Latin politics are more fun

The Wall Street Journal ran a story today about the trials and tribulations of politics in Brazil. It seems that South American’s have more flair for the dramatic — compared to our political arena, anyhow:

It all began with Mr. Jefferson, who started singing to legislative investigators and reporters about what he says was a Workers Party slush fund that dispensed millions of dollars to legislators. Soon other characters took the stage: a bald advertising executive who plays the role of bagman, a whistle-blowing secretary trying to get in touch with her inner sex kitten, and one party member caught trying to pass through airport security with $100,000 in his underwear.

But Brazilians don’t really seem to mind. In the aftermath, one local radio station has started a promotion offering underwear stuffed with money. The local Senate TV network is enjoying a surge in ratings as everyone tunes in to watch the proceedings. Fernanda Karina Somaggio, the aforementioned secretary, was featured in a Sunday photo magazine layout in a leopard-spotted bikini top and is trying to negotiate a deal with Playboy (the proceeds of which will fund her own political campaign with the slogan “Better Nude Than Corrupt”).

It almost sounds like the plot to a Brazilian tele novela. I think I’d rather deal with this kind of political upheaval, rather than the more heady issues of our own country.