Honduras defies world pressure, refuses to take back Zelaya

Acting Honduras President Roberto Micheletti.

Facing mounting sanctions and disapproving international pressure, Honduras is standing by its decision to oust leftist President Manuel Zelaya, saying there’s “no chance” they’ll let the exiled leader back into the country. Interim Honduras foreign minister Enrique Ortiz said, “We are not negotiating national sovereignty and the presidency,” and acting President Roberto Micheletti said Zelaya would be arrested if he returned, adding (hopefully not prophetically) that it would take a foreign invasion for Zelaya to regain power. Zelaya had planned on returning immediately accompanied by two other Latin American leaders, but he has pushed that back until the weekend, and has backed off his plan to hold a referendum that the Honduras Supreme Court, the legislature, and the military all deemed illegal.

The Obama administration, along with the OAS and the rest of the world, are still taking the wrong stance on Honduras, with UN Ambassador Susan Rice giving the frustratingly simplistic answer, “A coup is a coup.”With all due respect, Ambassador, Zelaya was illegally pushing forward with a referendum that would illegally extend his ability to hold onto power, and he illegally fired the head of the Honduras military when he wouldn’t go along. The bloodless method that Honduras used to remove Zelaya may be unorthodox, but it’s becoming clear that they had good reason to get rid of him. I’m seeing conflicting reports of Zelaya’s popularity, with Reuters reporting that it had fallen as low as 30%, but MSNBC giving the vague metric of “he remains popular among the poor majority.” Regardless, Zelaya had already violated his office by reaching for personal power, and the fact that he remains closely allied with Hugo Chavez leads many to think, not unrealistically, that Chavez was using him to influence Honduras towards a Venezuelan-led coalition. The fact that Chavez has reacted so strongly, even threatening military action, lends some credence to the idea that Zelaya represents what’s best for Chavez, and not for Honduras.

Honduras is sending a delegation to Washington in an attempt to dial back some of the criticism aimed their way. I hope they’re successful making their case, and I hope some kind of reinstatement of Honduras can take place in the international community. However, it’s my opinion that any outcome that sees the return of Zelaya to power would be gravely harmful to the state of democracy in Latin America, as the world will bless a would-be dictator then free to remake the country as he alone saw fit.

Gallup: More voters see Dems as “too liberal”

According to another snapshot poll put out by Gallup, voters are increasingly seen as “too liberal,” jumping seven percentage points from 39% to 46%. In contrast, 43% of voters believe the Republicans are “too conservative,” although the percentage of voters thinking the party is “about right” favors the Democrats, 42% to 34%. Here are graphs put out by Gallup that show trends for the two parties:

The key here is the short-term trend for both parties. Just one year ago, 50% of voters thought the Dems had it just right, to 39% thinking they were too liberal. The 8-point shift over the span of 12 months is a direct result of the Democrats, in control of both Houses of Congress and the Presidency, spending with reckless abandon and ramming through a liberal agenda as quickly as possible with as little consultation and compromise with the right and the center as possible. If cap and trade passes, and if “public option” health care continues to be pushed for, you can bet the gap between “just right” and “too liberal” will widen.

The study isn’t all roses for Republicans, though. Democrats still hold the advantage on “just right,” but this may be due to the Republicans thus far not strongly pushing an alternative, which they will probably do as 2010 approaches. The “too conservative” percentage in part reflects the push to define the GOP as throwing out “moderates” like Colin Powell (who voted for Barack Obama despite the most moderate Republican nominee in recent history) and Arlen Specter (who switched to the Democratic party out of pure political survivalism).

The truth remains that no one is throwing moderates out of the party; indeed, there is an increase in the percentage who view the GOP as “too liberal,” showing that the party really isn’t moving farther right, but certain individuals are moving left. In addition, as the bills for the deficit spending come due, and as the massive increase in government bureaucracy fails to produce meaningful and lasting improvement, voters will be more receptive to economic conservatism, especially when taxes are inevitably raised to pay for all the spending, and the “too conservative” gap will come down.

Voters aren’t happy about the stimulus, they’re not happy about the budget deficits, and they’re wary of cap-and-trade and public option health care. The danger illustrated belongs to the Democrats, who ought to moderate their agenda to alleviate concerns. But spurred on by the President, they’ll stick to the same questionable reckless spending policies that are becoming increasingly unpalatable to the American public. The question will be whether the Republicans can mount a viable and attractive alternative to that mess.