Honduras Defends Its Democracy

[Tarheel]

I was following with some interest the news about the revolution in Honduras.  Apparently their El Presidente was attempting to re-write the Honduran Constitution to his preferences ala Chavez however the Honduran military sent him packing to Costa Rica.  What was interesting also was The ONE's initial comment calling the move by the Honduran military "illegal", then backpeddling by saying the removal "was not illegal, but it wasn't legal".  Sounds like some fucking, know-it-all, leftist college professor to me.

No matter what he says The ONE is apparently finding himself in the same opinion as President Piggie Chavez and Fidel (or Raul...one of the Castro crooks...) along with every other Latin American socialist.

Here's an excerpt from The Wall Street Journal, all emphasis is my own:

Honduras Defends Its Democracy
Fidel Castro and Hillary Clinton object.

     
By MARY ANASTASIA O'GRADY

Hugo Chávez's coalition-building efforts suffered a setback yesterday when the Honduran military sent its president packing for abusing the nation's constitution.

It seems that President Mel Zelaya miscalculated when he tried to emulate the success of his good friend Hugo in reshaping the Honduran Constitution to his liking.

But Honduras is not out of the Venezuelan woods yet. Yesterday the Central American country was being pressured to restore the authoritarian Mr. Zelaya by the likes of Fidel Castro, Daniel Ortega, Hillary Clinton and, of course, Hugo himself. The Organization of American States, having ignored Mr. Zelaya's abuses, also wants him back in power. It will be a miracle if Honduran patriots can hold their ground.

That Mr. Zelaya acted as if he were above the law, there is no doubt. While Honduran law allows for a constitutional rewrite, the power to open that door does not lie with the president. A constituent assembly can only be called through a national referendum approved by its Congress.

But Mr. Zelaya declared the vote on his own and had Mr. Chávez ship him the necessary ballots from Venezuela. The Supreme Court ruled his referendum unconstitutional, and it instructed the military not to carry out the logistics of the vote as it normally would do.
...

Full Story:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124623220955866301.html

[Ogre]

I was following with some interest the news about the revolution in Honduras.  Apparently their El Presidente was attempting to re-write the Honduran Constitution to his preferences ala Chavez however the Honduran military sent him packing to Costa Rica.  What was interesting also was The ONE's initial comment calling the move by the Honduran military "illegal", then backpeddling by saying the removal "was not illegal, but it wasn't legal".  Sounds like some fucking, know-it-all, leftist college professor to me.

No matter what he says The ONE is apparently finding himself in the same opinion as President Piggie Chavez and Fidel (or Raul...one of the Castro crooks...) along with every other Latin American socialist.

Here's an excerpt from The Wall Street Journal, all emphasis is my own:

Full Story:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124623220955866301.html

Maybe Obama doesn't like it because he wants to try something similar...

[Tarheel]

Maybe Obama doesn't like it because he wants to try something similar...

Scary thought there, Ogre.


Maybe I ought to look into Ireland too.

[Ogre]

Here is a great take on the situation by Neal Boortz:

OBAMA MORE THAN 'CONCERNED'

North Korea launches a missile and it takes Barack Obama and the UN five days to respond. Iran holds fraudulent elections, kills protesters and it takes weeks before Barack Obama can stand up and say that he is "concerned" about the situation.

Then the people of Honduras try to uphold their constitution and laws of the land from being trampled by a Chavez-wanna be ... and it takes Barack Obama one day to proclaim that this was not a legal coup.

Why the sudden decisiveness? Where were these strong opinions on foreign matters when Iranian authorities were trampling protestors and cutting off media access to the outside world? Where was this decisiveness when Kim Jong Ill decided that he was going to launch missiles toward Hawaii on the Fourth of July? Why ... NOW ... is Obama suddenly speaking out loudly

How about a little background. Are you really sure you know what has been going on in Honduras? Do you think that this was simply a coup? Let me give you a rough outline here, and then you can sit back and wonder just why PrezBO is in the weeds with Chavez and Castro on this one.

Mel Zelaya is, or was, the President of Honduras. He and Hugo Chaves were tight. So tight, it seems, that Zelaya wanted to emulate Hugo by changing the Honduran constitution to allow him to run for office until he durned well gets tired of it.

To change the constitution in Honduras you have to convene a constituent assembly. The president cannot do that. The Honduran congress must approve a national referendum calling for the constituent assembly to consider changes to the constitution. Zelaya didn't like the part about the constitution requiring approval of the congress before a national referendum could be called. So ... he decided to call one on his own.

