Why Honduras matters more and more
Obama cuts aid to Honduras in an attempt to blackmail the country into accepting Zelaya. Isn’t it interesting that our President comes down so hard on a country for merely attempting to assert its own constitution against a power grab by a would-be Leftist tyrant? And Hillary Clinton is his willing handmaiden in the process.
Disgusting. Shameful.
And very Orwellian, as the State Department cites Honduras’s supposed “continuing failure to restore democratic, constitutional rule to Honduras.”
[NOTE: Dr. Sanity has more, as does Latin American expert Fausta.]
[ADDENDUM: In addition to the cut in aid, Obama and Hillary are also saying that we will not recognize the next election in Honduras. The announcement was made after a cozy little chat Ms. Clinton had with Zelaya:
Honduras’s ejected president Mel Zelaya saw the Secretary and apparently persuaded [Clinton] that the outcome of Honduras’s next elections must be rejected. On what basis? None was stated, and no logical basis exists. The next elections will be entirely constitutional and held on time; and the term of office of the ousted Zelaya would end naturally and constitutionally when a new president is sworn in, in January. The candidates were selected before the current crisis began, and all the parties–including Zelaya’s Liberal Party, one half of Honduras’s essentially two party system–are participating. There is no reason whatsoever to doubt that the election can be monitored by international observers (and we could have demanded more of them than usual) and fairly conducted. Honduras’s vote for a new president on November 29 was the obvious way for everyone to dig out of the current mess without hurting the Honduran people and without damaging Honduras’s democratic institutions.
But it was rejected yesterday by Clinton and the Obama administration. The State Department’s spokesman said that “Based on conditions as they currently exist, we cannot recognize the results of this election.” The irrationality of the words is striking: based on conditions today, we can’t recognize the results of a free election more than two months from now on November 29, even if everyone thinks it’s free and even if Zelaya’s party participates, and even if his term would constitutionally be over anyway.]
Well, I’ve fired off emails to Congress folk and the Honduran Embassy (FYI: embajadadehondurasdc@yahoo.com).
In an attempt to be fair to Obama, he is not leading the charge on this but following along with most international opinion — UN, Europe, OAS, etc. I disagree of course but there you have it.
I’m hoping and praying that the Honduran people don’t capitulate to this pressure. They had a Chavez wannabe in their midst, and managed to remove him through a constitutional process… supported by the Supreme Court of that country.
I have no hope that Obama will change his stripes. My best hope is that some other countries, especially those with right-of-center governments, will reach out to the Honduran government, and recognize it as the true constitutional government. Unfortunately, at the moment, it appears that the Hondurans stand alone against the world.
I, too, wrote to the Honduran Embassy. Sadly, Power Line has just updated their post on the issue to say that Zelaya’s people are in control of the embassy. Anyway, here’s what I sent:
“To The People Of Honduras:
I am writing to express my support, appreciation, and admiration to the People of Honduras for preserving their country’s constitution and laws.
President Obama’s views on this matter do not represent the feelings of a large number of United States citizens or those of our elected officials. I believe his policy on Honduras is wrong. The rule of law and the integrity of Honduras’ constitution are paramount.
Mr. Obama will not be President forever – and certainly not for another term, given his tendency to act against the interests of the United States of America and her allies.
Please accept my best wishes for the security and prosperity of your People and your Country, and the preservation of your constitution and rule of law.”
Sadly, Power Line has just updated their post on the issue to say that Zelaya’s people are in control of the embassy.
Ouch!
Good letter, E!
Just send Carter down there – he’ll certify anything. Just tell him Hamas is on the ticket.
Pelosi called the Townhallers Astroturf but it is obvious that, Like his domestic policy, his foreign policy is Disastroturf – and he’s about to bury us all under it. Wonder if we’ll find Jimmy Hoffa.
Where are the Republicans on this matter? I don’t hear them protesting loudly as they should be. What are they waiting for, permission?
I don’t think Obama’s going to seize absolute power for himself. But I am considering the possibility that he’s going to be assassinated, and Biden is going to use the crime to try to seize absolute power for himself.
I even think there’s a possibility that, if no obliging Nazis or Klansmen do the job for them, that some of the more radical members of Obama’s cabinet might just arrange it, thinking that the ends of doing away with the capitalism and republican government justify any means. They will, of course, try to make it look like a right-winger did the deed (preferably a relatively moderate or very famous one, so they can play the “Any Republican Could Be An Assassin!” card).
I think that they will, as they have ever since LBJ, dreadfully underestimate the will of the US populace to ferret out the truth of the matter, and when their complicity in the assassination and frame job comes out, there will be a civil war that will make the 1860s look like an after school pep rally in comparison.
