Obama and Brazil, Protests

The liberal media are gushing over Obama's visit to Brazil.

They claim that Obama has enchanted Brazilians. They adore him.

For example, from CNN: Obama charms Brazilians during two-day visit, observers say

Brazil's cool and contentious relationship with the United States over trade and foreign policy has warmed a few degrees, analysts said Sunday, as President Barack Obama's visit appeared to charm officials and crowds during his two-day visit to South America's largest nation.

Sustained applause echoed through Rio de Janeiro's Municipal Theatre as Obama spoke a few words in Portuguese, made allusions to Brazilian culture and drew parallels to U.S. history.

"Our journeys began in similar ways," Obama said during the televised speech.

"We became colonies claimed for distant crowns, but soon declared our independence. We welcomed waves of immigrants to our shores, and eventually cleansed the stain of slavery from our land," he said.

...Earlier Sunday, Obama's motorcade made its way up the winding, narrow alleys of Rio de Janeiro's most notorious and celebrated shanty neighborhood, the so-called Cidade de Deus, whose brutal drug war and racial disparity became immortalized in the Oscar-nominated film, "City of God."

The first family's visit to a favela -- a Portuguese word for shanty -- was a symbolic gesture that reverberated through a nation known for its strong African heritage but with a tarnished record on racial and class discrimination.

Greeted by favela residents who cheered the arrival of the first family, Cidade de Deus schoolchildren watched curiously a rare and memorable scene began to unfold, as most Brazilians seldom see blacks holding positions of power.

First lady Michelle Obama, wore the colors of the Brazilian flag, and daughters Sasha and Malia clapped enthusiastically to performances of capoeira and samba, some of Brazil's best known African-influenced music, seeming at ease.

Brazilian newspapers reported that crowds cheered as the presidential motorcade moved on, some carrying banners that read "Obama, where are you, I am here just to see you." One man held a sign which read, "Thank you Obama for making the White House Black."

Another example of Brazilian love for Obama, from the Associated Press:

President Barack Obama played grand tourist to Rio de Janeiro's vivid extremes on Sunday, motorcading from brilliant beaches to a notorious slum even as he monitored U.S. military strikes in faraway Libya.

With his whole family in tow on the second day of a Latin American tour meant to knit economic and cultural ties, the president visited the City of God shantytown that gained fame after a movie by the same name was nominated for four Oscars. At a community center in the heart of the jostling slum, the president plunged into the lives of children there, playing soccer with kids and watching enthralled at a dazzling martial arts display.

The president shed his coat and tie, rolled up his sleeves and dribbled one-on-one soccer with one surprised boy. Michelle Obama and daughters Sasha and Malia got involved, too, kicking a ball around with the kids.

Then the president walked out into the streets and waved to throngs of residents who cheered him from rooftops and balconies. Dozens of young children pressed up against a chainlink fence trying to get a look.

...The president's sightseeing Sunday was sure to endear him even more to a diverse and multicultural country where his personal story already makes him popular. That advances the overall goals of the five-day Latin American trip — with Chile and El Salvador next on the itinerary — which aims to cast Obama and the United States as attentive neighbors from the North, eager to capitalize on the region's economic successes while addressing common security concerns.

...Obama commands significant attention, even affection, in Brazil. In the capital, Brasilia, children greeted Obama with hugs and tears as they waved U.S. and Brazilian flags.

Judging from these reports, everyone just loves Obama. They're captivated by his charm. They are under his spell.

But there's a problem. The liberal media aren't telling the complete story.

There have been anti-Obama riots and violence in Brazil.

Photos of anti-Obama protesters


They don't seem "charmed" by Obama at all, do they?

From Susan Swift, Big Journalism:

A U.S. President beset by angry mobs screaming “Yankee Imperialist Go Home”, exploding Molotov cocktails, rubber bullets, tear gas, riot police.

In 2007 the MSNBC headline screamed “Protests greet Bush upon arrival in Brazil” and The Guardian one-upped it with “Angry crowds hunt Bush as protests mark start of Latin America tour”. Fast forward to 2011 as another U.S. President faces identical protests and riots. Funny thing, though, this time there is absolute stone cold silence on these protests and riots from the New York Times, CNN, AP, YahooNews, MSNBC, The Guardian, etc. (Politico to its credit reports it).

Sporting Che Guevera T-Shirts, radical leftist protestors “associated with the Socialist Workers Party, PSTU,” launched Molotov cocktails in front of the U.S. consulate to protest President Obama’s arrival in Rio. Military police fired rubber bullets at the crowd, using tear gas and billy clubs to chase away the violent, socialist and oh-so-intolerant protesters.

The liberal media were so quick to highlight anyone protesting President George W. Bush, but when it comes to Obama's detractors, we get crickets chirping.

Here's video of anti-Obama protesters being silenced by the Brazilian military:



The liberal media don't deal in reality.

Why not report the truth? Why be silent on these protests and the Brazilian government's response?

Some Brazilians are happy to see Obama. Some aren't.

Is it really that difficult to admit?
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When Obama visits Chile, he'll face some hostility from the people there, too.


Obama = Death

That's pretty harsh.