Obama's Dreamy Drift In Democratic Fantasyland

In keeping with his evident belief in a post-modern view of history (see the Cairo Address as one example) which holds that every person's "narrative" is equally valid, President Obama and, thus, his foreign policy crew hold that the disposed leftist and wannabe strongman of Honduras, Manuel Zeylaya, is "the only constitutional president" of the country. Only one small detail eludes the US president and one time professor of constitutional law.

(The beauty of the post-modern world view is that a person may pick the "narrative" he feels most emotionally in tune with regardless of objective truth. For, you see, post-modernism does not admit of any objective truth.)

The removal of Zelaya was undertaken by the Honduran military pursuant to constitutionally mandated processes. The action was taken in compliance with a Supreme Court order. It was also validated by the Honduran Congress. While the defenestration of Zelaya might have been a bit unseemly in its execution, it did not contravene the country's constitution.

The mixers and troublemakers in the current contretemps were Zelaya's fellow leftists, Hugo Chavez and Miguel d'Escoto. Without the blatant, full-throated support of these two champions of the vox populi, Zelaya would have faded into the obscurity he so richly deserves.

Hugo has made the facilities of his increasingly autocratic regime available to Zelaya. The highly visible attempted return to Honduras by the ousted pretender to "president-for-life" status and thus the demonstrations and (single) death were made possible by Hugo having loaned an aircraft to Manuel. Over the weekend the former Honduran president took to the Venezuelan airwaves on a Hugo controlled TV station to rant against the "ogres" who ousted him.

Unlike his sponsors Chavez and d'Escoto, the once and perhaps future strongman of Honduras refrained from attacking the US for its alleged role in the removal process. This silence was strictly tactical.

Zelaya wants more US support. He doesn't deserve the support he has received so far, but no matter, he wants more. President Obama and SecState Clinton have ignored the realities of the internal politics of Honduras. They have overlooked the nearly monolithic opposition to Zelaya within the Honduran upper and middle classes, the Catholic Church, the press, and the institutions of state.

They have even managed not to read the opinion poll conducted recently by a Mexican polling outfit which saw Zelaya at the bottom of the "trusted leader" list. They have even managed to turn a Nelsonian eye to the reality that corruption, drug driven violence, and crime generally have been on the severe uptick during Zelaya's term in office.

The Honduran people made a mistake when they elected Zelaya. They came to recognise and repent of the mistake. Most were willing to hunker down and let the inefficient, ineffective, and loud mouthed man finish his term while hoping that not much more damage would accrue. But, Zelaya's blatant attempt to subvert the intention of the constitution by seeking a referendum which would allow him to emulate his master, Hugo Chavez, by becoming de facto president for all eternity, was one insult too many.

True, the referendum might have gone against Zelaya but why take chances given the record of electoral corruption throughout the region--including the fun, games, tricks, and general zaniness engaged in by Chavez in what passes for presidential elections on the shores of Lake Maracaibo.

Or, that was the way the Supreme Court saw the matter. The court ruled against holding the referendum. Zelaya tried to overrule the court. He failed. And, the soldiers came at dawn.

Except for those Hondurans at the bottom of the economic heap who fell for the standard issue pap of pie-in-the-sky socialist oratory pouring forth from Zelaya's copious oral cavity, the people of the much beset country breathed a sigh of relief as the tail light of Zelaya's flight disappeared over the horizon. Oscar Arias, who is a man of undoubted integrety and probity as well as political and diplomatic skill, failed to bring a compromise between Zelaya (who didn't even deign to show up) and the current government of Honduras.

The interim president of Honduras (named by the congress not the generals) Roberto Micheletti has offered amnesty to Sr Zelaya should he return to face Honduran justice. This is a lot better offer than the customary one in past military coups--a firing squad. More, Micheletti has made encouraging noises about holding elections before the currently scheduled date in November. Again, this is not the customary practice in "military coups."

If Mr Obama were not so lost in the haze of some fantasyland understanding of democracy, he would be standing beside the new Honduran government. He would be welcoming both the amnesty offer and the re-scheduling of elections. He would acknowledge that while the military's removal of Zelaya lacked a touch of class, it was done according to the rules. Honduran rules.

If Mr Obama were not so much a prisoner of the post-modern, he would at the very least both understand and publicly state that democracy was in a heck of a lot better shape in Honduras than it was in Venezuela (and other states bitten by the "Bolivarian" bug.)

Ah, but reality has never been a favorite of the Nice Young Man From Chicago.