No Wonder Hugo Chavez is So Angry

There is an excellent opinion piece today in the Wall Street Journal that also happens to chock full of facts on what is really going on in Honduras. It also happens to back up my own observations of how most of Honduran's government officials attempted to protect and preserve their constitutional system -- including the military -- whereas ousted President Mel Zelaya went out of his way to circumvent it.

And that includes attempting an illegal vote using ballots furnished by Hugo Chavez of Venezuela!

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.

The top military commander, Gen. Romeo Vásquez Velásquez, told the president that he would have to comply. Mr. Zelaya promptly fired him. The Supreme Court ordered him reinstated. Mr. Zelaya refused.

Calculating that some critical mass of Hondurans would take his side, the president decided he would run the referendum himself. So on Thursday he led a mob that broke into the military installation where the ballots from Venezuela were being stored and then had his supporters distribute them in defiance of the Supreme Court's order.

That's a good part of the news that your mainstream press forgot to tell you over the weekend, and certainly not part of the information upon which President Obama or Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was hoping you knew about.

Read, and learn.

Honduran President Arrested, Exiled -- Obama, Hugo Peeved

The president of Honduras, Manuel Zelaya, wanted to hold an "unscheduled election" to amend the Constitution to allow him to serve longer. He felt the one four-year term limit wasn't fair "to the people."

Of course.

The Honduran Supreme Court ruled that he couldn't just order an election by forcing the armed forces of Honduras to pass out ballots. In fact, it ruled against him twice.

The Honduran Congress, representatives elected by the people, also let Zelaya know he was overstepping his authority.

Zelaya ignored both, and ordered the military to pass out the ballots. He even fired the head of the military when he wouldn't go against Congress and the Court.

So what did the military do? Earlier today they surrounded the "presidential palace" and then went inside where they corralled the erstwhile second-termer, took him to the airport and exiled him to Costa Rica.

This is a bit weird for Latin America, as this is a case where the military actually upheld the constitution. The president of the Congress is the new interim president.

By the way, did we tell you that Zelaya is a socialist?

Which explains why Hugo Chavez of Venezuela is howling mad, and is threatening war. Just give me an excuse, he seems to be suggesting.

Guess who else is torqued?

Yes, indeed. The Obamessiah.

"I call on all political and social actors in Honduras to respect democratic norms, the rule of law and the tenets of the Inter-American Democratic Charter," Obama said. "Any existing tensions and disputes must be resolved peacefully through dialogue free from any outside interference."

He was "deeply concerned." That's about where his temperature is on Iran, too, so there probably isn't anything for Honduras to worry about. Our progressive head of diplomacy also weighed in.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said in a statement that Sunday's action in Honduras "violates the precepts of the Inter-American Democratic Charter, and thus should be condemned by all."

In other words, in their view, Honduras' constitution isn't the controlling document here. It's some sort of regional treaty co-authored by other socialist thugs.

About what we should expect from the socialist leadership in our own government, which looks at our Constitution is a nuisance to be shredded whenever possible.

About the only thing I liked about Manuel Zelaya was his hat. Why don't we wear straw hats anymore in the United States?

Would you like to see his hat?

I'll bet the next president of Honduras will also wear a hat.