Everyone say hello to Secretary of State Jim DeMint (Wingnut- where else? South Carolina):
our U.S. Republican lawmakers met with Honduras’ interim president on Friday in a challenge to Washington’s condemnation of the coup that brought him to power.
The brief, amicable visit with the leaders of the coup that ousted President Manuel Zelaya highlights a divide in Washington, where the Obama administration is working to reinstate Zelaya but many conservatives side with the government installed after soldiers arrested the president in his pajamas and flew him into exile.
South Carolina Sen. Jim DeMint, the leader of the delegation, said before the trip that even calling Zelaya’s overthrow a coup is “ill-informed and baseless.”
DeMint and three representatives — Aaron Schock and Peter Roskam of Illinois and Doug Lamborn of Colorado — smiled for photographs in a book-lined office of the stately presidential palace with interim President Roberto Micheletti.
I’m sure the right-wing bloggers will be lining up to apologize to Jim McDermott and David Bonior.
On the other hand, I suppose that since DeMint is from South Carolina and a family values guy, he might just be doing the front work for another Appalachian hike for Mark Sanford.
r€nato
Remember the right-wing freakout over Nancy Pelosi going to Syria while Bush was still president?
John Cole
@r€nato: That was different. Because shut up, that’s why.
Bullsmith
Let freedom reign has become Let them rein freedom.
dr. bloor
He may be scouting out a parent nation that will facilitate South Carolina’s secession from the US. I’m sure the pragmatic citizens of SC will love being part of a country in which the military picks its preznits.
Joy
I guess I’m missing something. How is this not a treasonous act? Is this not undermining the US Government? Maybe I’m making too much out of this.
licensed to kill time
He can call it another lonely day….
The Populist
So let me get this straight, righties applaud a coup of a man who was ELECTED by his own people?
So right wingers are against democracy?
John PM
Peter Roskam went to Honduras? That son of a bitch! I can’t even see straight right now! What the fuck! This guy hasn’t done anything for 3 years and he is going down to Honduras to meet with the front man for the military.
I am going to say this right now – these four Republican ass munches went down to Honduras to get tips on how to conduct their own overthrow of Obama here in the U.S. Prove me wrong, you Republican motherfuckers!
r€nato
@John Cole:
of course it was different. Pelosi went to Syria to appease Muslim terrorists. DeMint et al went to El Honduras or whatever you call it to tell them to keep their Messicans in their own damned country. They said it in a very manly way, too.
Big difference.
The Populist
@Joy “I guess I’m missing something. How is this not a treasonous act? Is this not undermining the US Government? Maybe I’m making too much out of this.”
Not treason but the next time a dem does the same thing when a rightie is President, they better STFU. What’s good for the goose is good for the gander.
I never, ever want these FUCKS to lecture me about anything anymore. They can’t abide by their own faux outrage when somebody does something THEY dislike, STFU next time when it happens on their watch.
Idiots. All of them.
The Populist
“of course it was different. Pelosi went to Syria to appease Muslim terrorists.”
Ahhh, terrorists. Nice troll…bad troll.
mcc
many conservatives side with the government installed after soldiers arrested the president in his pajamas and flew him into exile
Wait, wait. “Many” conservatives, really? Or is this the thing where a small group of dead-enders are assumed to speak for a large silent majority, just because the media can’t ever accept the idea it’s possible to be so conservative you aren’t mainstream anymore?
JK
FUCK JIM DEMINT
http://narcosphere.narconews.com/thefield/3491/jim-demint-crybaby-us-senate
http://www.thewashingtonnote.com/archives/2009/10/jim_demints_on-
r€nato
@The Populist:
you might want to check the calibration on your sarcasmometer.
(or, I might want to check mine…)
PeakVT
I’m sure it will play well with the base, but back in the real world, every country in the Americas has condemned the coup. Even the right-wingers in Colombia.
This would be a great time for Serious Foreign Policy Experts like McCain to speak up.
licensed to kill time
@John PM:
But they wouldn’t call that a coup, either. It would be ill-informed and baseless. So, there’s that.
The Grand Panjandrum
Roskam is that ratfucking piece of human excrement who beat Tammy Duckworth in 2004 by running a low-life smear campaign questioning her patriotism. I truly hope he dies a slow and painful death.
The Populist
“Wait, wait. “Many” conservatives, really? Or is this the thing where a small group of dead-enders are assumed to speak for a large silent majority, just because the media can’t ever accept the idea it’s possible to be so conservative you aren’t mainstream anymore?”
If you are a silent conservative, do us a favor and speak up against idiocy dude. I once was a Republican and conservative on fiscal matters but I left because I’ll be damned if I am lectured about “morality” by the likes of Sarah “It’s okay Levi, sleep with my daughter and stay in her room” Palin and Larry “Foot taps” Craig.
