Why is Charles Krauthammer dissing Brazil?

I'm not a fan of CK, but I don't think his statement has anything to do with contemporary Brazil. Note the words: "used to be a cruel joke." He's applying what "used to be" a joke about Brazil to Obama. He's not commenting on Brazil, or Lula, or Chavez, or anything except Obama. Perhaps the only comment about Brazil is his use of the term "cruel joke," which makes it seem as if he didn't necessarily agree with the joke when it "used to be" told.

Read harder next time.

The interview was fascinating and masterful, and I don't think it makes sense to pick up on this one aside. Nonetheless, the Hammer was referring to the old joke about Brazil, which has clearly expired at this point. He clearly was not insulting, demeaning, or not appreciating modern Brazil, which has flourished in the past decade, as you note.

petrocw is right you misread, due probably to your indefensible and irrational bias when it comes to anything obama.
btw i misspell sometimes, but i am not a blogger in a mag with some claim to a reputation (long past and receding fast).

bias, irrationality , and sloppiness, typical of this site.

in the eyes of some people. Like the guy who runs this blog.

Jumping on one line of Krauthammer's article, and misinterpreting THAT, is the mark of a dedicated ideologue.

Step away from the bong... there's still time...

There is so much in the Spiegel interview worthy of debating, it is telling that the poster chose the path of intentionally misconstruing Krauthammer's position. I can understand the pressure to post multiple times per day and still try to say something brilliant each time, but to ignore Krauthammer's "used to" and "cruel" comments shows that this poster was clearly just looking for a hook and cheapens whatever point he was trying to make.

Brazil's economic surge since 1994 has gone unnoticed by no one, including Krauthammer (whose late older brother, Marcel, incidentally, was born in Rio). And to suggest that the Brazilians would mind the quote, well, if I only had a "real" for each time I heard a Brazilian use the same "o pais do futuro .. e sempre vai ser" line ... . Finally, just two small corrections, if I may, first, twas Chicago that lost the Olympics, not the US. Second, the spelling is Celso, not Ceslo.

it's compliment, not complement.

although, truth be told, that final misspelling was, indeed, a nice complement to one of the lamest paragraphs ever. good lord, this stuff wouldn't pass a high school newspaper editorial review board.

I just love this magazine on line.
It may have a reputation (long past and receding fast) but its not a cruel joke.
One side presents its facts and suggests that those who disagree should be reading only items that they agree with already.
Each side is fifty per cent right and therefor one hundred per cent wrong. But don't leave.
And there are readers in every article talkback section, regardless of the articles spin, who can't believe that FP has gone so low that it publishes items that they disagree with.
I never heard this joke about Brazil. In fact I never heard any jokes about Brazil. Just my luck I get to heard it only when it used to be.
And then there is the birther. It must has been a satire: McCain not natural born citizen, two parents needed for citizenship, can not be a citizen of an other country. This spells trouble for all the Polish American citizens who have birth rights to Polish citizenship under its new laws. Next they will be after the Jews.

What happened in Missouri?

"I'd say calling someone the "Brazil of politicians" should be a complement."

Complement to what? You mean compliment, right?

Cashews, Soccer/Football and the Carnival. So compliment?

Scott

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