Mostrando postagens com marcador OPINIÕES. Mostrar todas as postagens
Mostrando postagens com marcador OPINIÕES. Mostrar todas as postagens
segunda-feira, 5 de outubro de 2026
sexta-feira, 2 de outubro de 2026
PANDORA E AS ELEIÇÕES
ARMANDO AVENA
O diabo sabe citar as Escrituras quando lhe convém, diz o Evangelho. Por isso, quando se busca a mudança, é preciso ter cuidado para não dar o poder ao diabo travestido de anjo. É verdade que o fascínio pela mudança encanta homens e mulheres, mas vale lembrar: mudar pode ser bom, mas mudar para pior pode ser trágico.
Os gregos, por exemplo, contam a história de Faetonte, filho de Hélio, o deus que conduzia diariamente o Sol pelo céu. Orgulhoso da sua origem divina, Faetonte queria conduzir o carro do Sol, como fez seu pai.
Não é fácil, porém, para alguém inexperiente, que sempre andou por sítios sombrios, controlar os cavalos alados e manter o carro do Sol na trajetória correta. Contra todas as evidências, Faetonte afirma que está preparado e diz que vai conduzi-lo como ninguém jamais o fez.
Quando, todavia, assume o carro, percebe que não tem a mínima condição de controlar os cavalos. O carro solar sai de sua rota e aproxima-se demais da Terra, queimando campos e cidades. Depois sobe excessivamente e deixa regiões inteiras sob um frio terrível. A desordem ameaça o equilíbrio do mundo. Então, Zeus intervém e fulmina Faetonte com um raio, fazendo-o cair do céu.
Aquilo que parecia uma renovação grandiosa transformou-se em catástrofe porque a capacidade de conduzir o poder foi menor do que a ambição de exercê-lo. E o mundo descobriu, tarde demais, que, às vezes, mudar não é necessariamente mudar para melhor. Qualquer semelhança com o processo eleitoral brasileiro não é mera coincidência.
O ser humano tem fascínio pela mudança e é bom que seja assim, mas a mudança por si só não é garantia de avanço, pelo contrário, pode ser o signo do retrocesso.
Aliás, em se tratando de eleições, foi isso que aconteceu no Brasil no governo Bolsonaro, que fez o país retroceder e quase destruiu a Democracia. A mudança não pode ser um salto no escuro: é preciso saber quem a está propondo, qual é sua história, quais títulos acumulou, que experiência possui e o que já fez quando teve responsabilidades semelhantes, se é que as teve. A novidade pode ser sedutora, mas governar exige mais do que discurso de renovação. Antes de trocar o conhecido pelo desconhecido, é prudente examinar o passado de quem pretende conduzir o futuro.
São os gregos que novamente lembram aos que vão votar os perigos de abrir uma caixa sem saber o que existe dentro. Quando Pandora abre a caixa que recebeu de Zeus com a ordem explícita de não a abrir, ela liberta todos os infortúnios que podem afligir um povo. Quando percebeu o que havia feito e tentou fechá-la, os males já estavam soltos no mundo.
Diferente de Pandora, já sabemos o que existe na caixa que a família Bolsonaro nos apresenta. E não devemos abri-la esperando uma mudança que não virá.
O problema da mudança não é saber o que se pode ganhar com ela, mas saber o que se pode perder.
Publicado no jornal A Tarde em 02/10/2026
segunda-feira, 28 de setembro de 2026
DEGRADAÇÃO CONSTRUÍDA
Degradação moral no Brasil não é acaso, foi construída, diz Mario Sabino
Ao WW Especial, jornalista e escritor relaciona a corrupção a deficiências de formações educacional e cultural no país e que é cada vez mais dificil controlar as pessoas nas maiores esferas de poder do país
Há hoje uma tolerância crescente da população com comportamentos corruptos e imorais, especialmente quando esses comportamentos partem de figuras com as quais o público tem alinhamento político.
A avaliação é do jornalista e escritor Mario Sabino, em entrevista ao WW Especial: O Brasil perdeu a vergonha?, que foi ao ar neste domingo (6; assista).
"O que eu vejo acontecer hoje é uma tolerância maior com a sem-vergonhice", afirmou Sabino.
