Lawmakers celebrate after reaching the votes needed to authorize President Dilma Rousseff’s impeachment to go ahead at the Brazilian National Congress in Brasilia on Sunday.EVARISTO SA/AFP / Getty Images
As Brazil's lower house of Congress voted to impeach President Dilma Rousseff in a raucous special session on Sunday night, members listed off their reasons for choosing yes: Very few had to do with the actual charges against her. God, family and farmers figured prominently, and there were an array of memorable reasons. Here's a selection:
Alceu Moreira: "For the end of corruption, for the end of being paid for doing nothing."
Sergio Moraes: "Happy birthday to Ana, my granddaughter."
Commissioner Eder Mauro: "I, along with my children and my wife who form a family in Brazil, which these criminals want so much to destroy, with propositions that children can go through sex changes and learn about sex in school when they are six years old, my vote is yes."
Takayama : "Against thieving, against the imposition of the left that wants to transform Brazil into a left-wing dictatorship."
Ronaldo Fonseca: "For peace in Jerusalem, I vote yes."
Cesar Messias: "Look where we arrived: Take Dilma out, Temer goes in; take Temer out, Cunha goes in; take Cunha out, Renan goes in. What Brazil is this?"
Marcelo Alvaro Antonio (going back to the stand after voting): "Just to correct one thing: I want to send a hug. I didn't mention my son, Paulo Henrique. Paulo Henrique, this is for you, son! A kiss!"
Joao Henrique Holanda Caldas: "In Cuba, there are elections; in North Korea, there are elections; in Iraq, there are elections. … We can't turn our backs on public opinion and pretend that what the people say, what the streets say, doesn't matter in this moment."
Rogerio Peninha: "To amend the [gun-control] law, for our farmers and for the end of corruption in Brazil, I vote yes."
Cabo Sabino: "President Dilma, you're feeling what all 10 million unemployed people felt when they lost their jobs. You are losing yours. Bye, darling. No need to come back."
Eduardo Cunha: "May God have mercy on this nation. I vote yes." [Mr. Cunha is being investigated for receiving more than $21-million (U.S.) in bribes.]
Raquel Muniz: "My vote is a tribute to the victims of BR-251 [a highway] and to say that Brazil has a solution, and that the mayor of Montes Claros shows that to everyone with his administration." [The mayor of Montes Claros, her husband Ruy Muniz, was arrested the following day by the Federal Police in a corruption scandal.]