Deu mole, Lula

Oh Lula. Why must go and act like Bush sometimes? It pains me so, because I actually respect you as a leader.

The big news this week is that Lula blamed "white, blue-eyed bankers" for the global economic crisis and complained that developing countries shouldn't have to suffer because of the mistakes of developed nations. He also mentioned that he doesn't know any black bankers. [Video in English]

Talk about calling the kettle black (or white?). Lula, when your white politicians stop stealing billions of reais at the expense of Brazil's lower and middle classes, and when blacks are able to enter the ranks of corporate Brazil, then maybe you can talk.

Until then, you should take your lesson from George Bush: improvisation is an exceedingly terrible idea.

Here's Lula during one of his better public appearances:

Comments

[Chicago Peter]

According to Google Translate, "Deu mole, Lula" means "Has soft, Lula." Babel Fish on Yahoo translated it as "It gave soft, Squid." Can you help me understand what you meant by it?

Chicago Peter

[Nero]

Lula is the knickname for Luis Ignacio but it is also the portuguese name for 'Squid' - no relation though

'Deu mole' means : 'He gave reason for being critized' , in other words: He fucked it up! LOL

[Nero]

correction : 'criticized'

[obelix]

O comentário do Lula foi pensado e tem endereço certo: banqueiros e empresas americanas que geraram essa catástrofe financeira e bancos europeus que foram seduzidos pelo milagre do lucro fácil. Agora, esses mesmos países do G8, que mantém a distância das decisões os países que formam o G20 (Ex: Brasil, India, China, etc) descem aqui no Brasil e pedem a nossa colaboração para dar fundos ao FMI. O mesmo FMI que nos colocou o garrote durante toda a década de 80, impedindo o nosso crescimento. Resumindo, os países gananciosos e incompetentes que geraram a crise não aceitam dividir o poder com os países em desenvolvimento e ainda querem a nossa contribuição para o seu cão de guarda, o FMI. É cinismo demais. Beira o acinte. Diante de tudo isso, considero certíssimas a palavras do Lula. Quanto ao Bush, bom, temos uma frase aqui no Brasil: "cada povo tem o governo que merece". Mas acho que os americanos aprenderam a lição e votaram no Obama. Mas o estrago já está feito.

[Girl Not From Ipanema]

Maybe now you will stop respecting him and writing about how corrupt and (clearly)demagogue he is. Oops...he will probably deport you. Never mind. I don't know if it's appropriate, but my brand new blog is http://GirlNotFromIpanema.blogspot.com/

[Neil]

Lula's comments are among the dumbest things I have ever heard from a democratically elected leader. They are at least in the top five.

[Jen]

You could go three ways with this:

1) Well, on the bright side, at least he didn't blame the Jews.
2) I guess he's never heard of Stanley O'Neal.
3) Of course he's never met a black banker. Brazil keeps its black people in favelas, where they're very happy, of course, because there's no racism in Brazil.

[david]

We know the Iranian leader will say something outrageous whenever he speaks publicly. The Lula comment certainly is up there with truly absurd.

Someone should ask Lula if he has an American Express card. That company has an African-American CEO, too.

[Thaddeus Blanchette]

Jen sez:
"Of course he's never met a black banker. Brazil keeps its black people in favelas, where they're very happy, of course, because there's no racism in Brazil."

I'll be sure to inform my black academic colleagues and my black PhD-holding wife of that "fact", Jen.

I don't know what's stupider: Lula's comment or yours. You've never met a well-to-do black person in Rio, Jen? time to stop hanging with that lilly-white crowd of pals of yours, hey what?

[ney]

Slow down, Thaddeus. For sure you know the meaning of the word irony, or satire.
Regards
Ney

[Marissa]

Blatant racism from a world leader. Nothing particularly shocks me anymore. But he wasn't criticizing black people, he was criticizing whites, so I guess that will be fine with everyone.
This comment just reinforces what I already see in Brazilian people as a whole. Lack of accountability. I am married to a Brazilian man. I love his sense of humor, his patience, his general ease in everyday life (aka jeito). One thing that I cannot stand.....nothing ever seems to be his fault directly. I see this in my Brazilian friends, in laws, etc.
Brazil has an extremely corrupt government, as does America and England. However very rarely do you hear politicians in the latter countries blaming others for financial mishaps or the like. Not to say we will jump on a stage and yell to the world when we screw up-but we will certainly never point a finger so directly. Or in such an ignorant, superficial way. Lula continues to both infuriate and fascinate me.
Less time could be spent pointing at us and perhaps at the corrupt cops and politicians that keep Brazil in financial dire straights.
Brazil is a beautiful country, full of natural resources and almost limitless innovation. I hate to see this-blame yourselves. Grow up.
Deu mole com certeza

[Flavia]

Sou brasileira e nao acredito que esse ridiculo fez um comentario absurdo desses. Isso que da eleger um semi-analfabeto para a presidencia. adorei seu post.

[ney]

Marissa
Just to clarify, my comment was addressed to Thaddeu's commentary about what Jen wrote. As for Lula, he certainly doesn't known the meaning of the words racism, irony, or satire.
Lula deu mole, não Jen.
Ney

[cristina]

Não entendo porque tanto bafafá em torno desse comentário. Todo mundo conhece o estilo de Lula. O que realmente interessa é que, em essência, o comentário está certíssimo (concordo inteiramente com o post de Obelix). Mas, como sempre, todo mundo só presta atenção na forma como ele diz as coisas, e não no conteúdo em si. É impressionante tem gente que ainda se ressente pelo fato de termos um presidente que, a despeito de não ter os estudos de seu antecessor (de quem particularmente não tenho nenhuma saudade) tem muito mais respeito da comunidade internacional. Digo isto porque não estou vivendo no Brasil e aqui fora Lula é respeitado à beça, ninguém está preocupado com essas picuinhas.