OK .. so here we have President Zelaya calling for a national referendum when he doesn't have the power to do so. The next problem is obtaining ballots! Since the Honduran congress had not called for the referendum, as required by the constitution, the government certainly wasn't going to print the ballots! After all, how smart would it be to print ballots for an illegal referendum? So ... Zelaya had to get the ballots printed elsewhere. Here's an idea! Get his pall Hugo Chavez to print them! Yes! That will work!

So Chaves prints Zelaya's ballots and they're shipped to Honduras. Enter the Honduran Supreme Court. The court considers Zelaya's election in light of the requirements of the Honduran constitution, and rules the referendum illegal and unconstitutional. The court then issues an order to the Honduran military telling them not to do the logistical work associated with Zelaya's phony referendum. Remember, now ... all of this has one primary goal. To get rid of the term limits limiting Zelaya's rule in Honduras.

After the supreme court's decision, General Romeo Velasquez tells President Zelaya that he is subject to a proper order from the Supreme Court and will not be able to carry out Zelaya's referendum. So ... Zelaya fires him. The Supreme Court orders Zelaya to reinstate Velasquez, and Zelaya refuses to do so.

At this point Zelaya's ego is getting the better of him. If the military won't run his illegal referendum, he'll just do it himself. He gins up a mob and leads them to the military compound where Hugo's ballots are stored and then has his supporters begin distributing the ballots to the masses.

Based on the Supreme Court's ruling the Honduran attorney general said that the proposed referendum was illegal and said that he would arrest anyone attempting to carry out the election. Zelaya was arrested by the military and was escorted out of the country.

Now ... does this sound like a military coup-de-etat to you? The attorney general and the military were operating in accordance with the Honduran rule of law. They acted under a valid court order. Coup? The Honduran congress has convened and designated a successor president, all in accordance with the Honduran Constitution. Military coup? The presidential elections set for November .. the election that Zelaya was trying to get around ... will go on as scheduled. A blow for democracy?

Fidel Castro, Daniel Noriega, Hugo Chavez ... all on the side of Zelaya. But Obama? Obama fighting against the rule of law and for a wannabe dictator? What gives?

[Saniflush]

Really good concise article.

[Tarheel]

Here is a great take on the situation by Neal Boortz:

GREAT article, Ogre!  

I am not a big fan of Boortz but he nails it (except for confusing the deposed Dictator of Panama, Manuel Noriega, who is currently in Prison in the US; with the current president of Nicaragua, Daniel Ortega, who was the leader of the Sandinistas...who, you may recall were being supported by Cuba/Soviets in the 80's while the Contras, who were fighting for Nicaraguan liberation, were controversially being supported by Col. Oliver North and possibly Reagan but a firm link was never established between North and Reagan).

But, all of this makes me wonder when our disgraceful former president Jimmah Carter will weigh in with Ortega, Chavez, and the Castro brothers?  You know he never met a dictator or thug that he didn't like.

[Saniflush]

But, all of this makes me wonder when our disgraceful former president Jimmah Carter will weigh in with Ortega, Chavez, and the Castro brothers?  You know he never met a dictator or thug that he didn't like.

Maybe Thrilla can answer that.  I hear he hangs out with him in Decatur restrooms.

[AUTiger1]

But, all of this makes me wonder when our disgraceful former president Jimmah Carter will weigh in with Ortega, Chavez, and the Castro brothers?  You know he never met a dictator or thug that he didn't like.

I once told a mythical "blue dog" Democrat socialist acquaintance of mine that Jimmah must be an embarrassment to the Dims.  He is like that crazy old uncle (not crazy like Uncle Saini crazy) at the family reunions that runs around with food in his beard, his fly unzipped and speaking incoherently about nothing.....you try to deny him and ignore him, but when you look deep and see his roots, there is no denying that he is family.  So many times they try to laugh Jimmah off when he does things like meet and greet with Hamas, but when you look deep down, he is only doing what any other liberal would and wants to do. 

I know that has nothing to do with the article posted, but your mentioning of Jimmah reminded me of that.

[Tarheel]

I once told a mythical "blue dog" Democrat socialist acquaintance of mine that Jimmah must be an embarrassment to the Dims.  He is like that crazy old uncle (not crazy like Uncle Saini crazy) at the family reunions that runs around with food in his beard, his fly unzipped and speaking incoherently about nothing.....you try to deny him and ignore him, but when you look deep and see his roots, there is no denying that he is family.  So many times they try to laugh Jimmah off when he does things like meet and greet with Hamas, but when you look deep down, he is only doing what any other liberal would and wants to do. 

I know that has nothing to do with the article posted, but your mentioning of Jimmah reminded me of that.

Thanks for reminding us all of Carter's love of Hamas and Hezbollah, AUTiger1.  He hasn't met an America-hating, anti-Israel, fanatical, Arab that he didn't like either!   