I’d love to see some smart conservatives stand up once in awhile and say something to shut these idiots down AND NOT wind up apologizing to party boss Limp-balls.
jl
From Appalachian Trail to Tegucigalpa Tail? Is Balloon-Juice making unsubstantiated allegations?
I demand that Balloon-Juice apologize continuously from now until forever, and do nothing else, for this slur against the patriotic Mr. DeMint.
He is merely legitimizing the coup reconciliaton process, more akin to a ‘family intervention’ than any kind of bad thing, in order to preserve the status quo. I am sure that most Hondurans want very much to preseve the ‘Their Honduras.’
Thanks for the post, I need to go do some news searches to find out how much better and swimmingly things have gone in Honduras since the coup.
I read a brief report that the coup junta has really cracked down on freedom of assembly and the press (I am sure with the best of intentions). Those are, inthis instance of course, not violations of civil liberties, merely the normal response to existential threats to the contitutonal order and Rule of Law posed by a populist president caught in a murky and complicated legal dispute over a non-binding popular referendeum that he wanted to hold.
The Populist
“you might want to check the calibration on your sarcasm-o-meter.”
No sarcasm dude… I speak the truth. Try it sometime buddy, it may set you free and dislodge whatever it is that sticks in your butt all day long.
General Winfield Stuck
@John Cole:
At least Syria was an internationally recognized government. The coup crew running Honduras is not, most notably by it’s neighbors, and us, and in our own hemisphere. This is nothing less than Demint giving the US of A, the big middle finger/ Though to him it is likely striking a blow to communism both home and abroad. What a putz.
r€nato
@The Populist:
*I* was being sarcastic. Holy miss the point Batman.
Simonee
Whatever happened to politics ending at the water’s edge?
Congressman Howard Berman has openly criticized Obama’s foreign policy towards Israel– and he’s a Democrat. And now Jim DeMint.
Isn’t it time for the Obama administration to clamp down on this?
Ash Can
Since the Brazilians are giving aid and comfort to Zelaya, these guys who met with Micheletti must be absolutely beside themselves that the IOC awarded the 2016 games to Rio.
Oh, wait…
Makewi
So then the Pelosi trip is retroactively condemned? Which is it, or is this a case when it’s fine for the side you root for and wrong for the “other guys”.
What about the actual issue in Honduras, who has it right here Obama? If so, why?
dmsilev
@The Populist:
Yes.
-dms
The Populist
“I was being sarcastic. Holy miss the point Batman.”
Wait, you are not one of them? Cool, sorry bud. I come here a lot but I post only on things that bother me.
Xenos
If DeMint does not go down there wearing a wire in order to find out who in the CIA greenlighted the coup, then he will be an objectively pro-terrorist appeaser of dictators. And if DeMint is not wearing the wire, then I hope one of his party is, because I want DeMint going down.
r€nato
@The Grand Panjandrum:
I don’t blame him for smearing her patriotism. She lost both her legs in Iraq. A real patriot would still have them.
jl
I agree with other commenters, it is irresponsible not to speculate that this GOP trip is paving the way for a coup in the United States. I demand that all the newsy talk shows, cable and otherwise, obssess over this Threat to Our Rule of Law, and make all GOPers and their operatives and hacks explain DeMint and his band of Congressional coup-plotters. Over and over again. Also. And also answer for every embellisment and speculation that appears on very concerned sites like Balloon-Juice.
r€nato
@The Populist:
uh, NO, I am not one of them. Fuck no. And if I ever become one, you all hereby have the absolute right to put me down. It would be a mercy killing.
The Populist
“So then the Pelosi trip is retroactively condemned? Which is it, or is this a case when it’s fine for the side you root for and wrong for the “other guys”.”
Must we dig up information for you? It’s not hard to find.
No, it’s YOU PEOPLE that have long advocated for sides. Dems have always tried to work with Republicans. When Newt and the boys took over in the 90s compromise ENDED.
So who’s side are you on? The one that likes labeling people and has taken rhetoric so far out of control that compromise may never, ever come back or are you an American who cares more about solving the nation’s problems in a way where there is agreement and progress?
plus C
Maybe we could use some of that Honduran-style democracy in South Carolina.
r€nato
I think DeMint is just trying to distract from the rumor that Glenn Beck raped and murdered a young girl in 1990.
Calouste
@The Populist:
Yes and yes. SATSQ.
cf. Chile 1973, Iran 1953, and probably a few dozen others.
Makewi
@The Populist:
Way to answer the question. Easier to just point fingers I guess.
anonevent
@Makewi: It’s pretty easy. We recognized the government of Syria,so Pelosi did not validate the regime. Also, hypocracy. The Repubs can’t scream about Pelosi and then feel they can go to Honduras.
wasabi gasp
“Generally I don’t care for PBS and I had my cable company block it from my neighborhood[…]”
Guess.