[Thaddeus Blanchette]

"However very rarely do you hear politicians in the latter countries blaming others for financial mishaps or the like."

Huh? Well, that's certainly an original take on the American political system.

Ney, I am quite aware of sarcasm. However, I find it interesting that while criticizing Lula for making a racist generalization, Jen chose to go with another one. As racist generalizations go, ironically enough, Lula's carries more epistemological weight than Jen's.

I think there are several ways of taking Lula's comment and, in essence, he's correct: high finance is very much a white, upper-class man's game in this world. Y'know, the people who are supposedly the "serious experts" about economics? You don't see many black, brown, or female faces in those circles.

[cristina]

Matéria do Guardian, com referência a Lula no título e no décimo parágrafo. Como podem ver, ninguém está preocupado com a forma como foi dito, porque sabem que é verdade.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/mar/29/g20-summit-globalisation

[Rio Gringa]

Querida,

Voce sabe ler ingles mesmo?

Ou so perdeu o titulo da materia?

"Blue-eyed bankers' prompt G20 divide

The president of Brazil's attack last week exposed the growing rift between the west and the world's emerging powerhouses over how to tackle the global crisis."

[cristina]

http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1877351_1877350_1877331,00.html

E ah, p/ quem ainda acha que a grande questão aqui é a cor dos olhos ou da pele, há 2 afro-americanos na lista acima.

Leia a matéria inteira, por favor.

Cheers

[obelix]

Prezados
Acho bacana a maioria das pessoas estar trazendo comentários protestando contra o racismo. Isso é muito bom, pois certamente a 100 anos atrás encontraríamos o oposto.
Mas vamos deixar um pouco de lado a questão dos brancos de olhos azuis ? O que está na verdade em jogo é o G8, cujos países causaram ou participaram de uma crise financeira global, que ainda vai destruir o emprego de muita gente, de muitas familias. E são exatamente esses pilantras que vem agora querer dividir a conta com os países do G20 (o Brasil está nele) como se nada tivesse acontecido. Como se a presente crise tivesse surgido expontaneamente. O comentário não é racial, é econômico. Usaram o FMI durante um década inteira, em países recém-democratizados, ou seja, saídos de ditaduras. Usaram o FMI para colocar o garrote em países sul-americanos e agora querem que o G20 dê dinheiro para o FMI para ajudar a resolver a enrascada que os paises ricos e gananciosos se meteram. Volto a dizer, o comentário do Lula tem alvo certo. Pessoal, deixem de procurar tons racistas no comentário e comecem a pensar o que a lambança de Bush e companhia vai fazer nos empregos e nas vidas de vocês

[Jen]

Thaddeus, it was a joke. Clearly. Lula wasn't joking. Also, I'm not the leader of a country, as far as I know. But sometimes I drink too much, what with being of partial Irish extract, and I guess it's entirely possible I was elected the president of Latvia while in a drunken stupor. In which case, I apologize on behalf of the Latvian people for my insensitive remark.

And finance isn't a "white man's world." It's a "greedy person's world," and greed knows no boundaries. White men might have had a historical head start due to racism and sexism, but I can assure you that non-whites and women are catching up (at least in the US) when it comes to earning their riches on the backs of the struggling middle-class and poor. I don't know whether you'd consider that progress, though.

[Marissa]

Thaddeus- post an example of a world leader making such a point blank, stereotypical statement and I will retract my post. Or at least rethink my stance :)

Also-did you read the next part?

"Not to say we will jump on a stage and yell to the world when we screw up-but we will certainly never point a finger so directly. Or in such an ignorant, superficial way".

$20 says you can't. $38 Reais. (according to the latest exchange rates)

ps. It has to be a world leader, not a radical political activist, from this century.

Boa sorte.

PPS. I know that Brazilians have many classifications for skin color, but Lula isn't the darkest person. Perhaps he should have said "chalk white" people with blue eyes. Be very clear on just how white you must be to ruin the world, Lula.
Deu MOLE.

[RogerPenna]

in Brazil, people classify as racism only if its against blacks.

quite ludicrous. Sometime ago, the Minister for Racial Equality, a black woman (Matilde Ribeiro), made racist comments about white people. If the same thing had happened, in reverse, the white person could be in jail for racism.

[navy]

His comment is racist. It's an offense to all the black bankers in the world.

[Marissa]

Lula's statements are offensive to blacks and whites......guess we could look at the bright side and see that at least he didn't discriminate! He insulted everyone.

[marcelo]

O que o Lula quiz dizer foi: foram voces na America do Norte que causaram esse caos, e agora o mundo foi jogado na recessao, eh hora de voces criarem juizo e serem mais responsaveis pelos seus atos.
(Nada a ver com raca ou racismo, caraca! Voces nao sabem que o Lula adora metaforas?)

What Lula wanted to say was: YOU in North America caused this chaos, and now the whole world is in recession, its time you sober up and clean it up.
(It's nothing to do with race, racism, etc. You dont know Lula loves metaphors?)