I think many of us have been too embroiled in voting issues in the US that are critical to have paid much attention to Brazil. Voter suppression, in Georgia and on Native American reservations, our own stock of horrific candidates, trying to get information about local judges' races, gerrymandering issue (in Ohio), trying to get the pissed-off- at -the- Democratic- Party Bernicrats to vote and not sit this election out.

All that and maneuvering our anger around what the latest outrage by 45 and his minions at the complete gutting of the EPA - yeah, we should be worrying about the Amazon rainforest, but when it's our drinking water in danger, we're looking to our own back yard/lake/river carefully. White supremacist murders, bomb threats, slanders, & power plays: It's exhausting just to deal with our own issues - I want to scream so often.

I did hear a bit about this race, and this candidate, but without a more nuanced understanding of Brazilian politics, had no clue how this would go. Horrific, if even a fraction of the words and threats attributed to him are true and in context.

It all brings me back to another strong reason why THIS election season in the US is critically important: we may have to fight fascism with more challenges coming from abroad, rather than external support for democratic rule. Heaven help us all.

Joanne in Cleveland