For such a thing to take place would require the Democratic party leadership to be incredibly stupid, arrogant, and lacking in moral direction. The reaction to the Honduras “coup” does not give me much confidence.
Tatterdemalian:
The thought of Biden making himself a dictator just gave me a coughing fit, as I inadvertently aspirated the beer I was drinking. Thanks a lot. I’ll sleep very peacefully tonight. 😛
I see Obama as malevolent and Biden as a doofus. A doofus dictator? Well, I guess it could happen; I just hope it doesn’t happen anywhere near me.
In all seriousness, though, I do believe that if Obama is assassinated his assassin will almost certainly come from the left. And then the left will blame it on the right, with the full cooperation of the prostitutes in the media.
My druthers is no one even mention Obama and the A word. That would be an incredible disaster.
huxley is right: This talk should stop. No good can come of it.
“It” can’t happen here?
Unfortunately, it is…
and huxley and Oblio are 100% correct; Justice should reign supreme in America, Impeach the Joker!
“Incredible disaster” is a massive understatement. It would rip the US apart, no matter how it happened. Heck, look how MJ’s careless self-medication is now being considered a homicide (and by his surviving family capital murder, to hear them express their disappointment over the mere “negligent homicide” charges).
The South American situation is most curious. While I stand second to almost no one in my disdain for the Chicago politician we currently have employed at the White House, I fail to see the profit in the official policy.
It raises the credibility of a Manchurian candidate which I almost wholeheartedly disbelieve. Still….
We live in interesting times.
It would indeed be an incredible disaster. It would probably trigger a race war, which is the very last thing we need.
Neither Tatterdemalian nor I are advocating any such thing, by the way.
But with the U.S. more deeply divided than at any time since 1860, no topic is off the table, in my opinion.
If Obama is really a puppet of leftist or Islamist anti-American interests, I cannot think of a better way to sow discord and chaos in America. It would work better than setting off nukes in our five largest cities, and would be a hell of a lot easier to accomplish.
No topic is off the table for discussion is what I meant to say.
rickl: I’m just superstitious.
I’m really disappointed in Hillary. As much as I don’t particularly care for her, I thought she was better than that. She could have been a force for American decency at the State Department but instead seems to have completely abandoned her sense of self and is just a yes-man for Obama.
Kelly said “restoration of the terminated assistance will be predicated upon a return to democratic, constitutional governance in Honduras.” He said the United States would not recognize the results of the election under current conditions and stressed it was imperative that the vote meet international standards.
Are there no legal scholars who can definitively answer the question as to whether the ouster of zelaya was in accordance with the HONDURAN Constitution or not? Regardless, surely, if the November elections are conducted in the manner specified by the Honduran constitution, then the issue should become moot.
If the November elections are conducted according to the requirements of the honduran constitution and acceptable international observers agree that the election is conducted fairly, then what reason is ther for the US government to refuse recognition to the new Honduran government?
Since the recent elections in Iran are widely recognised to having been improperly conducted, does this mean that the current US government is going to refuse to recognise the current Iranian govenrment and refrain from all official contact?
Disregarding ideological considerations and adopting Henry Kissinger’s “Realpolitic”, what does the US gain by installing a socialist dictatorship in Honduras?
Perhaps there is some substantial, tangible gain to the interests of the US, hitherto, kept secret from the general public.
Unless this is the case, however, then it seems that the basis of Obama’s support for an intended subvertion of the Honduran constitution, for the purpose of implementing a socialist regime, is that this is Obama acting according to his emotional loyalty to the advancement of socialism, wherever it occurs, by whatever means.
If Obama can ignore the US constitution, then why should he respect the right of any other to adhere to their own?
John McLachlan: I have read quite a few legal scholars and lawyers who say that it definitely was in accordance with the Honduran constitution. Obama and the State Department and Hillary have offered no rationale for why it wouldn’t be, either; they have merely stated that it’s an unconstitutional coup without even attempting a serious argument to back up their assertion.
Here’s an analysis of the legality of the action to remove Zelaya (written by current interim president Micheletti). And here is a fine article on the subject written by Miguel Estrada, a US lawyer who is a native of Honduras.
Obama may be a Marxist, a Chavez lover, and a wannabe tyrant at heart, but there is a more pedestrian explanation. Obama is just going along with the happy status quo of international solidarity.
It’s time the United States stopped making a big deal about democracy and human rights. You’ve got to go along to get along. How are we going to engage unpleasant leaders like Kim Jong-Il or Ahmadinejad if we’re always making them uncomfortable by standing up for principles?
When playing 3-D chess, you’ve got to think these things through.