[Tarheel]

Hmmm...I couldn't help but notice that the State Dept. issued a travel advisory warning against U. S. citizens traveling to Honduras because of the "unstable political and security situation".  This is a nation that defended it's democracy last Sunday by ousting a president who was attempting to usurp the authority of that nation's Congress, change the constitution of Honduras against the laws of that nation to allow him to become president for life, and against the explicit order of that nation's Supreme Court to cease and desist his illegal activity.

Something to think about.

Not sayin' anything; just sayin'...

[Tarheel]

So the big question NOW is when will The ONE will send in troops to restore "the unstable and security situation" (notice that the Reuters article calls the removal a 'coup' and neglects to say that the army was acting under the authority of the Honduran Supreme Court and Congress):

Honduras rulers reject world pressure to reverse coup
Wed Jul 1, 2009 9:06pm EDT
By Patrick Markey

TEGUCIGALPA (Reuters) - The Honduran interim government defied international pressure on Wednesday and vowed there was "no chance at all" of ousted President Manuel Zelaya returning to office.

World leaders from U.S. President Barack Obama to Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez have told the new rulers of the Central American country to restore Zelaya, a leftist who was toppled by the army on Sunday and sent into exile after a dispute over presidential term limits.

The Organization of American States gave Honduras an ultimatum early on Wednesday to allow Zelaya back into office by this weekend or face suspension.
...

Full story:
http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSTRE55R24E20090702?feedType=RSS&feedName=topNews&rpc=22&sp=true

[Thrilla]

Maybe Thrilla can answer that.  I hear he hangs out with him in Decatur restrooms.

I keep going back...and he keeps standing me up.

[Saniflush]

So the big question NOW is when will The ONE will send in troops to restore "the unstable and security situation" (notice that the Reuters article calls the removal a 'coup' and neglects to say that the army was acting under the authority of the Honduran Supreme Court and Congress):

World leaders from U.S. President Barack Obama to Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez

Peas and carrots I tell ya.

[Godfather]

All I know is...motherfuckers better iron this shit out by September.  I've got a cigar factory to visit!

[Saniflush]

All I know is...motherfuckers better iron this shit out by September.  I've got a cigar factory to visit!

You missed your window sir.  You will be going http://www.swisher.com/ instead.

[Tarheel]

You missed your window sir.  You will be going http://www.swisher.com/ instead.

I'm afraid that window might be closing too.  Hav-A-Tampa closed their factory due to the "Stimulus Package"...I have a notion that Swisher may be doing the same soon.

[AUTiger1]

I'm afraid that window might be closing too.  Hav-A-Tampa closed their factory due to the "Stimulus Package"...I have a notion that Swisher may be doing the same soon.

You know Tarheel, this reminds me of when the Clinton admin put that huge luxury tax on things such as yachts.  Remember how hard the ship building industry was hit by that?  They taxed it to generate more tax revenue and they wound up killing it, the same is going to happen to the taxes they will place on tobacco.  Eventually enough people will quit and they will no revenue at all, where as if they had left it alone, they would be bringing in money.

[Saniflush]

You know Tarheel, this reminds me of when the Clinton admin put that huge luxury tax on things such as yachts.  Remember how hard the ship building industry was hit by that?  They taxed it to generate more tax revenue and they wound up killing it, the same is going to happen to the taxes they will place on tobacco.  Eventually enough people will quit and they will no revenue at all, where as if they had left it alone, they would be bringing in money.

The concept that lower taxes produce more revenue escapes most of them.  The ones it does not escape can only be described as pleasure police.

[Townhallsavoy]

You know Tarheel, this reminds me of when the Clinton admin put that huge luxury tax on things such as yachts.  Remember how hard the ship building industry was hit by that?  They taxed it to generate more tax revenue and they wound up killing it, the same is going to happen to the taxes they will place on tobacco.  Eventually enough people will quit and they will no revenue at all, where as if they had left it alone, they would be bringing in money.

I get what you're trying to say...

...but fuck cigarettes and tobacco.  I enjoy a good cigar from time to time, but I can live without it.  Nothing pisses me off more than smelling some asshole's cigarette smoke.  It stinks and is bad for my lungs.  It's like you eating a cheeseburger and I get fat from it.  

I'll give Clinton a big kudos if she can eliminate the tobacco industry.  

[War Eagle!!!]

I get what you're trying to say...

...but fuck cigarettes and tobacco.  I enjoy a good cigar from time to time, but I can live without it.  Nothing pisses me off more than smelling some asshole's cigarette smoke.  It stinks and is bad for my lungs.  It's like you eating a cheeseburger and I get fat from it.  

I'll give Clinton a big kudos if she can eliminate the tobacco industry.  

wrong...

I hate cigarettes as much as you...but this is about the government limiting what we as American's have the right to CHOOSE to do.