Sex, drugs, and gospel music: Brazil’s madcap soap opera politics

This week, Brazil has been engrossed by a true crime soap opera that would make Game of Thrones screenwriters blush. Flordelis de Souza, a federal lawmaker and former gospel singer, has been implicated in the assassination of Evangelical pastor Anderson do Carmo, her adopted son-turned-son-in-law-turned-husband. Nine of Ms. Souza’s 55 children — of which 51 are adopted — were arrested this week, and she only remains at liberty thanks to her parliamentary immunity.

Besides the sordid details of the case, including a bizarre number of failed assassination attempts and the morbidly on-the-nose Google searches of one of Ms. Souza’s children — including “assassin where to find,” “poison to kill a person that is lethal and easy to buy” — the affair is an illuminating look into the bonkers aspect of Brazilian politics.

As it happens, this particular case might not even make it into the top ten of scandals involving sitting members of Congress.

Brazil’s lower house — where Flordelis de Souza sits — has seen its fair share of convicted criminals, scam artists, murderers, alleged drug traffickers, and all conceivable types of scandalous individuals who...