Facts are stubborn things, unless you work in the mainstream media. Yesterday’s detention and expulsion of the Leftist Honduran president Jose Manuel ‘Mel’ Zelaya was decried by countries around the world and the mainstream media as a military coup d’état. What they do not report is what actually occurred. While Obama is pressing for Honduras to restore “democratic order” and the “rule of law,” showing solidarity with a fellow Leftist leader and claiming that Zelaya is still the constitutional president, the president conveniently ignores the fact that the military action against Zelaya was not the result of some rogue military elements, but rather they acted on orders from the courts, who had ruled Zelaya’s actions as president as illegal. The mainstream media, though, has almost unanimously omitted this fact from all of its reports. From my readings of Honduran news, the month prior to Zelaya’s arrest, the framers of the Honduran Constitution declared that according to their laws, Zelaya’s actions are an act of treason against the homeland [if only our own Founding Fathers could come forward today to put an end to the expanding powers and size of government]. Zelaya was attempting to violate certain parts of their Constitution that are “permanent,” specifically the part about not extending presidential term limits or powers. So when Obama talks about restoring the “rule of law,” he should not be directing these statements at the current civilian government of Honduras but rather at Zelaya, who had defied every branch of government and most sectors of society in order to gain more power for himself. The Honduran courts and congress acted in defense of their Constitution by expelling a president that was also planning to dissolve congress right after starting the illegal vote and change the Constitution in order to introduce a Chavez-style government.

Zelaya telling Chavez “it’s socialism time!”

If not for the fact that I can read Spanish, I would have been limited to the mainstream media’s reports and our politician’s statements, that would have us think that Zelaya was a victim and not a rogue president who thought himself above the law. Honduras has dodged the Castro-Chavez totalitarianism bullet by removing this man, let’s not punish them for preserving their democracy.

-AG