[speechlesstx]

I've looked also, good luck finding anything on a government website, particularly from CRS.

[speechlesstx]

The sitting Honduran president, Roberto Micheletti, has spoken on this alleged military coup - like that ain't what happened.

My country is in an unusual position this week. Former president Manuel Zelaya has surreptitiously returned to Honduras, still claiming to be the country's legitimate leader, despite the fact that a constitutional succession took place on June 28. Amid all of the claims that are likely to be made in coming days, the former president will not mention that the people of Honduras have moved on since the events of that day or that our citizens are looking forward to free, fair and transparent elections on Nov. 29.

The international community has wrongfully condemned the events of June 28 and mistakenly labeled our country as undemocratic. I must respectfully disagree. As the true story slowly emerges, there is a growing sense that what happened in Honduras that day was not without merit. On June 28, the Honduran Supreme Court issued an arrest warrant for Zelaya for his blatant violations of our constitution, which marked the end of his presidency. To this day, an overwhelming majority of Hondurans support the actions that ensured the respect of the rule of law in our country.

Underlying all the rhetoric about a military overthrow are facts. Simply put, coups do not leave civilians in control over the armed forces, as is the case in Honduras today. Neither do they allow the independent functioning of democratic institutions -- the courts, the attorney general's office, the electoral tribunal. Nor do they maintain a respect for the separation of powers. In Honduras, the judicial, legislative and executive branches are all fully functioning and led by civilian authorities.

Coups do not allow freedom of assembly, either. They do not guarantee freedom of the press, much less a respect for human rights. In Honduras, these freedoms remain intact and vibrant. And on Nov. 29 our country plans to hold the ultimate civic exercise of any democracy: a free and open presidential election.

Although much of the international community disagrees with our past actions, we can all agree on the necessity of ensuring Honduras's full commitment to the electoral process. Our citizens believe that the upcoming presidential election is the best way to guarantee peace and democracy. While the election will take place in little more than 60 days, the electoral process has been underway for some time. The election is being convened by an autonomous body, the Supreme Electoral Tribunal, whose magistrates were selected by Congress in early 2009 and ratified by then-President Zelaya. The autonomous body began the electoral process with presidential primary elections -- which were supervised by the Organization of American States -- in 2008 also during Zelaya's tenure. The upcoming election will include Honduras's first independent presidential candidate -- a rarity in all of Latin America.

The winner of the November election will take office as president of Honduras in January 2010. At that moment my transitional administration will cease, and the newly sworn-in president will hold all the authority vested to him by our country's constitution.

Our whole country -- whether members of political parties, youths, students or members of civil society, government, parental organizations or private businesses -- is committed to guaranteeing transparent elections. Voter turnout will be a constitutional expression of self-determination and a demonstration of national sovereignty. The Supreme Electoral Tribunal has invited independent observers from around the globe to observe our voting process. Our country is open to the world. All organizations -- churches, universities, think tanks, nongovernmental organizations -- that wish to witness firsthand this great exercise of self-determination and democracy are welcome.

We are, of course, disappointed with the position of the United States and the European Union, both longtime friends. We look forward to continuing dialogue with the United States, the European Union and the rest of the international community to prove our commitment to democracy and the Honduran people's love of freedom. Coercive action directed at our nation will only harm less fortunate Hondurans, whose hospitals, schools, roads and other institutions rely greatly on our friends' generous assistance, for which all of our citizens are immensely grateful.

I have said from the moment I was sworn in as president of Honduras that I do not intend to remain in office one second more than what our constitution mandates. On Jan. 27 I will hand over leadership responsibilities to the ninth president of our 27-year-old democracy. Such actions are in keeping with the desire of the majority of our people: the strengthening of our democracy.

[excon]

The sitting Honduran president, Roberto Micheletti has spoken on this alleged military coup - like that ain't what happened.

Hello again, Steve:

You expected him to say, what?? But, you politically correct righty's can't change a coup into a Constitutional succession. Try as you might, you just can't do it.