Segundo ele, essa condescendência ocorre "em função de alinhamentos proto-ideológicos", ressaltando que, no Brasil, "até a ideologia é muito rala".
Para Sabino, a questão educacional está na raiz de todos esses males. Ele avalia que o país tem convivido com uma população "cada vez mais analfabeta politicamente, analfabeta culturalmente, até mesmo civicamente".
domingo, 20 de setembro de 2026
A CRUELDADE DOS EUA
John J. Mearsheimer (Brooklyn, Nova York, 14 de dezembro de 1947) é um professor de ciência política e teórico das relações internacionais norte-americano ligado à Universidade de Chicago, conhecido por seu livro A Tragédia da Política das Grandes Potências (The Tragedy of Great Power Politics, em inglês) lançado em 2001, sobre o realismo ofensivo.
Graduou-se na Academia Militar dos Estados Unidos em 1970 e serviu por 5 anos como Oficial da Força Aérea Americana, chegando ao posto de capitão.
Mearsheimer é também co-autor (com Stephen Walt) de The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy ("O Lobby de Israel e a Política Externa dos Estados Unidos"), de 2007.
Seu livro de 2011 Why Leaders Lie: The Truth About Lying in International Politics (Por que os Líderes Mentem: A Verdade sobre a Mentira na Política Internacional) foi descrito como um catálogo das "mentiras que as nações contam umas às outras".
Numa entrevista ao The Boston Globe, o entrevistador resumiu o comportamento dos políticos, segundo o livro, nos seguintes termos: "Minta seletivamente, minta bem e sobretudo seja bom no que você faz". Mearsheimer concordou: "Sim. Fico triste em dizer que é verdade"
segunda-feira, 7 de setembro de 2026
sábado, 5 de setembro de 2026
sexta-feira, 4 de setembro de 2026
sexta-feira, 14 de agosto de 2026
quinta-feira, 6 de agosto de 2026
terça-feira, 4 de agosto de 2026
sábado, 18 de julho de 2026
UM AUSTRALIANO...
Resposta de um australiano às investidas de Trump sobre a “OTAN não estar ao lado da América”:
“Oh meu. Tu governas um país com 600.000 pessoas sem-teto que estão a dormir nas ruas hoje à noite. Um país onde 40% dos adultos não conseguem suportar uma emergência de 400 dólares sem pedir dinheiro emprestado.
Um país onde a insulina custa mais do que a prestação de um carro e as pessoas a racionam para sobreviver.
Um país onde as dívidas médicas são a principal causa do número elevado de falências.
Um país onde muitas mulheres morrem nos parques de estacionamento de hospitais porque os médicos têm muito medo das leis sobre o aborto para tratar um aborto espontâneo.
Tu prendes mais cidadãos do seu próprio país do que qualquer nação na Terra. Mais do que a China. Mais do que a Rússia. Mais do que a Coreia do Norte.
A ‘terra do livre’ tem 2 milhões de pessoas enjauladas, e nem um quarto delas sequer foi condenado por alguma coisa. Elas são simplesmente demasiadamente pobres para pagar a fiança exigida.
A tua esperança de vida está regredindo. É a única nação desenvolvida onde isso acontece. A tua taxa de mortalidade infantil é pior que a de Cuba.
As tuas crianças fazem simulações de ataque a tiros entre as aulas de matemática e inglês, enquanto tu vendes ações de fabricantes de armas para os teus amigalhaços.
quarta-feira, 24 de junho de 2026
THE NEW YORK TIMES
Victories by Pro-Palestinian Democrats Show the Party’s Shift on Israel
Three Democrats who have been outspoken in their criticism of Israel won primaries in New York on Tuesday, signaling their party’s new skepticism of the country and its actions.
Listen · 11:35 min
Three Democrats who made criticism of Israel central to their political identities swept to victory in House primary races in New York City on Tuesday, signaling a new era of skepticism in their party toward the Jewish state and its actions.
The striking results reflected a fast-moving shift in liberal politics. Democratic voters are now more likely to be critical of Israel and its government than they are to be supportive, according to several recent polls, a monumental change in American sentiment.
And while many Democratic officials remain supportive of Israel, next year’s class of congressional Democrats is on track to be more wary about America’s relationship with Israel than at any other moment since the Jewish state was established after World War II.
