Right, but its kinds of gray constitutionaly exactly who can do what. The only mention in the constitution about the president is that they are the commander in chief, essentially the highest authority in the military chain of command. But congress also has power to regulate that somewhat, assuming the law is passed accordingly. Im sure what power the President really has for using the military outside of what congress authorizes. Theres probably some case law out there.

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"To take from one, because it is thought his own industry and that of his father has acquired too much, in order to spare to others who (or whose fathers) have not exercised equal industry and skill, is to violate arbitrarily the first principle of association, "to guarantee to everyone a free exercise of his industry and the fruits acquired by it."

-Thomas Jefferson

Here is some interesting info on the commander clause.

FindLaw: U.S. Constitution: Article II: Annotations pg. 7 of 18

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"To take from one, because it is thought his own industry and that of his father has acquired too much, in order to spare to others who (or whose fathers) have not exercised equal industry and skill, is to violate arbitrarily the first principle of association, "to guarantee to everyone a free exercise of his industry and the fruits acquired by it."

-Thomas Jefferson

Consider this, please

O'Grady: Honduras Defends Its Democracy - WSJ.com

Quite obviously, the guy acted against the constitution, against the orders of the supreme court, against his own party.

As I see it, it is him who tried to usurp power and the Military was merely acting on orders of the supreme court to PREVENT a coup.

I do nort know enough about this guy to pass a judgment on his abilities.
But if, as he obviously did, he acted against the constitution now, chances are, that he will act against it in the future as well.

And I believe this is not what you want to happen.

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"There is no means of avoiding the final collapse
of a boom brought about by credit (debt) expansion.
The alternative is only whether the crisis should come sooner
as the result of a voluntary abandonment of further credit (debt) expansion,
or later as a final and total catastrophe of the currency system involved." - Ludwig von Mises

He di not try it legally.
The Honduran constitution allows only congress to hold a referendum, not the president. (see link above)

In bypassing Congress he acted against the constitution.

As well he knew, that his own party had ordered an investigation as to his abilities to hold office.

Seems he tried to thwart them by illegaly holding a referendum.

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"There is no means of avoiding the final collapse
of a boom brought about by credit (debt) expansion.
The alternative is only whether the crisis should come sooner
as the result of a voluntary abandonment of further credit (debt) expansion,
or later as a final and total catastrophe of the currency system involved." - Ludwig von Mises

Yawn. More garbage from the Wall Street Journal. When it comes to Latin America the WSJ abandons any pretense of being anything but a right wing rag, at least in its editorial. If they fall short of complete fabrication, they are invariably telling only part of the story.

As for your post, a coup to prevent a coup? That doesn't even begin to make sense.

The BBC has some rather interesting analysis, that seems a bit more balanced, if you're interested.

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"Jesus said: I have cast fire upon the world, and behold I guard it until it is ablaze."
Gospel of Thomas

Simply put he wanted to become another Dictator like his buddy Chavez, and Obama is right behind him all the way.

http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2009/0...9.html?ref=rss

If we don't watch out, we could see the same thing happening here with Obama.

Obama first says we should not meddle or even comment about Iran's election, but then condemns Hondo for defending their Constitution. He even wants to impose sanctions against Honduras. No one was killed in the street in Honduras like in Iran, he just doesn't want to piss off his buddies.

OK, so every country in the Americas says Zelaya should be reinstated as president.
So the Right Wing Wackos decide that the coup was justified, since Obama says it was illegal.
Because they must oppose everything the Obamanation says or does.
ummmm, OK........

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“ The subjects of every state ought to contribute towards the support of the government, as nearly as possible, in proportion to their respective abilities; that is, in proportion to the revenue which they respectively enjoy under the protection of the state.”

Adam Smith , The Wealth of Nations 1776

"We have always known that heedless self-interest was bad morals; we know now that it is bad economics"
FDR's second Inaugural Address

Hmmm. Does the Honduran constitution say that the term limits may not be changed by anyone ever?

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Labor is prior to, and independent of, capital. Capital is only the fruit of labor, and could never have existed if Labor had not first existed. Labor is superior to capital, and deserves much the higher consideration.

Guess who?

I read the article; there is nothing in that article that has not already been posted in the thread so far, do you have somehting to add...?

So I guess it’s the source denigration routine, minus cogent discussion points, or as the old roman saying goes; ”if one cannot beat the Asse, beat the saddle”….

Anyway, heres a blurb;

The Wages of Chavismo
The Honduran coup is a reaction to Chávez's rule by the mob.

As military "coups" go, the one this weekend in Honduras was strangely, well, democratic. The military didn't oust President Manuel Zelaya on its own but instead followed an order of the Supreme Court. It also quickly turned power over to the president of the Honduran Congress, a man from the same party as Mr. Zelaya. The legislature and legal authorities all remain intact.

We mention these not so small details because they are being overlooked as the world, including the U.S. President, denounces tiny Honduras in a way that it never has, say, Iran. President Obama is joining the U.N., Fidel Castro, Hugo Chávez and other model democrats in demanding that Mr. Zelaya be allowed to return from exile and restored to power. Maybe it's time to sort the real from the phony Latin American democrats.

