democrats aren’t apoplectic over Lula’s power grab; they’re hysterical over the United States’ role in granting Bolsonaro a safe haven.
asserted
they → ’re → haven
“Losing an election is not grounds for asylum.
asserted
Losing → lose → asylum
Yet the Trump Administration is giving Flávio Bolsonaro safe haven in the United States,” complained Texas’ Joaquin Castro.
asserted
Castro → give → States
“After losing an election, rather than face his pending fraud and corruption charges, Bolsonaro is fleeing Brazil,” tweeted Michigan’s Shri Thanedar.
asserted
Thanedar → lose → Brazil
“Congrats to Brazil, democracy always comes out on top!”
asserted
democracy → come → top
Mehdi Hasan, the Islamist-adjacent MSNBC alum who once likened non-Muslims to animals and gays to pedophiles, took things a step further still, fantasizing over the extradition of Mark Zuckerberg to stand trial in one of Lula’s kangaroo courts.
asserted
who → liken → courts
Because while they’re eager to proclaim their allegiance to small-L liberalism and democracy, their only true allegiance has always been to their own ambition.
asserted
allegiance → ’re → ambition
It’s why they universally celebrated Alvin Bragg and Letitia James’ cynical lawfare against Donald Trump.
asserted
they → ’ → Trump
It’s why Sanders honeymooned in the Soviet Union and never met a left-wing strongman he didn’t love.
asserted
he → ’ → strongman
It’s why Justin Trudeau mourned Fidel Castro’s passing with a love letter that ought to make Katy Perry jealous.
asserted
Perry → ’ → letter
It’s why Hasan has served as a mouthpiece for a slave state.
asserted
Hasan → ’ → state
It’s why Abdul El-Sayed cheered the Muslim Brotherhood’s crackdown on its enemies in 2012.
asserted
Sayed → ’ → 2012
And it’s why so many poured into the streets to celebrate the Oct. 7 pogrom in 2023.
asserted
many → ’ → 2023
For these power-hungry jackals, there is no norm they wouldn’t break, no amount of suffering they wouldn’t tolerate, and no authoritarian they wouldn’t embrace if it served their purposes.
asserted
it → be → purposes
The Aporia