Boy, you and the LIBS in Berkeley have a LOT in common.. Politically correct speech - Hmph...

excon

[speechlesstx]

Ex, you must have drank the koolaid.

[tomder55]

The Congressional Research Service (CRS ) examining the evidence and based on their reading of Honduran Constitution and law has concluded that "Available sources indicate that the judicial and legislative branches applied constitutional and statutory law in the case against President Zelaya in a manner that was judged by the Honduran authorities from both branches of the government to be in accordance with the Honduran legal system"...
"The Supreme Court of Honduras has constitutional and statutory authority to hear cases against the President of the Republic and many other high officers of the State, to adjudicate and enforce judgments, and to request the assistance of the public forces to enforce its rulings." The report was written by CRS senior foreign law specialist Norma C. Gutierrez.

But I have already provided the provisions from their constitution verbadum .This is just additional confirmation from an organization the Congress empowers to make these evaluations for them .

New development is that Zelaya has been smuggled back into the country . He is in the Brazilian Embassy.Honduran soldiers have surrounded the embassy. Meanwhile Brazil has called for an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council over Hondurans and of course the prick Hugo Chavez is flapping his gums in NY .demanding Zeyla's reinstatement . It appears his return to Honduras was coordinated to make as big an impact on the UN meetings this week.

The UN is of course compliant in the charade inviting the ousted would be dictator Zeyla to speak for the nation instead of it's legitimate President . This is a move consistent with that group of thugs ,dictators ,and generally jack booted leaders of the worlds less than free states that call themselves the General Assembly.

Obama revoked the visa of Honduran president Roberto Micheletti, preventing his entry into the United States. This is a move he did not make to any other world leader no matter how brutal they are.

I would say my respect for our President cannot get any lower. But tomorrow's another day

[speechlesstx]

More typical Obama foreign policy, while he has no problem rushing to the aide of a wannabe dictator, he has no time for the British PM.

Barack Obama's churlishness is unforgivable

By David Hughes Last updated: September 24th, 2009

The juxtaposition on our front page this morning is striking. We carry a photograph of Acting Sgt Michael Lockett - who was killed in Helmand on Monday - receiving the Military Cross from the Queen in June, 2008. He was the 217th British soldier to die in the Afghan conflict. Alongside the picture, we read that the Prime Minister was forced to dash through the kitchens of the UN in New York to secure a few minutes “face time” with President Obama after five requests for a sit-down meeting were rejected by the White House.

What are we to make of this? This country has proved, through the bravery of men like Acting Sgt Lockett, America’s staunchest ally in Afghanistan. In return, the American President treats the British Prime Minister with casual contempt. The President’s graceless behaviour is unforgivable. As most members of the Cabinet would confirm, it’s not a barrel of laughs having to sit down for a chat with Gordon Brown. But that’s not the point. Mr Obama owes this country a great deal for its unflinching commitment to the American-led war in Afghanistan but seems incapable of acknowledging the fact. You might have thought that after the shambles of Mr Brown’s first visit to the Obama White House - when there was no joint press conference and the President’s “gift” to the Prime Minister was a boxed DVD set - lessons would have been learned. Apparently not. Admittedly, part of the problem was Downing Street’s over-anxiety to secure a face-to-face meeting for domestic political purposes but the White House should still have been more obliging. Mr Obama’s churlishness is fresh evidence that the US/UK special relationship is a one-way street.

Got any reset buttons left?

[ETWolverine]

And here I thought that Obama's goal was to restore the respect of other countries for the USA and the Office of the President.

I guess that his METHOD for doing that is to snub your allies and grovel to your enemies.

To insult democratic leaders and embrace dictators and tyrants.

To give power to despots who flout the laws of their own countries, but throw legitimate democratic political movements that are looking for honest representative government under the bus.

To disarm his country and his allies unilaterally while kowtowing to the demands of enemies who invade other countries at whim.

I guess he thinks that insults and undermining his allies are the way to build respectful relationships...

And some people thought that Bush was an insult to the Office of POTUS. He never turned his back on an ally in favor of an enemy.

Disgusting.