The primary triumphs in deep-blue districts of Brad Lander, Claire Valdez and Darializa Avila Chevalier came after each was endorsed by Mayor Zohran Mamdani of New York, whose advocacy for the Palestinian cause has been integral to his rapid political rise. At a rally for the candidates last week, he called the nation’s leading pro-Israel organization part of a group of “monsters” that he said were too powerful in American politics.
At Ms. Avila Chevalier’s victory party on Tuesday night in Harlem, supporters chanted “free Palestine” while she pushed her campaign’s “babies, not bombs” slogan. She suggested in her victory speech that her win represented a shift in how Democrats in New York would operate.
“Today, we make it clear: The politics of the past ends today,” she said.
Super PACs allied with the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, the pro-Israel group, have spent huge amounts of money on this year’s midterm elections to try to turn the tide in voter opinion. The organization has had some victories, saying in a statement on Tuesday night that 180 Democrats and Republicans it had endorsed had advanced to the November election. The group congratulated a Maryland House candidate its allied super PAC spent millions backing and said this would “ensure this seat remains represented by pro-Israel leadership.”
But despite those successes, AIPAC has largely been on the defensive.
Polls show that support for Israel among Democrats has sharply and steadily eroded since the Hamas-led terrorist attacks on Oct. 7, 2023, and Israel’s subsequent destruction of most of Gaza. A New York Times/Siena survey this spring found that 60 percent of Democratic supporters said they were more sympathetic to Palestinians than Israelis, compared with 15 percent who were more supportive of Israel.
“You’re seeing more and more Democrats making it clear that we should provide no U.S. taxpayer support to the government of Israel,” Senator Chris Van Hollen of Maryland said in an interview on Tuesday. Next year, he added, “I hope we will see a Congress that doesn’t provide reflexive unconditional support to the government of Israel.”
Perhaps the most significant of the New York races pitted Representative Dan Goldman, a two-term Democrat from Brooklyn, against Mr. Lander, the former New York City comptroller, who staked his campaign on opposing Mr. Goldman for being insufficiently critical of Israel.
The race between the two men, Jews who both describe themselves as liberal Zionists, symbolized how Democratic voters, especially younger ones, have shifted away from support for Israel.
But perhaps the most outspoken anti-Israel Democratic candidate who won in New York City, Ms. Avila Chevalier, defeated Representative Adriano Espaillat, who has been a steadfast supporter of Israel in his decade in Congress. Ms. Avila Chevalier spoke often of having lived in the West Bank and attended a rally on Oct. 8, 2023, that was widely criticized for featuring speakers who appeared to justify the attacks a day earlier.
Like Mr. Lander and Ms. Valdez, Ms. Avila Chevalier is now the Democratic nominee in a solidly blue House district and is a heavy favorite to wind up in Congress come January.
The fights in New York became increasingly nasty in the final days of the campaign. A local coffee shop chain wrote on social media that Mr. Goldman, who is critical of Israel’s government but has opposed banning aid to the country, was not welcome because it did not serve “genocide enablers.”
Pitched Midterm Battles Over Israel
The main super PAC tied to AIPAC, the United Democracy Project, has spent more than $25 million so far this year, in addition to at least $5 million it has funneled to create new super PACs.
That sum may be just a fraction of what is to come. The group started the year with more than $96 million, making it one of the best-funded PACs in the country.
Its most prominent spending battles so far have been in New Jersey and Illinois. But Israel also became a driving issue in several House primaries in California.
The results have been mixed. In the Chicago suburbs, Daniel Biss, the mayor of Evanston, Ill., won a House primary after explicitly attacking AIPAC. The group spent $7 million in the race, mostly aimed at defeating Mr. Biss, who is Jewish. But in the final days of the primary, when it became clearer that a candidate even more critical of Israel than Mr. Biss could win, the super PAC dialed back its attacks on him.
In New Jersey, the AIPAC-tied super PAC targeted Tom Malinowski, a popular former congressman who supported more restrictions on aid to Israel. But in an embarrassing turn for AIPAC, Analilia Mejia, a progressive organizer who was loudly critical of Israel, beat him in the special election and then won a later primary.
