Tears of a clown

As part of his campaign for congress, the clown known as Grumpy ran ads saying, “Do you know what a Congressman does? Really, I don’t, but vote for me and I’ll tell you.” The Sao Paulo candidate won the most votes of any other Congressman in the country — and was almost disqualified because of allegations he was illiterate. Now the press delights in checking to see if, well, he’s got the chops to make good on his modest campaign promise. Judging by his latest interview, the answer is no.

A reporter from the weekly magazine Veja, asked him straight up if he’s discovered what a Congressman does. His answer?

“Not yet. I’m kind of lost, arriving now. It’s all very new. But I’ll soon adapt, God willing.”

Veja followed up by asking about legislation the former clown had already signed since taking office. Grumpy’s answer was equally disheartening: “I’ve signed some things, but off the top of my head I can’t say what they were. It was a lot of things that the whole chamber signed, or at least several Congressmen.”