Brazil's grinding political crisis lurched closer to the abyss this week when the speaker of the lower house of Congress agreed to start impeachment proceedings against President Dilma Rousseff based on allegations she misused state funds to mask budget problems.
The impeachment proceedings, which aren't expected to go anywhere fast, were authorized on Wednesday by opposition House Speaker Eduardo Cunha, who himself is implicated in a much larger bribery scandal.
Rousseff insists she's innocent of any wrongdoing with public funds, and said she received the news of the impeachment proceedings "with indignation." The president claims the opposition is trying to destabilize her administration in an attempt to negotiate a political bargain to wiggle out of their own corruption scandals.
"I would never accept or agree to any request for a bargain," the president tweeted Wednesday night, with indignation.
With the government's Christmas recess fast approaching, the impeachment proceedings are unlikely to move forward until the New Year—or even after Carnival, which starts in February. In any event, the fractious opposition doesn't immediately appear to have the votes it needs to do anything more than cause a fuss.
The situation is, however, symptomatic of Brazil's deepening woes caused by political corruption, government gridlock and the worst economic recession to hit the country in decades. The party is over in Brazil, and the hangover is a killer.
But Brazilians haven't lost their sense of humor. Instead, many Brazilians are turning to TV and movie scripts for help interpreting their country's mess, and perhaps to look for clues about how the story ends.
Some Brazilians think corrupt politicians accusing one another of corruption in a cynical attempt at personal gain is borrowing heavily from House of Cards.
Others think the shifting political alliances in the quest for power is more like Game of Thrones.
Or perhaps the situation is more like a Tarantino bloodbath where nobody survives?
https://twitter.com/brazilfinance/status/672162756922114048
Or is Brazil moving more towards the dystopian future depicted in Hunger Games?
Is House Speaker Cunha acting like supervillain and jellymaker Felonius Gru, and his minions?
@Candidaz @DepEduardoCunha #CunhaMalvadoFavorito pic.twitter.com/YvIzI8BiZ5
— Marcelo Odebrécha (@MarceloDoc74) December 2, 2015
Or maybe it's more like this Sound of Music meme, which implies Cunha is hiding some of his alleged $40 million in brides in Swiss bank accounts.
Are Cunha and Rousseff like the Avengers? Does that even make sense?
Or Batman?
Ok, that's a stretch. End of article.