Janio asks: and what happens when someone reacts to the despot Barbosa?

247 - A few days ago, an article on 247 titled "Who will have the courage to stop the president of the Supreme Court?" received widespread attention. It was a response to (yet another) attack committed by Joaquim Barbosa against judges, lawyers, and representatives of the Legislative Branch (read more). here).

In today's Folha newspaper, Janio de Freitas raises the same flag, saying that soon one of the victims will rise up against the aggressor. This is because, he says, "whoever wants to live in a democracy has a duty to reject all manifestations of authoritarianism, arbitrariness, and arrogance," even when it comes from the president of the Supreme Federal Court. Read below:

JANIO DE FREITAS

The risk of advancing

What might happen when someone targeted by verbal attacks from the president of the Supreme Court fights back in kind?

The risk is great and, worse still, growing. What might happen when someone targeted by verbal attacks from the president of the Supreme Federal Court uses their right to react in kind, as is likely to happen? In any case, an extreme embarrassment will be created. The possibility of a crisis with institutional elements is not far off, should Minister Joaquim Barbosa progress in his demoralizing attacks targeting Congress and the judiciary.

The moralistic undercurrent favored by the middle class ensures that the minister's conceptual and verbal excesses are tolerated in the media under the guise of "he says the right thing in the wrong way"—which is a morally wrong way of addressing the wrong thing. This is neither a new method nor a new application.

That doesn't change the meaning of the acts. "Only speak to me if I ask you to!" is a possible phrase in police stations. Said to an elected representative of the judiciary, in the Supreme Federal Court, by its president, it is, at the very least, a despotic statement, suggestive of a similar sentiment or pretension. If, like its previous counterparts, it only led to another bland remark from those targeted, it doesn't mean that future re-enactments of these incidents will be the same.

Ultimately, those who wish to live in a democracy have a duty to reject all manifestations of authoritarianism, arbitrariness, and arrogance. It is the only duty that the rule of law demands and does not relinquish.