Brazil's government is conceding defeat after the hostile and corruption-tinged lower house of congress voted to impeach President Dilma Rousseff for allegedly manipulating government accounts to conceal a deficit. 

"The fight is now in the courts, the street and the senate," said Jose Guimaraes, the leader of Rousseff's Workers party in the lower house.  Ms. Rousseff's position is that she did nothing wrong and that the impeachment process is a coup d'etat.

This was expected to be the least difficult phase for President Rousseff, who needed only to get a third of body to vote against impeachment.  Instead, her opponents led by speaker Eduardo Cunha - accused of perjury and corruption - prevailed with well more than two-thirds of the required votes to send the matter to the senate.  If the senate agrees to consider the motion, which is highly likely, Rousseff will have to step aside for 180 days.  Her government will be replaced by a more business-friendly administration of her vice president Michel Temer - himself facing impeachment.

To underscore the depths of this wretched hive of scum and villainy attempting to oust President Rousseff, pro-impeachment lawmakers rose to speak at the rostrum:  Eduardo Bolsonaro used his time at the microphone to honor the general responsible for Brazil's military coup in 1964.  Rio de Janeiro far-right deputy Jair Bolsonaro dedicated his vote to the army colonel who ran the junta's torture chamber - Rousseff and her mother were among those tortured.  Paulo Maluf, who is on Interpol’s red list for conspiracy, voted for impeachment; so did Nilton Capixiba and Silas Camara, who are accused of money laundering and misappropriating public funds, respectively.

Despite the political sewer that opened up onto their dinner tables, tens of millions of Brazilians watched the circus on television; 60 percent support impeachment.  This is fueled by a right-wing bias in the media that would make Rupert Murdoch squeal like a baby with a new dolly.  Media outlets simply cut their signals should anyone show support for the beleaguered president.