Even though I have sometimes been accused of being reflexively anti-Obama, it is not true. When I heard initial reports of what happened in Honduras over the weekend and the reaction of the Obama administration, I took it for granted that they were doing the right thing. Standing up for the law. Standing up for Democracy. I admit that I was somewhat cynical in that I assumed that this was an easy opportunity for the Obama administration to be viewed as defending democracy in the wake in their widely criticized feeble response to Iran.
Like I said, I assumed that they were standing up for democracy and the rule of law. You know what they say about assuming.
The more I dug into the situation, the more I realized that it was not as clear cut as I had previously assumed. The duly elected Honduran President Mel Zelaya was seeking a constitutional change that would allow him to remain in power. Only problem is that the President, in the Honduran constitution, does not have the power to call for a Constitutional change. This can only be done by a national referendum approved by the Honduran Congress. But they did not call for the referendum.
Zelaya, unrestrained by the Constitution he intended to rewrite anyway, illegally called for the referendum himself. He then had his good buddy and fellow lefty Hugo Chavez send the the ballots for the referendum. The Supreme Court, basing its decision on the Constitution and not the whim of an aspiring dictator, declared the Constitution referendum illegal. It then ordered the military not to carry out the vote as mandated by Zelaya.
The head of the military then told Zelaya that he would not carry out the election or distribute the ballots as per the lawful ruling of the Supreme Court. For this, he was promptly fired. Zelaya and his cohorts then illegally broke into a military installation to secure the ballots shipped from Venezuela so that he could effect the illegal referendum on his own without military assistance. He then began to distribute the ballots against the ruling of the court.
For this transgression, the Supreme Court issued an arrest warrant for Zelaya to be carried out by the military. Zelaya then relocated to Costa Rica and began claiming he was ousted by a coup when in fact it seems that the military actually prevented one.
In the face of these facts, I find the statement of the Obama administration through the person of Secretary of State Clinton more than a little perplexing.
“The action taken against Honduran President Mel Zelaya violates the precepts of the Inter-American Democratic Charter, and thus should be condemned by all. We call on all parties in Honduras to respect the constitutional order and the rule of law, to reaffirm their democratic vocation, and to commit themselves to resolve political disputes peacefully and through dialogue. Honduras must embrace the very principles of democracy we reaffirmed at the OAS meeting it hosted less than one month ago,”
While I cannot be sure that all other parties acted perfectly according to Honduran law, it seems quite clear that Zelaya was operating in his own self interest and outside the Constitution. So it seems that the US, rather than supporting the rule of law, is condemning it.
Like I said at the beginning, I am not reflexively anti-Obama. However if I were, I would be right more often than wrong.
June 29, 2009 at 6:36 pm
It is looking more and more to me that the State Department was giving some horrible advive to Obama on this.
I am thinking this is a lot more complex and we should have not jumped the gun on this
June 29, 2009 at 8:06 pm
Our Secretary of State went to China and assured them nobody would raise embarassing questions concerning human rights, our Chief Executive tried riding the fence as long as he could regarding the Iranian elections, now this.
And we've still three and a half years to go.
June 29, 2009 at 9:44 pm
I know that you are still relatively young, but even so, why would you expect reason, intelligence, reflection and respect for the law to be a component of a liberal Democratic Party Administration? This is a Party now led by its President that has embraced every Leftist thug it can find.
June 29, 2009 at 9:45 pm
Your reflexes are fine. Kit
June 29, 2009 at 10:20 pm
I think Obama has unwittingly trained us to be critical of his actions as president, though it's still possible for us to suspend that reflex and give him a chance to surprise us. My five-year-old often reminds me, during night prayers, to pray for our president, and I'll usually add, "Yes, uh . . . Please help our president to do the right thing–for a change." Every fiber resists omitting those last three words, but there's always hope.
June 29, 2009 at 11:57 pm
Sarah, when I was a kid, every year when Stalin's birthday would roll around, well-meaning Christians in the U.S. would send him bibles in the hope of coverting the mass genocidist. I have no idea if Old Joe repented in his dying moments, but it more reflects on the touching faith of Christians here, even as his goons tortured amd slaughtered millions in the name of social justice.
June 30, 2009 at 12:11 am
thank you for your comments.
My father is a former "company" man which has conducted business in Honduras for over 40 years and was in Tegucigalpa just last week.
You are correct Mel Zelaya had disavowed various Supreme Court decisions, went against the will of the national congress, violated orders of the election tribunal board and fired the head of the Joint Chief of Staff and the Defense Minister illegally because they would NOT go along with his sham referendum.
Note that this would alter the constitution so he could perpetuate himself in power, a la Chavez.
Of course Obama denounced this, one of his ideological soulmates was ousted by an Armed Forces which did so via a court order and with the complete backing of the congress. (which by the way is majority of the ex President's party)
Thank God today Roberto Micheletti is leading Honduras and I will leave you with this beautiful quote:
"Nobody, not Barack Obama and much less Hugo Chavez, has any right to threaten this country."
Viva Honduras Libre!!!
God Bless the glorious armed services of Honduras which upheld the honor and decency of a nation which refused to condemn itself to darkness and tyranny.
June 30, 2009 at 12:15 am
John – that is an amazing story. Never heard it. But considering Stalin spent his youth in Seminary studying to be a priest, I think he was well-versed in the bible and knew what he was dismissing. I've heard several medical historians (Russian, European and American) say that from the medical records available after the fall of the Soviet Union, Stalin would have most likely been diagnosed as a paranoid schyzophrenic with sociopathic tendencies. One really has to ask why he lasted so long in this world, were it not for some divine intervention.
June 30, 2009 at 4:48 am
Why should we be surprised that this is Obama's response? He wants to support every dictatorial thug he can find while casting off those who wish for freedom from tyranny. It makes me wonder where his own wishes about his future lie.
June 30, 2009 at 10:07 pm
Once more this administration demonstrates beyond a shadow of a doubt that they are the most inexperienced foreign policy administration since Franklin Pierce!