As the saying goes, Brazil’s new year doesn’t really get underway until the end of the Carnival holiday. Judging by the de facto start of 2019 for President Jair Bolsonaro, we are in for one wild ride. Since Ash Wednesday—the official end of Carnival—the head of state is two for two: two days, two monumental screw-ups.
Still damp from the golden shower episode not 24 hours previous, Mr. Bolsonaro has managed to get himself into even more trouble. During a speech at a ceremony for the 211th anniversary of the Naval Fusiliers Corps, the sitting president declared that “democracy and freedom only exist when the Armed Forces want them to.”
The speech was intended to be perfunctory and complimentary of the Armed Forces, while at the same time signaling that the military will...
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