Just Another Lawful, Messy Election
[Guest post by DRJ]
Today President Obama congratulated Afghan President Hamid Karzai on his lawful, messy election:
“I congratulated him on his election for a second term as president of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan,” Mr. Obama told reporters as he sat in the Oval Office next to the prime minister of Sweden. “You know, although the process was messy, I’m pleased to say that the final outcome was determined in accordance with Afghan law.”
White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs added he has “no reason to believe” the Karzai government is not legitimate.
In other news, the Library of Congress released the August 2009 report by the Directorate of Legal Research addressing the “legal basis under the Honduran Constitution for President José Manuel Zelaya Rosales’s removal from office.” Here’s the report’s conclusion:
“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.”
Sounds lawful but messy, doesn’t it?
— DRJ
Obama’s statement is bizarre. He and Gibbs were singing a different tune only a few days ago. Karzai was illegitimate then, but since Abdullah quit the run-off, every thing’s just fine and dandy. What’s up with that?
I think Obama’s been smokin’ them funny cigarettes.
ropelight (d46b44) — 11/3/2009 @ 5:05 amThe Seattle Times, and NPR, and all similar camp-followers, were all just two days ago desperately insisting that with Abdullah-squared going offstage, the West’s hopes were all doomed and shattered. Did the DNC really finance an overwhelming campaign to buy public opinion in Abdullah’s favor as a savior? And now Obama’s telling us that Karzai’s doing his job and we’ll live with it?
This goofy non-foreign-policy by Chicago crooks posing as ‘community organizers’ is a national disaster, worthy of tar and feathers for every one of the crooks.
Insufficiently Sensitive (a939d1) — 11/3/2009 @ 7:54 amIf Obama’s folks had just kept their mouths shut and let Karzai pad the votes a bit, the election would have been over and done with. Now, we’ve twisted Karzai’s arm to 1) recount; 2) admit fraud; 3) hold a runoff; and 4) not hold a runoff.
Can’t anyone here play this game?
Kevin Murphy (3c3db0) — 11/3/2009 @ 8:20 amI wonder if Obama and Karzai shared stories of how they each won elections by getting the opponent off the ballot. Maybe Obama has even told Karzai the story of how Obama became a Senator.
Mike K (2cf494) — 11/3/2009 @ 8:22 am