Is anything acceptable in the fight to defeat Bolsonaro?

Federal deputy André Janones (Avante-MG) may have his mandate revoked. At least, that is the attempt being made by the Progressive Party (PP) and the Liberal Party (PL). Both accuse the deputy, who has become a phenomenon on social media, of breach of parliamentary decorum for disseminating “fake newsagainst Jair Bolsonaro (PL).  

However, the complaint creates a dilemma for the Brazilian parliament, given that other deputies were forced by the Electoral Court to delete their statements. fake news against former president Lula, such as federal deputies Eduardo Bolsonaro (PL) and Carla Zambelli (PL) and senator Flávio Bolsonaro (PL). In other words, the Superior Electoral Court itself has already recognized that this group linked to the far-right is dishonest, disseminates misinformation and, consequently, unbalances the democratic process by trying to manipulate public opinion. But, according to the PP and PL, the problem lies only with Janones.  

From the progressive camp, or, broadening this spectrum that formed in the second round, to the so-called democratic camp, there are those who criticize this kind of "eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth" approach adopted by André Janones. "You don't fight lies by telling lies," some vociferate. tweets"The truth is dead," others exclaim scandalously. 

In times of post-truth, where appeals to emotions have replaced facts, we must ask ourselves: Is anything goes to defeat Bolsonaro? Is a lie combated with truth or by producing more lies? But what is truth, after all?    

The truth according to Michel Foucault  

First and foremost, it's necessary to keep in mind that, from a Foucauldian perspective, truth, or rather, truths, have a history. Inspired by Nietzschean philosophy, the post-structuralist Michel Foucault argues that each society possesses its own regimes of truth. In other words, each society establishes its own mechanisms, instances, rules, and workings that differentiate true statements from false ones. Therefore, there is no single, pre-existing, immutable truth that fell from the sky.  

Truth is produced through social conventions, economic and cultural factors; these, in turn, produce regulatory effects of power. Such conventions, however universal and habitual they may seem, were the target of intense disputes, confrontations, and clashes in the historical period in which they were forged, until they became "truths" in current society.    

In his lecture of January 23, 1974, Foucault presents a brief general history of truth. In this lecture, the philosopher explains that there are basically two types of truth: one is philosophical-scientific truth, which assumes that there is a truth everywhere, in every place and at all times—omnipresent. To collect this hidden, buried truth, or one that is difficult to see with the naked eye, specific instruments are needed, a rigorous path must be followed: the scientific method. In short, this is truth-demonstration. The other type of truth is a dispersed, discontinuous truth, which has its privileged and exclusive messengers and operators. A truth of the Oracle of Delphi. This cannot be apprehended by instruments or any specific method; it is captured by cunning, by shock, by conflict. It is established in belligerent relations, not in the order of knowledge, but in the order of the hunt, of power relations. This is truth-event. 

It should be noted that, although these are two seemingly distinct truths, Foucault's analysis is never dichotomous or binary. Truths are always contingent, arbitrary, that is, not necessary. Thus, the truth-demonstration is, in itself, a moment or aspect that randomly succeeded the truth-event.  

God, country, and family: the regime of truth captured by Bolsonaro-fascism.  

So, if each society possesses its own regime of truth, and if these truths are, broadly speaking, derived from conventions, it is impossible to deny that the Bolsonaro slogan "God, country, and family" is anchored in conventions very well consolidated in the Brazilian social fabric. It is true that Brazilian society is culturally religious, with a Judeo-Christian formation. It is true that all those born in national territory or naturalized are Brazilian, assume this patriotic identity and its symbols such as green and yellow. It is also true that the traditional family model constitutes the fundamental core of the moral values ​​of this nation. The problem is that "God, country, and family" are inscribed in the regime of truth-events that Bolsonaro supporters try to capture for themselves, presenting themselves as the exclusive operators of such truths. And the truth is that this strategy is adopted by the far-right worldwide. Dismantling it is not an easy task.  

Bolsonarism, which is essentially fascist, colonizes certain social conventions and manipulates them constantly, in a convenient way. The extremist politicians who resort to the Electoral Court accusing André Janones of spreading [misinformation]... fake news These are the same people who habitually attack judges and intimidate Supreme Court justices, depending on the occasion. This selectivity reveals the true Bolsonaro-fascist strategy: to transform the leader of this movement, Jair Bolsonaro, into the supreme authority that decides what is true and what is not. According to a survey by the fact-checking agency Aos Fatos, Bolsonaro has said, on average, seven false or distorted statements per day since 2021.  

Therefore, to achieve its goals, the far-right has built a network of alliances and support with fundamentalist evangelical leaders to terrorize believers, threatening divine punishment or retribution against evangelicals inclined to vote for Lula in the second round. These pastors—who consider themselves the only mediators between truth and men—use their power of influence to spread disinformation within church groups via WhatsApp, One fake news One idea that has become popular is that Lula would close churches if elected. Another strategy of Bolsonaro-style fascism is the mass production of disinformation based on moral panics, fear, and anxiety targeting the family. In 2018, it was the phallic baby bottle. In 2022, the unisex bathroom. According to philosopher Jason Stanley: “Fascist propaganda amplifies this fear by sexualizing the threat of the other. Since fascist politics is based on the traditional patriarchal family, it is naturally accompanied by panics about deviations from this patriarchal family.”  

These strategies, tactics, and tricks that the far-right has been using are far more numerous, subtle, and nuanced, but André Janones has managed to understand, master, and execute some of them against their creators, thus participating in power relations in an unprecedented way and providing greater balance to the political struggles unfolding on social media.   

The Janones “event” and the new regimes of power.  

In the face of the fascist strategy of producing a "truth" around President Bolsonaro as an archetype of a messiah representing God, family, and country, constructing a sacralizing and infallible atmosphere through the media—what I call the "papization of politics," in reference to the Catholic dogma of papal infallibility—André Janones has deconstructed this image, bringing this debate to the secular sphere, pointing out the discursive contradictions of Bolsonarism-fascism, dismantling the strategy, and exposing hypocrisies. 

As with the case of Bolsonaro and Freemasonry, an old video of his visit to a Masonic lodge resurfaced. The assumption about Satanism quickly went viral on social media because it exposed how false the "messiah" Jair Bolsonaro was. The damage was so great that fundamentalist pastors, such as Silas Malafaia, a historically declared enemy of Freemasons, had to publicly downplay the visit.  

Janones, who is also an evangelical Christian, seized the opportunity to further inflame the issue, recording a video in front of the Temple of Solomon and thus, perhaps for the first time in the 2022 presidential campaign, forcing the current president's team to act defensively, trying to extinguish the fire. Janones's undertaking consists of using Bolsonaro's own strategies against them, appropriating viral marketing tools such as emotion, a sense of urgency, and an alarmist tone to set the agenda for the far-right, mobilize progressive activists, and create skepticism or increase rejection among undecided voters—a strategy that the PT campaign was unable to execute with such efficiency.  

Foucault argues that power is war. War prolonged by other means. I can presume from this hypothesis that there was an imbalance of power between the progressive camp and the far-right in the power relations established on social media through a kind of narrative war, a battle over the notion of truth. The scenario began to change with Janones's entry into this political struggle. And even though he didn't win the war, the battles in which he emerged victorious were fundamental in demystifying the "saint Bolsonaro." A saint with feet of clay. 

By the end of this election, the far-right will lack the resources to clean up all the mess that is yet to come. As Foucault would say, truth belongs to this world. And it cannot be monopolized by the filthy, Bolsonaro-style fascism.