The Sheriff's A Ni-
I don’t know which is funnier: Jokers like Demint who think its still 1983 or the voters who keep voting him in.
General Winfield Stuck
@Makewi:
I already esplained that to you Scarlett in a recent thread. Please pay attention.
Comrade Dread
Not touching upon the legality of the Honduran coup, but my first thought on seeing this in light of the Newsmax article was that the Congressmen were going down to get some pointers they could take back home.
smiley
Good FSM. That guy is the epitome of an opportunistic political climber. He’s still in his 20’s and he’s representing the district that was represented by Bob Michel and Ray Lahood. Both pretty moderate republicans. I hesitate to say more because of my need to protect my anonymity but the guy was so plugged in as a state representative that he started buying up property around his alma mater to make a profit even though said college was restricted by city covenants to expand the size of it’s campus. I guess we now know what will happen in that neighborhood now that he’s a congressman.
General Winfield Stuck
@The Populist:
It’s kind of easy to see where Makewi and his wingnut brethren are coming from. It’s no longer about grinding sausage out of democratic rules and institutions which after all is what democracy is. For the forlorned and electorally fucked American GOP, it’s all about ideology, or who is in the right thru that prism. Be damned with following laws and such, cause they ain’t gonna get to make em here any time soon.
So it’s you’re either with us or agin us, and that is all that matters to the wingnuts.
wasabi gasp
@wasabi gasp: Oops, I’ve been suckered by satire.
smiley
That’s better (I think, I’ll have to wait and see).
Makewi
@General Winfield Stuck:
It isn’t as cut and dried as you might hope in this sort of situation. Are you aware of that?
General Winfield Stuck
@Makewi:
It is exactly what happened. At least the process. And that should be and is what our interest should be about. Not ideology, or that Zelaya is good or bad, or deserved it,, all of which is irrelevant.
Zuzu's Petals
Bravo.
General Winfield Stuck
@Makewi:
Think of it this way. What if when the GOP impeached Clinton they realized they weren’t going to get him removed because the Senate would not vote to convict. And Instead they decided to call in the military, or The Red State Strike Force, or Fox security to remove Clinton from office and send him to Paradise Island. Same thing in principle as what happened in Honduras.
chuck
How about we just keep DeMint from re-entering?
Makewi
@General Winfield Stuck:
I disagree with the idea that he deserved it is irrelevant. If the Hondurian Supreme court had the authority to have Zelaya arrested under their Constitution, then it becomes rather central to sorting the issue out.
General Winfield Stuck
@Makewi:
I don’t know why I’m wasting time on you. Arresting is one thing, forceably removing him from office and the country is something altogether different, and it’s called a coup de ta. Plain and simple. It is also called rule of law that the arrested have their day in court, either criminal of impeachment court. . If you can’t grasp that, then I don’t why you hang around here. Really.
Cain
@chuck:
Win.
cain
Makewi
@General Winfield Stuck:
I agree that sending him out of the country was illegal. But even if he is returned, you still have the underlying issues to deal with.
shoutingattherain
@wasabi gasp:
I was fooled briefly too, until I saw this:
That’s a funny site. Well done.
AhabTRuler
@General Winfield Stuck: Ahem, Coup d’etat
General Winfield Stuck
@AhabTRuler:
Only cause it’s French/
Meg
I am just reading Jeff Sharlet’s book.
It looks like Jim Demint also belongs to the C street group the Family. This makes the purpose of the trip even more fishy.
Cerberus
@The Populist:
Yes. SATSQ.
burnspbesq
@The Populist:
I assume that you understand the concept of tongue-in-cheek. Yo, Renato, what lovely parting gifts do we have for our contestant?
jl
@Makewi: the underlying issue was whether the Zelaya had the authority to call a nonbinding popular referendum vote on something or other. The legal issues are murky, as I remember reading. As far as I can tell, it would be like forcing out a US president over a murky issue like signing statements. Then imposing military law, shutting down right to assembly and shutting down the press, calling curfews, putting political opponents in jail.
The underlying issues of original conflict are murky, as best I can tell. The actions of the coup plotters, and their actions since taking power, are much less murky.
OriGuy
@wasabi gasp:
The headline “Michael Jackson seen at cock fight” tipped me off. That is one of the best satire sites I’ve seen.
Docrailgun
I guess these idiots missed where the coup leaders suspended the Constitution there.
Oh! I get it… these Republicans LIKE that idea and want to see how it works on the ground.
BillCinSD
@Makewi: and had the Supreme Court actually done that you might have a point. But they didn’t so you don’t. The Supreme Court can’t retroactively say the coup d-etat was OK. The military acted on their own accord and placed in power a man who then suspended constitutional rights of free speech, press, assembly, transit and due process, how is that anything but a coup d’etat