[speechlesstx]

And some people thought that Bush was an insult to the Office of POTUS. He never turned his back on an ally in favor of an enemy.

Disgusting.

Brent Bozell made an interesting observation this morning...

Here's something interesting that we found. Kudos to my colleague Dan Gainor who found this one. Here is the ultimate difference between Barack Obama and Ronald Reagan. Ronald Reagan never used the first person singular, he always talked about the first person plural. We, we, we, we. Barack Obama, how many times in 41 major speeches do you think he has used the word "I" or "me."

DOOCY: Forty-one?

BOZELL: One thousand one hundred ninety-eight times.

Obama is all about Obama.

[speechlesstx]

This is just too funny...

It's been 89 days since Manuel Zelaya was booted from power. He's sleeping on chairs, and he claims his throat is sore from toxic gases and "Israeli mercenaries'' are torturing him with high-frequency radiation.

"We are being threatened with death,'' he said in an interview with The Miami Herald, adding that mercenaries were likely to storm the embassy where he has been holed up since Monday and assassinate him.

OK, now how long before Obama throws Zelaya under the bus? After all, what would an association with a loony conspiracy theorist do to his image? Or will we just have a new look for the State Department?

[ETWolverine]

Steve,

Adding to your citation from Bozell, I heard an interesting statistic the other day. I can neither confirm nor deny the statistic. I am just repeating it.

During his entire 8 years in office, Bush had 14 sit-down interviews with people from the media.

Bill Clinton, who everyone knows was something of a media hog, only had 6 sit-down interviews while he was in office.

To date, with only 9 months in office, Obama has had 66 sit-down interviews with the media.

So far.

Yeah... Obama is all about Obama.

Elliot

[tomder55]

Update : The Congressional Research Service (pdf) report can be found at this site...

World 4 Honduras: Honduras: Constitutional Law Issues

[excon]

Hello again, tom:

From the report:
-------------------

V. Was the removal of Honduran President Zelaya legal, in accordance with Honduran constitutional and statutory law?

Available sources indicate that the judicial and legislative branches applied constitutional and statutory law in the case against President Zelaya in a manner that was judged by the Honduran authorities from both branches of the government to be in accordance with the Honduran legal system.

However, removal of President Zelaya from the country by the military is in direct violation of the Article 102 of the Constitution, and apparently this action is currently under investigation by the Honduran authorities.
-------------------------------------

Hence - coup de tat.

excon

[speechlesstx]

However, removal of President Zelaya from the country by the military is in direct violation of the Article 102 of the Constitution, and apparently this action is currently under investigation by the Honduran authorities.
-------------------------------------

Hence - coup de tat.

excon

Yep, and the Honduras has acknowledged that the military overstepped when they removed him from the country. However, his removal from office was constitutional and the constitution and the separation of powers remains intact as does the planned, Democratic election. Hence, no coup d'etat.

But I'm still wondering when Obama throws Zelaya under the bus - or when he starts wearing a tinfoil hat of his own.

[tomder55]

Ex what is being investigated is if the expatriation of Zelaya was constitutional... not his removal from office.

[excon]

Ex what is being investigated is if the expatriation of Zelaya was constitutional ...not his removal from office.

Hello Steve

So you say.

excon

[speechlesstx]

Hello Steve

So you say.

excon

I know you're getting us confused again, but that's the facts. It IS true.

[ETWolverine]

Didn't I read somewhere about Zelaya claiming that Israeli (go figure) mercenaries are trying to poison him with gas and are attempting to kill him?

Yep... I think it's tinfoil hat time again...



Elliot

[excon]

I know you're getting us confused again, but that's the facts. It IS true.

Hello again, Steve:

Yeah, when I'm going hot and heavy against the THREE of you, I get a name wrong or two... But, my left jab rarely misses.

excon

[speechlesstx]

Didn't I read somewhere about Zelaya claiming that Israeli (go figure) mercenaries are trying to poison him with gas and are attempting to kill him?

Yeah, I bet you did.

[ETWolverine]

Yeah, I bet you did.

Oopppssss!

Well, then, I guess I DID read it.

Thanks Steve.

Elliot