Monday, July 6, 2009

An odd way to run a coup

FoxNews is reporting on the events in Honduras with a bit more guarded tone than everyone else. It seems they don't want to rush to judgment about the specifics of what is going on there like the rest of the media seems to have done and certainly world leaders have done. Now, for the record, I think a democratically elected person who has not been proven to have rigged the election (*cough* Iran *cough*) should be allowed to finish their term as President. I am not a supporter of military coups. However, if a President has acted illegally, he should be impeached and removed from office. That said, Zelaya is a "friend and ally" of Hugo Chavez, was moving to change the constitution in Honduras and had ignored a Honduran Supreme Court order that stated his actions were unconstitutional. Usually, if someone ignores a court order, they are arrested and held in contempt of court. Apparently, the Honduran legislature either didn't have the means to impeach (I don't know what the Honduras constitution says) or didn't have the clout to do so. However, they were able to get a majority of the group together to claim that the President was violating the constitution and "request" the military to overthrow him. This is an odd military coup after all. Usually, when the military overthrows someone, they take over, at least for a time. This "coup" seems to have removed one guy from office but left the rest of the government in tact. An odd way to run a coup. So, am I for removing President's from office? No. Do I think, based on what I know of Zelaya, that the world is on the wrong side on this one? Probably. It is a tough situation that requires us (the observer) to let it play out without rush to judgment and with sound minds. So far, we have done everything wrong, rushing to judgment and ignoring "evidence" of the man's illegal activity. Calmer heads must prevail, but blindly supporting this ousted President seems to have no other outcome than to appease Hugo Chavez. If that is what the world is coming to, then I fear for Venezuela's neighbors.

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