The situation is messy, and we think the Hondurans would have been smarter -- and better off -- not sending Mr. Zelaya into exile at dawn. Mr. Zelaya was pressing ahead with a nonbinding referendum to demand a constitutional rewrite to let him seek a second four-year term. The attorney general and Honduran courts declared the vote illegal and warned he'd be prosecuted if he followed through. Mr. Zelaya persisted, even leading a violent mob last week to seize and distribute ballots imported from Venezuela. However, the proper constitutional route was to impeach Mr. Zelaya and then arrest him for violating the law.

Yet the events in Honduras also need to be understood in the context of Latin America's decade of chavismo. Venezuela's Hugo Chávez was democratically elected in 1998, but he has since used every lever of power, legal and extralegal, to subvert democracy. He first ordered a rewrite of the constitution that allowed his simple majority in the national assembly grant him the power to rule by decree for one year and to control the judiciary.

In 2004 he packed the Supreme Court with 32 justices from 20. Any judge who rules against his interests can be fired. He made the electoral tribunal that oversees elections his own political tool, denying opposition requests to inspect voter rolls and oversee vote counts. The once politically independent oil company now hires only Chávez allies, and independent television stations have had their licenses revoked.

Mr. Chávez has also exported this brand of one-man-one-vote-once democracy throughout the region. He's succeeded to varying degrees in Ecuador, Bolivia, Argentina and Nicaragua, where his allies have stretched the law and tried to dominate the media and the courts. Mexico escaped in 2006 when Felipe Calderón linked his leftwing opponent to chavismo and barely won the presidency.

In Honduras Mr. Chávez funneled Veneuzelan oil money to help Mr. Zelaya win in 2005, and Mr. Zelaya has veered increasingly left in his four-year term. The Honduran constitution limits presidents to a single term, which is scheduled to end in January. Mr. Zelaya was using the extralegal referendum as an act of political intimidation to force the Congress to allow a rewrite of the constitution so he could retain power. The opposition had pledged to boycott the vote, which meant that Mr. Zelaya would have won by a landslide.

Such populist intimidation has worked elsewhere in the region, and Hondurans are understandably afraid that, backed by Chávez agents and money, it could lead to similar antidemocratic subversion there. In Tegucigalpa yesterday, thousands demonstrated against Mr. Zelaya, and new deputy foreign minister Marta Lorena Casco told the crowd that "Chávez consumed Venezuela, then Bolivia, after that Ecuador and Nicaragua, but in Honduras that didn't happen."

It's no accident that Mr. Chávez is now leading the charge to have Mr. Zelaya reinstated, and on Monday the Honduran traveled to a leftwing summit in Managua in one of Mr. Chávez's planes. The U.N. and Organization of American States are also threatening the tiny nation with ostracism and other punishment if it doesn't readmit him. Meanwhile, the new Honduran government is saying it will arrest Mr. Zelaya if he returns. This may be the best legal outcome, but it also runs the risk of destabilizing the country. We recall when the Clinton Administration restored Bertrand Aristide to Haiti, only to have the country descend into anarchy.

As for the Obama Administration, it seems eager to "meddle" in Honduras in a way Mr. Obama claimed was counterproductive in Iran. Yet the stolen election in Iran was a far clearer subversion of democracy than the coup in Honduras. As a candidate, Mr. Obama often scored George W. Bush's foreign policy by saying democracy requires more than an election -- a free press, for example, civil society and the rule of law rather than rule by the mob. It's a point worth recalling before Mr. Obama hands a political victory to the forces of chavismo in Latin America.

The Wages of Chavismo - WSJ.com

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"The captain has turned off the `No Dubbing' sign. You are free to speak any language you choose."

I wasn't aware we were meddling in the politics of foreign countries now...wow, talk about a quick policy turn around...

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"The captain has turned off the `No Dubbing' sign. You are free to speak any language you choose."

Wow, I was unaware Obama had a role in the Honduran judiciary.

I guess he really is superman.....

Hmmm. Are you happy to stand by this flagrantly deceptive article?

Its lies give little credit to the view that Honduran coup was somehow reasonable and just.

Anyway, why hasnt anyone recgonised the new government?

__________________
Labor is prior to, and independent of, capital. Capital is only the fruit of labor, and could never have existed if Labor had not first existed. Labor is superior to capital, and deserves much the higher consideration.

Guess who?

I do not believe so. However, that is not the issue here.

__________________
I am a liberal, a classical liberal. Classical liberalism is liberalism, but the current collectivists have captured that designation in the United States. In Europe they are glad enough to call themselves socialists. But no one in America wants to be called socialist and admit what they are.

Courage, Truth, Honor, Fidelity, Discipline, Hospitality, Industriousness, Self-Reliance, Perseverance

Actually yeah, from what I read, the constitution states that any public official who proposes to change term limits will cease their official duties.

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"To take from one, because it is thought his own industry and that of his father has acquired too much, in order to spare to others who (or whose fathers) have not exercised equal industry and skill, is to violate arbitrarily the first principle of association, "to guarantee to everyone a free exercise of his industry and the fruits acquired by it."

-Thomas Jefferson

I think you misunderstood my response. I was stating that I do not believe their constitution restricts term limits from being changed.

__________________
I am a liberal, a classical liberal. Classical liberalism is liberalism, but the current collectivists have captured that designation in the United States. In Europe they are glad enough to call themselves socialists. But no one in America wants to be called socialist and admit what they are.

Courage, Truth, Honor, Fidelity, Discipline, Hospitality, Industriousness, Self-Reliance, Perseverance