No Such Thing as a Free Putsch

• subscribe to print magazine

• stay in touch with our email newsletter

  Subscribe to our regular weekly e-mail newsletter. It's packed with updates on recent and upcoming stories, events, campaigns and things every progressive should be informed about.

   

• email this article to a friend

  Your Name Your Email Recipient Email

  Personal message Thought you might be interested in this article from In These Times.

   

  Please help us prevent spam by verifying the word you see in the image above

  Send to multiple recipients. Just separate each email address with a comma.

• Reader Comments (1)

  Page 1 of 1 pages

  Is there perhaps some distortion of reality going on here with regards to the facts and how the Honduran people really view the whole situation? :

  “The international press would have you believe that Honduras is in disarray. Nothing could be further from the truth. A constitutional change of government occurred, without violence; and this constitutional change has brought the people of Honduras together in defense of their constitution and their freedoms. Hondurans and foreigners, both sides of the political spectrum, stand solidly together to support HONDURAS. Tens of thousands of people have staged rallies throughout the country in support of the actions taken against the ex-president. The only violence that has occurred is when Zelaya tried to return to the country, creating a media frenzy as he asked his very few supporters to disrupt the country.

  Sounds it it’s necessary to advance a lie in order to cover for a lack of honest argument:

  “Sometimes, the whole world prefers a lie to the truth. The White House, the United Nations, the Organization of American States, and much of the media have condemned the ouster of Honduran President Manuel Zelaya this past weekend as a coup d’état.

  That is nonsense.

  In fact, what happened here is nothing short of the triumph of the rule of law.”

  Plain and simple, any support of Zelaya is based on a fervent love of socialism.  You basically have to make stuff up (it was a military coup) in order to make an argument about Honduras. 

  But it makes perfect sense that Obama would come down on the opposite side of the Honduran constitution, which apparently is somewhat modeled on our own.  Here he expresses his disapproval of our constitution, because it isn’t socialist enough for him:

  “The Supreme Court never ventured into the issues of redistribution of wealth and sort of more basic issues of political and economic justice in this society. And to that extent as radical as I think people tried to characterize the Warren Court, it wasn’t that radical. It didn’t break free from the essential constraints that were placed by the founding fathers in the Constitution, as least as it’s been interpreted, and Warren Court interpreted in the same way that generally the Constitution is a charter of negative liberties, says what the states can’t do to you, says what the federal government can’t do to you, but it doesn’t say what the federal government or the state government must do on your behalf. And that hasn’t shifted.”

  Franklin “2nd Bill of Rights” Roosevelt smiles approvingly from the beyond.

  Posted by Natalie on Oct 15, 2009 at 8:03 PM

  Page 1 of 1 pages

• register a new account »Posting Security

  To participate in our forums, please register for a free account.

  Username Password

    Remember me
  

  Retreive lost password »

Also by Jeremy Kryt

• A Lobo in Sheep’s Clothing?
  New Honduran president's legitimacy questioned as 'one-sided civil war' deepens human rights crisis, national bankruptcy declared
• SLIDESHOW: Inside the World’s Newest Police State
  Photos of Honduras in crisis, all taken since President Mel Zelaya was ousted from power by a military coup last June.
• Honduras’ Human Rights Crisis
  After controversial election, country rocked by violence, including brutal deaths of anti-coup resistance members.
• Election Fray in Honduras
  Human rights violations, voter turnout questions stain effort to elect legitimate post-Zelaya president.
• Banana Repugnant
  Can a military dictatorship hold 'free' elections in Honduras?
• ‘Blood and Fire’ in Honduras: An Interview with Mel Zelaya
  As peace accord negotiations continue, the ousted president speaks from his Brazilian Embassy refuge.