Tears of an Illiterate Clown

Get this clown a TelePrompter

Looks like that Brazilian clown elected to office the other day may not be prepared for his swearing in.

A CLOWN who got more votes than any other candidate for Brazil's congress will have to convince authorities he can read and write if he wants to take office.

I'm telling you this guy is perfect for the Democratic Party. They don't read the bills they churn out, so why should it deter this clown?

In a ruling posted on the Sao Paulo electoral court's website, a judge found there is sufficient doubt about whether comic performer Tiririca - which means "grumpy" in Portuguese - meets a constitutional mandate that federal legislators be literate.

Tiririca, whose real name is Francisco Silva, will have 10 days after being notified of the ruling to prove his literacy through a written defence. If it fails, he will be barred from taking up his seat representing Sao Paulo in Congress.

Mr Silva's run for office attracted wide media coverage and his online campaign videos drew millions of viewers with slogans such as "It can't get any worse" and "What does a federal deputy do? Truly, I don't know. But vote for me and you'll find out."

But a week before the election, Epoca magazine reported that people who worked with Mr Silva on his TV shows and a book credited to him said he was illiterate, as is 10 per cent of Brazil's population.

A video on Epoca's website shows a reporter reading questions from an election poll to Mr Silva. He is then asked to read one of the questions himself. Visibly shaken, he hesitates before campaign aides rush to the rescue.

Can't the sad clown just use a TelePrompter with prepared talking points?