International reaction to the 2009 Honduran coup d’état of June 28, 2009, was that the coup was widely repudiated around the globe.[1] All Latin American nations (with the exception of Honduras itself), as well as the United States, United Nations, and others, publicly condemned the military-led ouster of Honduran President Manuel Zelaya as illegal and most labelled it a coup d’état. Every country in the region, except the United States, withdrew their ambassadors from Honduras. All EU ambassadors were withdrawn from the country.
International reaction to the 2009 Honduran military coup
with the “last man standing” going down, they wont allow the others already achieved to change and lose the 100% socialism tag for every non minor country in the world. as of obama’s election, there are no more free states. go ahead, name one. and dont say the US because “freer than” isnt free, its just less imprisoned. and just because we dont relize or mind our collars, doesnt mean we arent wearing any.
Artfldgr Says:
September 5th, 2009 at 9:09 am
Wow. That is very similar to a comment I made on My Title
another blog last night:
I forgot to fill in the “title” part, but the link works.
And then there’s this today: U.S. rebuke Israel for settlement expansion. I feel like we’re living in Opposite Land for U.S. foreign policy. Is the Obama administration just reflexively doing everything opposite from the Bush administration, or is there some serious, thought-out rationale behind this idiocy?
Neo – stay on this issue – I believe it is very important and your post is a good one. Thanks.
“Where are the Republicans on this matter?”
Where the Hell, indeed?
If Sarah Palin can manage to derail the Obamacare juggernaut with one well-chosen phrase, I’d sure like to hear her on this matter.
–
Pingback:Fausta’s Blog » Blog Archive » Honduras: Micheletti at No Más Chávez demonstration, & reaction to the US State Dept’s action
Is the Obama administration just reflexively doing everything opposite from the Bush administration, or is there some serious, thought-out rationale behind this idiocy?
Amy: As I’ve said, I think a lot of it is just going along with the rest of the world. It’s more important to be liked than to be principled.
Honduras is the new Israel.
But you can walk from Honduras to the U.S.
I agree with your observation to an extent huxley, but it looks significantly deeper than that. There is no question now that there is a deliberate strategy being implemented to change the American system, from domestic to foreign policy, into a hard left-wing model, and doing it in a time frame which prevents effective debate and political opposition. The “czar” phenomena effectively sidesteps contentious debate and congressional oversight. We’ve been had, there are traitors in the White House now. Impeach the Joker…
Pingback:Saturday Thank God college football is back Links! « The Daley Gator
Hey, huxley, check this out:
Did Lenin and Hitler face off at a chess board?
I have no idea whether it’s legit or not (I’m inclined toward “not”), but it’s still interesting reading.
Could be. It’s hard to tell what hard-left means now.
It’s not just Obama either. The whole upper-tier of the Dem party seems to have sailed leftward, as more and more of the McGovernite class became powerful.
Ted Kennedy tried to cut a deal with Yuri Andropov against Reagan. Carter considers Fahrenheit 911 one of his favorite films and invited Moore to sit with him at the 2004 convention. Al Gore has declared, “I love Van Jones.”
Then there was all that incredible sniping at Bush, not just at the DailyKos level, but Rep Pete Stark-D snarling about kids being sent to Iraq “to get their heads blown off for the president’s amusement.” And the attacks from the party level on Joe Lieberman for being pro-Iraq War.
I understand that about half the country disagrees with Republicans and Bush, but I can’t think of comparable wackiness from top Rep leaders, then or now.
rickl: I saw a mention of the Hitler-Lenin drawing on The Corner. It’s fun to think about.
Sometimes when I read about Europe in the early 20th century it seems that everyone knew everyone.
huxley: Of course, Hitler and Lenin weren’t playing 3-D chess, which only goes to prove how much smarter Obama is.
/sarc
rickl: You betcha Obama is smart!
Geez, this whole business reminds of a wonderfully terrible film I saw as a teen in 1968: Wild in the Streets in which a young man with his gang of super-cool, super-smart hipsters end up winning the White House because they are so super-cool and super-smart and eveyone else, you know, isn’t.
Once in power they start sending free grain to Third World countries and withdrawing all US military forces back home. Youth takes over and everyone over 35 gets sent to LSD reeducation camps.
It’s beautiful.
Pingback:Fausta’s Blog » Blog Archive » This September’s first Carnival of Latin America and the Caribbean
I am honduran and I am grateful with all the opportunities this country has given to me and my family. I am very disappointed of Obama. But one learn from mistakes. There is somebody up there and that one doesn’t betray es. We won’t allow communism and if we have to sacrifice and eat bananas and beans only well, that is what will eat but will live in democracy. Apparently Obama does not understand that. Believe me when I say this is just the beginning and Honduras, a third world country will give the big potency’s a lesson. We won’t give up.