AIPAC has won victories, too. Two of its preferred candidates in Illinois won crowded primaries, even as another anti-AIPAC Democrat won in a Chicago district.
In Washington, defending Israel has fallen out of favor among many congressional Democrats, with a large majority of senators who caucus with the party voting this year to block some U.S. arms sales to Israel.
“Do I think the Overton window on Israel has shifted more in the last six months than my entire career?” said Amy Rutkin, who was the longtime chief of staff to Representative Jerrold Nadler of New York, the longest-serving Jewish Democrat in the House, who is retiring. “It surely, absolutely has.”
The shift is part of a generational change after the retirements of longtime Democratic leaders like former Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Representative Steny H. Hoyer of Maryland, the longest-serving Democrat in the House, both of whom are stalwart supporters of Israel. Representative Hakeem Jeffries of New York, the minority leader, is also a backer of Israel.
But among Democratic voters, support for Israel has crumbled. And even House Democrats who are broadly supportive of Israel are highly critical of Benjamin Netanyahu, the country’s prime minister. Few enthusiastically support the right-wing Israeli government, and many are openly counting down until elections there, which are scheduled for October.
Shifting Winds in New York
The Democratic shift on Israel has been particularly notable in New York, home to the country’s largest Jewish population and a mayor who has frequently focused on the plight of Palestinians.
“The monsters that we are up against, they take many different forms,” Mr. Mamdani said at a recent rally for his endorsed candidates, before adding that AIPAC believed “the only thing more frightening than democracy being allowed to run its course is an end to genocide and Netanyahu’s wars.”
Many Jewish leaders and groups criticized the remarks, arguing that they echoed antisemitic tropes at a time of increased hate crimes targeting Jews.
One of the candidates the mayor backed, Ms. Avila Chevalier, defeated Mr. Espaillat, the chairman of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus. He was the only candidate in New York who was explicitly backed by AIPAC’s super PAC, which transferred money to a separate group that supported him.
In the 10th Congressional District, which includes Lower Manhattan and a large area of Brooklyn and is one of the most Jewish districts in the country, Mr. Goldman, the Brooklyn Democrat, frequently argued that a focus on foreign policy was misplaced given voters’ domestic priorities. Those arguments fell flat: He lost badly, trailing late Tuesday by more than 30 percentage points.
Several Jewish Democrats who are most likely heading to the House, including Mr. Lander and Mr. Biss, have taken a more antagonistic tone toward the current Israeli government. But whether they will take radically different approaches to policy remains to be seen.
AIPAC as a Litmus Test
For decades, AIPAC was the leading voice of a bipartisan congressional consensus on the importance of the U.S.-Israel alliance. Now, many Democrats in contested primaries want nothing to do with it.
The organization has become a symbol of dark money, alongside organizations backing the cryptocurrency and artificial intelligence industries. And all three interest groups are spending money on many of the same races.
None of the advertisements paid for by the AIPAC super PAC even mention Israel, focusing instead on top-polling issues in each area.
In Maryland, the super PAC spent more than $5 million to back Adrian Boafo, a state legislator, in the primary to replace Mr. Hoyer. The ads focused on Mr. Boafo’s biography and his accomplishments in Annapolis. Cryptocurrency interests spent an additional $3.4 million to back Mr. Boafo, according to AdImpact, a media tracking firm. He ended up finishing well ahead of a crowded Democratic field.
The next Democratic primaries to revolve around Israel will come in August, when Minnesota, Michigan and other states are holding competitive intraparty contests.
At a Democratic primary debate for Senate last week in Minnesota, Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan declared that “I don’t take AIPAC money because my values don’t align with AIPAC.” Her opponent, Representative Angie Craig, who has been endorsed by AIPAC in the past, replied that she had taken “not one penny” from the group and called for Mr. Netanyahu to lose his re-election bid in October.
The most divisive race, however, will be in Michigan, which has large Jewish and Muslim populations.
The Democratic Senate primary there includes Representative Haley Stevens, a staunch backer of Israel, and Abdul El-Sayed, a progressive public health official who has called Israel’s actions a genocide and opposes any military aid to the country. A third candidate, State Senator Mallory McMorrow, has tried to take a middle path on Israel, but is struggling in the polls.
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