Backtracking on Zelaya
[Guest post by DRJ]
The Instapundit links a Pajamas Media/Dan Miller article that wonders if Hugo Chávez has given up on returning his puppet, former Honduran President Manuel Zelaya, to office. Miller notes Chávez has gone silent on Honduras since a July 12 speech urging the United States “to be firm in returning Zelaya to power.” Miller speculates Chavez could also be busy with other things but nevertheless concludes it is “unlikely that there will be a resolution of the Honduran question acceptable to Chávez, Zelaya, and Castro.”
On July 11, Ed Morrissey at Hot Air noticed that some Congressional Democrats had begun “acknowledging the crimes Zelaya committed and stopped calling for his return to office.” Morrissey also noted, again, that the Obama administration “didn’t bother to get the facts” before supporting former President Zelaya.
In fact, twelve days have passed since a State Department spokesman acknowledged that U.S. legal advisers were “actively assessing the facts and the law in question.” These advisers have clearly had enough time to conclude their research regarding the legality of Zelaya’s actions and the Honduran response, as well as communicate their conclusions to the State Department and the White House.
The continued silence by the Obama Administration on this topic speaks volumes. My guess is the word went out to Hugo Chávez and Manuel Zelaya that the Obama Administration is throwing Zelaya under the bus. If so, he has plenty of company.
– DRJ
“…and the wheels of the bus go ‘thumpity-thumpity’”
Comment by mojo — 7/13/2009 @ 1:59 pm
But I thought the era of ignorant foreign policy was now moot under the new Soooper Genius. These people couldn’t find Honduras on a map, let alone bother to consult the country’s actual laws before leaping to an inflammatory and assinine conclusion.
Hey, why haven’t we heard from imdw and the other Trolls regarding this for awhile? Whassamatter, cat got your tongues?
Comment by Dmac — 7/13/2009 @ 2:01 pm
There maps are probably so old, they confuse it with British Hondurus.
Comment by AD - RtR/OS! — 7/13/2009 @ 2:05 pm
The Hondurans have been standing firm, something that Obama is not equipped to deal with. Unless his opponent melts away, or has his nominating petitions all disqualified, Barry is lost.
Comment by Mike K — 7/13/2009 @ 2:05 pm
“Their”…
Comment by AD - RtR/OS! — 7/13/2009 @ 2:06 pm
Comment by Mike K — 7/13/2009 @ 2:05 pm
They need to check for any sealed divorce records.
Comment by AD - RtR/OS! — 7/13/2009 @ 2:07 pm
The correct place for him, even if for the wrong reason.
Comment by EW1(SG) — 7/13/2009 @ 2:08 pm
Chavez has gone silent on Honduras since a July 12 speech urging the United States “to be firm in returning Zelaya to power.”
That was yesterday. Seems a bit odd that a one day silence “speaks volumes.”
Chavez could be attempting to corral Roberto Micheletti, the interim leader. Or, as you say, Zelaya could be totally out of the picture. Less than a week ago, a Honduran Supreme Court official suggested Zelaya might be granted amnesty for unspecified “political crimes.”
Comment by steve — 7/13/2009 @ 2:13 pm
My guess is the word went out to Hugo Chávez and Manuel Zelaya that the Obama Administration is throwing Zelaya under the bus
Chavez should never have had a seat on that bus in the first place. But it’s hard to avoid tossing a lot of people under the vehicle when the person doing the driving has a severe case of both tunnel vision and ass-backwardness.
Comment by Mark — 7/13/2009 @ 2:25 pm
steve,
There were two paragraphs between the July 12 reference and my silence “speaks volumes” statement, so I suspect you knew I was referring to the 12 day silence on the legal issues by the Obama Administration. But I’ll modify the post to make it crystal clear.
[EDIT-- I added the bolded section to the following sentence in the last paragraph: "The continued silence by the Obama Administration on this topic speaks volumes." -- DRJ]
Comment by DRJ — 7/13/2009 @ 2:35 pm
Seems a bit odd that a one day silence “speaks volumes.”
If Hugo Chavez was actually silent for one day, that would be a remarkable event, indeed.
Comment by Daryl Herbert — 7/13/2009 @ 2:46 pm
I’m sorry DRJ, but you have an error in your post:
…it is “unlikely that there will be a resolution of the Honduran question acceptable to Chávez, Zelaya, Castro, and Obama.”
There. All fixed now.
Remember, you never leave a socialist, dictator-loving authoritarian behind.
Comment by Apogee — 7/13/2009 @ 3:33 pm
Note from under the bus: “No thanks!”
Comment by Kevin Murphy — 7/13/2009 @ 3:34 pm
“…Honduran Supreme Court official suggested Zelaya might be granted amnesty for unspecified “political crimes.””
Steve, doesn’t that also say that the criminal charges would stay valid?
Comment by Lord Nazh — 7/13/2009 @ 4:50 pm
This will be written as the “measured and practical” approach to foreign affairs by the shielding pimps of the “Fourth Estate.”
Comment by mike191 — 7/13/2009 @ 4:57 pm
Someone wondered about the silence of the trolls lately. Let me break that silence.
Good. Zelaya deposed himself, according to the Honduran Constitution so Obama’s and Clinton’s notion that Zelaya is still the democratically elected president of Honduras is absurd given the amount of time they’ve had to determine what the laws and Constitution of Honduras have to say about executive officers seeking to change the Constitutional limit of one term per presidential office holder. The military admits to breaking the law by trundling Zelaya out of the country rather than trundling him off to court to face various charges against him but none of that means that Zelaya remains the president. The world seems to be waking up to the fact that the outrage over what initially had appeared coup-like was misplaced. The only thing Zelaya should be returned to Honduras for is to be tried for treason. I wonder what the standard sentence for treason by former presidents is?
Comment by Craig R. Harmon — 7/13/2009 @ 6:54 pm
16, I wonder if Obama and his administration will be facing treason trials among the other crimes they are committing now? Seems only right that they get what they dish out after losing power.
Comment by PCD — 7/14/2009 @ 5:47 am